Blood of the Lily
by InaLinger - CinaBard
Summary: Sequel to Newborn: Mick, Beth and Josef are trying to stop the upcoming Vampire Apocalypse. In doing so they discover some secrets of the past which seem to be central to the war between humans and vampires.Rated T/M
1. Prélude

_Hi there! I'm now back with the sequel to Newborn and hope so much you'll like it as much as the first story. Thanks again for the many reviews you wrote for Newborn. It really helped a lot to go on with the translations – now with Blood of the Lily. I'll try to post again each Thursday and Sunday but I can't promise to keep this rhythm with later chapters for I'm still writing this story. But I'll try. Would be great and motivating to get some reviews again. So I hope to hear from you soon and will be back at Thursday. Best wishes, Jenna_

_P.S. This first chapter is a bit shorter for it's more a prolog and it's a bit surprising I think. But you'll see…_

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Disclaimer: Mick, Beth, all other characters and the story-line of the second season are borrowed from the great Moonlight-show, that I miss so much, and so are the property of others.

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**P****rélude **

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_**"I admit there is an element of evil inherent in power; but without that evil we would not have the good, we are searching within it."**_

_**Marcus Tullius Cicero **_

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_Versailles, 3 May 1789 _

The young woman was pale, her eyes full of despair and suffering. She didn't seem to be afraid, even though she was surrounded by so many men whose lecherous, greedy gazes slid constantly over her delicate body, clothed in a tightly laced corseted dress, circling like wolves waiting to attack their prey at any moment. Her pleading eyes rested solely on the powdered face of the man before her, whose feet she had, only minutes ago, thrown herself at, and whose bright silk pant leg she clutched, directing her pleading words to.

"Please... you've promised, mon maître," she cried out in despair, not realizing the circle of his illustrious, wig-wearing, festively dressed companions, closed ever more tightly around her. "Please... my family is hungry, my little daughter is very sick ... She will die if she doesn't get the medicine..."

The cool, fine-chiseled face of the man before her, barely stirred. He only raised his eyebrows a little. "I'm not a doctor my dear," he replied, making some of the other men laugh. "I don't remember having promised you medicine..."

"You've promised to admit me to the family," the young woman brought out in a shaky voice as her eyes filled with tears.

"Haven't I done this already?" the man smiled. "Well, you now _belong _to the honorable 'family' of my mistresses."

The mocking laughter that followed these words made the young woman wince in torment. The man leaned slightly forward to her, gently stroked her full, dark hair from her shoulder, further exposing what the vulgarly cut dress of the young beauty presented so generously: the sign of the Lily, burned into her shoulder only a few days before.

"You are now one of my possessions, Caroline...," the man whispered with relish, "This is a great honor for a woman like you..."

"Luis, please," the desperate woman uttered now much more loudly – much too loud for the nobleman's liking. He straightened insulted, raised the back of his hand and struck her face with such force that she was thrown to the side. Most of the other men laughed again - only one seemed to have pity on the poor creature. His cheek muscles twitched slightly and anxiety flared in his strange eyes.

Caroline propped herself up with great effort and lifted her tear-dimmed gaze. Her cheek was purple and her lower lip chapped, so that blood emerged from the split. She took a deep trembling breath and stood up, wavering, so that_ she_ was now the one looking down at the nobleman. The expression in her dark brown eyes had changed; burning anger had mixed with her despair.

"I am _no one's_ property...," she uttered with barely-concealed hatred in her voice. "Never was, never will be!"

Luis stood up in one smooth motion, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "You're wrong! Quite wrong," he laughed aggressively into her face. "From this day forward you are the property of the whole family!"

Caroline said nothing. Instead, she spit with contempt into the nobleman's face.

Silence. Horrified, disbelieving silence. Luis let go of the young woman, reached with an expressionless face into a small pocket of his richly decorated waistcoat, pulled out a lace handkerchief and wiped the mixture of blood and saliva, which had dishonored him so much, from his face. Caroline did not move. She might have tried to flee, for it had to be clear to her that a drastic punishment would follow her action. But she waited; tense, with compressed lips, as if she had no other choice.

Luis lunged again, this time slapping her other cheek with full force. The young woman staggered to the side and was caught by one of the men still laughing. She tore herself away from him in revulsion, pushed against the chest of another monster approaching her and tried to get to Luis again. But it wasn't that easy anymore, as suddenly the whole group began to move. Hands reached out for her, touched her indecently, rudely tore at her clothes, her hair... as she flailed around trying to free herself again.

"Don't you dare, you beasts!" she cried out with a mixture of fear and anger in her voice, but no one paid her any attention. There was only insatiable greed in the glowing, rapidly turning eyes of the men grabbing at her, descending on her tender body. And then teeth dug into her neck, sharp, long canines. She cried out, digging her fingers into the wig of the monster behind her and pulled it from his head. But he didn't let go, instead he greedily sucked her sweet blood into his mouth. More teeth dug into her body, everywhere they could reach: Her arms, her shoulders, her cleavage. The young woman screamed and fought like a wild cat, but she had no chance, she was buried among the many bodies that pressed against her.

Luis, on the other hand, only stood by and watched it happen with an expression of deep satisfaction. His gaze roamed to the only one not involved: the man who had previously shown something like pity for the young woman, the man with the black eye.

"What?" Luis asked with slight anger in his voice. "What keeps you from partaking in a little bit of that, something you have always longed for, for such a long time?"

The expression on the man's face became even darker; he turned without a word and walked to the door of the extravagant dining room.

"Laurent?" The anger was evident in Luis' voice.

The man stopped in his movement, but didn't turn around, but just took a deep breath. There was no time to say anything, because at that moment, the doors with their ornate golden carvings, were thrown open before him and another man entered, tall and dark with eyes almost glowing with rage. He was not wearing the typical white-haired wig, but had longer, dark hair that was tied at the neck. But his silky, elegant clothing showed that he was also a nobleman.

"_Luis_!" His deep voice boomed through the hall making the crystals of the magnificent chandelier rattle. The addressed one seemed to freeze, as well as his blood lusting friends. One after the other they released their victim, letting the young woman fall to the ground, while fear and great respect showed in their again turning eyes.

The new arrival moved with large, smooth steps toward Luis, his glowering agitation radiating ahead of him, causing the others present to retreat anxiously. Only Luis was left standing still and allowed himself to even smile little.

"Michel," he said with mocked enthusiasm in his voice. "To what do I owe the honor of your so unexpected visit?"

The angry man was only half a meter away from Luis. His sparkling blue eyes stood in stark contrast to his otherwise dark looking appearance, and peered deeply into his opponent's eyes.

"_Get out_!" He uttered angrily and it was obvious he was referring to the other men who watched him with wide eyes from a safe distance - even though he had not looked at them directly. "Immediately!"

No one dared oppose his command. Like a startled group of shy deer, they left the room at once, until the door closed silently behind the last of them. They had quickly forgotten the young woman who seemed not to move anymore...

Michel took a deep breath, but could not dispel the tension in his body. "How... how could you dare do this?" he uttered trying with difficulty to remain composed.

Luis tilted his head to one side, contemplating his question. "I assume that you speak of Louis," he said in a velvety voice. "That was a sign of brotherly generosity..."

The blow came so quickly and so unexpectedly that Luis had neither the time to brace for it nor to duck it. It was violent, so violent that the young man was thrown to the side and had real problems staying on his feet.

"You selfish bastard!" Michel growled and immediately followed the clearly alarmed looking Luis, who was now forced to hastily retreat from him. Gone was his arrogance and self-confidence, even though he clearly tried to regain it again. "Are you so mentally deranged that you expected such a deed would go without consequences for all of us? Louis is the King of France! It was a gesture of love and affection, that he invited you and your entourage to his castle, even though _I_ told him not to - and this is how you thank him?"

"He didn't feel well," Luis defended himself and now stopped bravely, holding his chin out defiantly by several centimeters to the larger man. "I gave him new strength for the upcoming events..."

Michel planted himself threateningly in front of him, pulled his dark brows together angrily. "You have significantly _weakened_ his political position! It is seething and boiling in the population. We are on the verge of a revolution that will shake the order of the world! Because of this he will need the support and assistance of other princes! And you know exactly to whom most of these princes belong. Good Lord, many of your _own_ family sympathize with the Legion! The peace between us was already on shaky ground before! And you turn your brother into a vampire? The King of France?"

"_I'm_ the rightful King of France," Luis blurted out now uncontrolled. "This is MY kingdom! MY people, MY..."

This time it was not a slap in the face, which brought the young man to silence, but a severe blow to his chest, which slammed him against the nearest wall.

"YOU ARE DEAD, LUIS," Michel growled and his powerful voice again caused the chandeliers and mirrors on the walls to quake. "You were dead before you even reached your tenth birthday! Now you're just a distant cousin of the King! Don't even try to touch his legacy! Louis is a far better king than you'd have ever been!"

"He's weak!" Luis snapped angrily. "He's not worthy of the royal blood line!"

"No, _you_'re not worth _my_ blood," Michel uttered full of contempt and Luis looked as if he had beaten him again. "I'm beginning to regret that I ever took care of you and enabled you to begin a new life! I saw so much in you, so much potential..." He shook his head bitterly and turned away from Luis, who straightened again with an expression of deep hurt in his eyes.

"I was never meant to be anything other than a king," the younger one brought out softly. "And I'll never be satisfied with anything else."

Michel uttered a resigned sigh. "A king is not defined by the land and the power he possesses, Luis," came now the much calmer response of the elderly, "but by his actions that should be guided by wisdom and discretion - qualities that I've tried to find within you to no avail..."

Louis eyes flashed angrily. "Well... since you are my master and I am only your pupil... Who of us has probably failed...?"

Michel turned slightly in his direction, but did not come closer again. He seemed to have calmed down somewhat and could now tolerate the verbal attacks of the young man with more composure.

"Maybe you're right," he said softly and walked across the room, looked thoughtfully at the walls, covered with red damask, and precious tapestries. "Maybe I _am_ the one who has failed in your education. But you are no longer a child that needs my help and guidance, but a grown man, in a powerful position. You could help your brother to fight the hunger your people suffer from, you could care for the poor and weak ones... and what do you do? You think only of having one bloody feast after another, of plotting and causing turmoil among the nobility, and turn random people who fawn over you and take their rage out on the weak and needy..." He pointed in a troubled gesture to the young woman who lay barely two feet from him still on the ground, uttering a slight whimper. "And the sad thing is that you're not even aware of what harm you're bringing to your entire family with your actions. You will tear it apart, make them hunt and destroy each other..."

"Yes, because that's what they deserve!" Luis hissed through gritted teeth full of hate. "They brushed me aside... they despise me. I don't need them anymore! I have my own family now – a family that will become stronger and more powerful than all the princes of France put together. Seven brothers, united through my blood, Michel! Better than men, than princes and kings, better than all other creatures of this world - like gods! And you... you're the father of us all, Michel... if you would only want to. The father of a king... and of a kingdom of immortality, of infinity!"

Michel looked down and shook his head. When he looked at Luis again he smiled, but it was a sad smile. "You are not immortal, Luis," he said softly. "I just hope you understand that before the war begins..."

The younger man raised his eyebrows arrogantly. "War? They are all just peasants and bourgeoisie, weakened by the famine. How should they harm us?"

Michel didn't look at him, but approached Caroline silently, who had once again whimpered in pain. "Never underestimate the power of despair...," he murmured softly.

Luis laughed. "These are just humans... I will assign them their place in the new society..."

"A society you will dominate?" Michel raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"And you..., if you want to," Luis added gently, and then ventured to come closer. "We could control the entire world, if we want to..."

"And finally, you'd be a real king," Michel added for him.

"I would only get what I was legally entitled to - what I was born and revived for."

Michel uttered a slight laugh again and crouched down next to Caroline, turned her face gently to him. Again something changed in his expression. There was bewilderment and only seconds later anger flared once more in his bright eyes. Luis tensed. He expected perhaps a renewed outburst of his master. But this time he very slowly turned his face to him, pulled up his eyebrows and seemed to think seriously about something.

"What exactly is she doing here, Luis," he said with an audible lurking in his voice. "She's a _Sangsujet_!"

"I know." A malicious smile twitched around Luis lips, but did not dare show it openly. "But nevertheless she's one of _my_ people now, Michel. Unfortunately our claim of ownership seems to overlap here..."

Michel gave him a false smile. "Indeed..."

"Since I've found her first," Luis gave back provocatively, "I have made her mine and she will serve me as every smart subject should. She knows who her true king is and will give me everything I need..."

"What you need... I see." Michel looked again at the young woman's pale face. "Is that the reason she must die now?"

"No. She wanted a wage she didn't deserve."

"And for this she deserves to die?"

Louis crossed his arms over his chest almost stubbornly. "She won't die... she only has to suffer a little while. She's still sometimes so... so... stubborn. She must understand who comes first and foremost."

Michel looked at him again and this time with such a determination in his eyes, that Luis lost his arrogant smile instantly.

"_You_ need to understand this as well, my boy," he said firmly, as he pushed his arms under in the limp body of the weakened woman, picked her up from the floor and placed her on the long dining table. "For from this day forward you will no longer be the one who makes the decisions in this house and within this 'family'. You will no longer decide anyone's destiny." In one swift movement he bared his wrist and under Luis' horrified gaze dug his fangs into his own flesh.

"No! Michel!" Luis uttered angrily and tried to grab his hand. "She's just a whore... you..." He got no further, because Michel's fingers had instantly closed around his neck and constricted his throat so tightly that he could only utter choking sounds. He raised his heavily bleeding wrist to the half-open, pale lips, of the barely breathing, young woman and let the dark, viscous fluid drip into her mouth. It took only a moment until her tongue slipped out and licked the blood from her lips. Michel lowered his wrist down to her mouth and she instinctively closed her lips over the wound, and began to suck at it in greedy gulps. The old vampire closed his eyes and let the gasping Luis go again, who immediately staggered a few steps away from him.

There were words of a strange language heard, which came quietly over Michel's lips, an ancient language that no one was aware of anymore.

"Diĝir ene ra, lugal ene ra, šeš ĝu ene ra… nam ti níg ba mu…"

He broke his wrist gently from the woman's mouth and waited, tense, for a reaction from her maltreated, now again so lifeless appearing body. It took a few seconds, and then suddenly Caroline tore open her eyes violently and took a deep, almost panicked breath. Her formerly dark brown eyes were now brownish-white and clearly expressed the confusion that befogged her mind. A touch of disappointment stirred for a brief moment in Michel's facial features, and then he smiled gently and pressed her back onto the table.

"Stay down, you need to rest to help you get used to your new constitution," it slipped in a very warm tone from his lips and the young woman obeyed him without showing the slightest signs of resistance. Instead, her trembling fingers tentatively touched the back of his hand.

"Thanks," she whispered in a choked voice and tears welled up in her eyes. "I... I thank you so much..."

Michel nodded to her and turned to the now panting King's son, struggling to retain his composure. "Don't you think that I don't know what you've done behind my back, Luis, what you've stolen from me, only to set yourself up one day as the ruler of the world," he said softly. "Unfortunately, you don't own the intellect to understand what extent your selfish, thoughtless action will still assume and that some things simply defy your power and will come back to bite you one day. If this only concerned you, I would never have appeared here - but unfortunately, all others of our species and many innocent humans will have to suffer through your stupidity, and I can not allow that to happen, even if I don't know if I still have time to avert the disaster in its entirety..."

His eyes roamed once again to the now much calmer breathing woman before him, whose skin tone was slowly becoming noticeably paler. Then they were directed back at Luis, who had not uttered a single word, but instead clenched his hands into fists struggling against his enormous anger with twitching cheek muscles.

"Greet your new sister, Luis," Michel said to him coolly and his gaze became hard and unyielding. "From today on, there's no difference between you two. You will never be a king and she's no longer a whore." He lifted the still very weak Caroline in a fluid motion from the table, carried her to the adjoining room. Naturally, the other vampires had not really gone. They had been waiting to see what would happen to their master, and now seemed even more frightened than before.

Michel scanned the faces of the persons still quite strange to him and finally stopped on that of the man with the black eye, which seemed to be familiar to him. He only needed to nod and the man came quickly over to him, took, without needing a further instruction, the confused young woman from his arms.

"Take care of her until she can take care of herself," Michel instructed him quietly. "She now belongs to your family, Laurent. Just as Luis. If anything happens to her or she causes any harm, I will make you personally responsible. You will not be allowed to fail again."

Laurent nodded, turned quickly and took Caroline out of the room. Michel looked around with a menacing expression on his face and took a deep breath. "My word is above that of Luis. My will is above his. What I order will happen - no matter where I am. For you, from today on there is only one sovereign... and that's me! If you want to live, you better take this to heart."

He paused, which was just as threatening, as was his whole demeanor.

"You will now retire to your chambers, tomorrow we leave Versailles!"


	2. Motives

_Back again with the next chapter! Thank you so much for your reviews! That's always so motivtating! I'll post the next chapter at Sunday again and hope to hear something from you until then. Best wishes, Jenna_

_Translated by: Cleo28_

_Beta read by: Sg6169  
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**M****otives**

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"_**Nothing happens at random, but everything from reason and by necessity."**_

_**Leucippus **_

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_New York, April 11__th__ 2009_

Matthew Perrington felt pretty good by the time he returned to one of the top balconies of the _Metropolitan Opera_ and settled into one of red velvet covered seats. During the break he had met, as he had hoped, with Frederic Samps, a wealthy businessman, who was normally very difficult to contact, but was at the moment, one of the few people, however, who could extricate him from his business plight. Due to his love of opera, Frederic had been in a very good mood and had even invited him for a drink, so Matthew had high hopes in getting down to business with him right away.

It had been a risk to appear this particular Saturday night at the opera, for there were also some better-known persons that had also arrived that were on bad terms with Matthew. But in the end it had been worth the risk. He had escaped most of the ungracious eyes through his skillful choice of seating - one of the rear seats isolated in the dark. Only the break had been tantamount to a small steeplechase but it had allowed him the contact he needed with Frederic. The cost and effort in getting a reservation for the balcony seat would be quite worthwhile in the end - of this Matthew was sure.

The many lights of the precious chandeliers around him began to darken. Matthew stretched his legs with a deeply satisfied sigh and was able to watch the heavy curtain rise slowly when the music resumed. The third act of _Twilight of the Gods_ began. Matthew raised his opera glasses to his eyes, full of anticipation. Now it would become dramatic and he loved it dramatic.

The scenery was spectacular just the way Matthew liked it. Only now, after business had finally been settled, could he really relax and enjoy the sights and harmony of the classical music. But this state did not last long. At first he couldn't figure out what had caused this little shiver coming over him suddenly. Maybe it was the slight breeze that he felt at the back of his neck or the wonderful voices of the Rhine Maidens that floated across the stage. But then it should have been of a more pleasant nature. The tingling did not stop and soon began the unmistakable feeling that someone was staring at him, piercing him with their eyes. He lowered the opera glasses, bent forward a little over the next seat and looked over to the rows of balconies opposite him. But the people there seemed to be totally engrossed in the action on stage and Matthew started to turn away, shaking his head, as his eyes spotted a person whose face, in fact, seemed to be directed at him. He wrinkled his brow a bit annoyed and narrowed his eyes. It was a young man, as far as he could tell from this distance, blond and tall. He could not recall having seen him before on that balcony. Strange. Matthew's unease began to grow and again raised his opera glasses to his eyes. This time he addressed them directly to this impertinent person... and would have almost let them fall again - that great was the horror that grabbed him when he recognized the man who nodded to him with a very friendly smile: Josef Kostan.

Matthew's Opera glasses sank to his lap as he pressed, full of fright, a hand to his now fiercely beating heart. He knew Kostan not only through his business connections and various media reports... no, _they_ had actually warned him about Kostan, had advised him to get bodyguards and to call them as soon as Kostan or any of the other people in the photos they had shown to him, appeared in his vicinity. He had thought this scare mongering to be totally overblown. He had thought that it would be almost impossible to figure out that he was supporting the work of the Legion with a part of his money. He now regretted his naivety, regretted giving his only security man permission to take a break during the play and to pick him up again at the end.

Matthew took a few deep breaths, his eyes still glued to Kostan. If he was fast enough he could reach his security guard in time. Even _if_ Kostan was one of these... _demons_, he certainly couldn't fly and the way down the isle to his balcony was long. He had to remain calm and not panic, that was all that mattered now.

Matthew took another deep breath and prepared to jump up and race off. But he only managed to bend forward a bit because in the next second a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, pushing him against the back of the seat. His heart stopped for a moment and then hammered in his chest while he uttered a horrified gasp. He wanted to scream but all at once his throat was choked so much that he could not utter a sound.

"If you scream you're dead!" a deep voice hissed in his ear and the warm breath that brushed his cheek felt like the breath of death. He couldn't help it; he began to tremble all over. Never before had one of these beasts been so close to him... and yet or maybe because of that, he didn't dare turn around to look into the face of this monster that would surely tear him apart at any moment. He only ventured a glance from the corner of his eye at the large hand that exerted this painful pressure on his shoulder. A wide silver ring adorned the index finger of his executioner, a ring whose motif bore a resemblance to that of a decorated cross - perhaps some kind of insignia of an order, a recognition feature for this terrible clan of bloodsuckers.

"Who... Who are you?" Matthew finally managed to croak lowly. To speak in this situation was even more difficult than it was to breathe.

"I'm your worst nightmare," the cold voice growled.

The lump in Matthew's throat was so big and hard that he could barely swallow. "Please... I... I've done nothing," he breathed. "This is all a mistake..."

"Then these are probably not your bank statements," the menacing male voice whispered to him and a small stack of printed papers landed in his lap. Matthew only needed a brief look at the papers to know what this was all about. "This... this is from my son's account...," he stammered painfully.

"Then your son is living the high life and receives a pretty good amount of pocket change," the cold voice replied in a whisper. "Three million spent last summer alone... that must have been a very exquisite summer trip... two in the winter and about two months ago the same amount... How old is he again? Six, if I'm not mistaken... "

Matthew's heart stopped again and he felt sick. Where did this monster get this information? God, they were even after his family!

"Perhaps it's he I need to be appealing to," the vampire continued behind him. "Since you know nothing about this, _he_ must be the one who's conducting all these transactions and should be called to account - and not his poor, innocent father..."

"Please!" Matthew whispered now in tears. "Please don't hurt my family! They know nothing about this. I... I'm the one who made these transfers. These were only a few profitable businesses. I have no idea what the money was used for... aah ... "

The pressure on his collarbone became so intense with his last words, the pain became too much to bear and Matthew had to grit his teeth in order to hide his cries of pain and not disturb the opera.

"What do you take me for, a fool?" the dangerous man growled behind him. "I know a lot about you... Matty..."

Oh, God, his wife always called him that! What had they done to her?

"Among other things, your money has not gone without reason into the research of your friends. By the way, how _is_ your brother? According to the last entries in the medical records, his condition has deteriorated again. Did you know that?"

Matthew did not answer. He had the feeling by now that the hand of the stranger not only closed around his shoulder, but also around his guts and pressed them painfully together.

"Is this the reason you asked these people in an angry e-mail to obtain even more experimental subjects and act faster and more radically?" The voice became colder and more hateful and Matthew's fear increased immeasurably.

"Have you any idea what it's like to be locked up day and night in a windowless cell, to have limited movement and to endure painful experiments every few hours?" The man's lips were now so close to his ear that they now and then touched his skin and sent shivers of the most unpleasant kind down his back. Matthew hardly dared to breath. He just stared at the hand, this ring and inwardly prayed to God that death would come quickly.

"Has it ever occurred to you what tortures these 'test subjects' had to go through before they were finally released from their suffering?" He felt a heavy breathing on his cheek, felt the deadly strain of the stranger and closed his eyes. Now... now, it would be over...

"There's pain, you first need to create words for, to describe it..." Matthew felt that the sentence was not really finished, but the demon could not go on, only breathed deeply and hard, as if he had to wrestle with himself to not show him physically what he was talking about.

"Give... Give me a reason to let you live," he whispered, controlling himself only with great difficulty, "... NOW!"

Matthew tore his eyes open again. His thoughts tumbled. He had a chance... a chance!

"Names...," he croaked. "I know a name!"

"This is not enough..."

"And a location... an address I should turn to when difficulties like this arise..."

A moment of silence followed his words, a dreadful silence he could hardly bear, silence which gave him no other choice than to listen to the barely audible sounds of breathing behind him, with his eyes wide-open in fear and his heart pounding painfully in his chest.

"This is a start," the stranger's voice released him at last from his anguish and the iron grip around his shoulder lost its strength. "What's the address?"

"It's a bar in Manhattan," it burst immediately out of Matthew. "The _Crazy Fools_. It's a relatively new bar and I'm supposed to ask for a certain Robert Ducan who will help me then. I don't know the exact address but they told me it shouldn't be hard to find..."

"We'll see." The hand now let go of him completely and Matthew dared to exhale shakily.

"Out there someone is waiting for you," said the stranger, now much softer. "You should go voluntary with him. Nothing will happen to you as long as you cooperate with us. You and your family..."

Matthew closed his eyes and nodded his understanding.

"Give me your cell phone," the man ordered. Matthew swallowed hard, reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and did exactly what he was told to do. He felt terribly delivered and helpless as he put the device into the stranger's open hand and thus deprived himself of any chance to get help. His fate was now in the hands of these dangerous superior species and he was still not sure whether he would get out of this situation alive. But one thing was clear to him by now: the bloodsuckers were on a deadly campaign of revenge against any person connected with the Legion. And they were more organized and informed than his allies had previously thought.

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The reading in the _Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel _was scheduled to start at six pm sharp. Guests who were late were not admitted, at least that was what was written on the table Amber Patricia Rudwell had just passed with vehement steps, pushing past the accumulation of people with an apologetic smile on her face in search of her seat. She knew exactly where she had to go. Aisle ten, seat five. And there wasn't much time left before the reading would start on the topic of _Legal loopholes and their consequences for the social system. _She glanced at her watch. Two more minutes. Her green eyes roamed over the rows of chairs and finally settled on a dark head of hair. Of course, he was already there. He was always punctual.

Her heart began to beat faster and she looked herself over, straightened the skirt of her disguise and the plastic shield, which she had only recently attached to the collar of her blazer. _Amber P. Rudwell_ was written on it in thick black letters and beneath it a bit narrower: _DA Washington, DC_ .

She took a deep breath, brushed a lock of dark red hair that had fallen away from her elegantly pinned up hair behind her ear and walked swiftly toward the aisle in which he was sitting. Her seat was located right next to his, as they had prearranged.

The rows of seats were far enough apart to get past the people already seated there without a problem, but nevertheless some stood up giving her a friendly smile and she smiled back politely, knowing exactly that this was attributed more to her short skirt than to the propriety of these men. Benjamin Talbot was much too absorbed in his notes to recognize that she had approached him. How convenient...

Amber sat down beside him quietly, directed her gaze deliberately to the lectern that was not yet occupied and waited. It lasted a second or two until he raised his eyes and looked at her. She could almost feel the wheels turning in his head, looked at him and raised an eyebrow questioningly, fully enjoying the confusion in his brown eyes. For a second she thought she might have to drop her masquerade for a moment to ensure that he didn't betray her with his behavior but then his eyes flashed slightly amused and he proved once again what an alert mind he had when he simply looked at his notes again.

"DA Washington DC, I see," he murmured with a smile and so quietly that only she could hear it. "Nice contact lenses, Beth... I mean Amber…"

"But of course," she replied in a very elegant way and hid a grin.

Talbot glanced around a bit. "And what is St. John dressed up as? A security guard?"

"He's not here," Beth whispered to him, like him, pretending to watch the people around her.

"Then your friend probably misunderstood me the last time we discussed this nice matter," Ben said softly, scratching his temple with his pen to then set it down on the paper once again. "I wanted a conversation with Mick - not with you. As much as I appreciate and enjoy your company..."

"That's exactly the point here," Beth replied quietly. "He'll be back in the States soon and then wants to meet with you..."

Talbot surprised her with a little laugh and she looked at him again. "But...?" he said raising his eyebrows amused.

Beth let her eyes wander again and found that an elderly man in a dark suit had now stepped up behind the lectern and was preparing to begin his reading.

"We need some small proof of your willingness to really work together with us," she whispered to him, reached quietly into the little side pocket of her costume's top and pulled out a USB stick that she quickly tried to conceal in her hand from the prying eyes of others. She knew that Talbot had noticed it.

"On this stick there are pictures and files of men who supposedly work for the Legion, whom the network is not willing to provide any real information about," she went on quickly. "Our wish would be that you'd try to find out whether the state is currently investigating these people and perhaps even some information is stored in archives that could be of immense value to us."

She felt Talbot's reluctance, his battle with himself. On the one hand he struggled strongly against being fooled into spy work, on the other hand, he was most likely aware, what value this information could also have for him and his work. Conscience against curiosity ...

Talbot let his hand slip from his lap so it was now dangling directly next to her, and only a few seconds later; he reached out for her hand and took the little device quickly from her fingers.

Beth made three crosses inside, but held back, however, exhaling relieved, even though it would have been lost in the loud echo of the speaker's voice, who had long since started his lecture.

"And what about St. John?" Talbot whispered. "You said he wasn't in the States. When can I expect a private conversation with him?"

"Maybe in a week," she breathed, and the excitement that had overcome her during Josef's last call and in which she had had great difficulty getting rid of, struggled up inside her again. Not to think of Mick's return, when she was asked directly about him was impossible... and four weeks of separation was just too long a period of time...

"At the least," Talbot murmured softly. "How will I learn about this appointment?"

"I cannot tell you," she answered truthfully. "To approach you is not usually as easy as it's been today..."

"Yeah," Ben smiled. "There are too many security guards here. The Legion wouldn't dare send someone after me here. They know I would instantly blow their cover. That was a smart move on your part, Beth."

"I have a clever team around me," Beth gave back modestly, but didn't tell him that the monitoring by the Legion concerning him had fallen sharply in the last week, and that the risk of being caught by them during an exchange of information with him had decreased significantly. For this reason only, they had dared to re-establish contact with him.

"The only draw back to this mission now is that you'll have to sit here and listen to this entire, quite boring reading if you wish to avoid attracting attention," Talbot said softly and she actually thought she heard something like naked spite in his voice. However, she bit back a further comment, for it was clear to her how right he was in his statement. It would be a pain for her to just sit for an hour and to be delivered to her own thoughts and feelings. All that was left now was time - and this she now had in abundance, for Ben Talbot did not give the impression he was interested in entertaining her during the speech. He made it quite clear with his posture and by facing the speaker now that he was though with their conversation. She had no other choice but to hope that the speaker kept to the announced break on the information sheet...

* * *

An hour and a half of suffering and Beth was finally freed by a long overdue break. The flow of people anxious for drinks and refreshments carried her out of the doors and into a wide corridor outside the conference room. Ben had indeed managed to ignore her completely during this painfully slow passage of time and when she saw him now in the crowd of other people, he in fact ventured a wink at her briefly and immediately walked with a beaming smile towards an older, already slightly grayed man with a neat mustache and goatee.

Beth's face remained immobile. She looked around briefly, to determine if she was being watched by anyone and looked for an exit. She just wanted to get out of this hotel, to leave the stuffy air and all these people behind. Since her time in Mexico, life in a big city now seemed so uncomfortably hectic and stressful that it made her break out in a sweat and want to just run away. Perhaps this was also because after the terrible battle on the farm, her wild chase in LA and the whole terrible story about Mick she simply no longer felt safe unless her blood-drinking friends were in her immediate vicinity. She was constantly afraid of being followed or even attacked, and if she was honest, these fears were not unfounded. The Legion was looking for them, like _they_ were trying to corner them to cause the members to betray one another. Of course, because of this, both sides of the Legion were extremely cautious and actions such as this were particularly dangerous - in spite of the declining interest of the Legion in Ben Talbot. She had to be careful now when she left the hotel and the security zone of this event. But she was not completely alone...

The first week outside of Mexico had been quite hard for Beth. Gabriel and Mick had disappeared along with August just one day after the great battle and she had been flown with Josef, Logan and Seth to Toronto. After a few days Alejandro and his family had also arrived and they had all come together to make new plans. There had been a pretty big fight, when Josef had, in all seriousness, taken a stand to keep Beth out of all possible actions and to hide her, together with Simone, somewhere away from the Legion... The poor guy had had to endure a screaming tantrum on her part that had no equal. Of course he had only been concerned with her safety and had taken over the, in this case, quite unwelcome role of her protector that Mick usually filled so wonderfully, but at the time, her nerves had been so raw that she had had no eye and no understanding for it. To her it had only looked like removing, expelling and separating her from the people she needed the most at this time, besides Mick, and that she simply could not stand for.

After Isabella had walked with her into another room where she had enfolded her into her arms and just let her cry for a while, Beth had finally agreed to spend a week in the care of this good-hearted, motherly woman and to just rest. The separation from her vampires had still been terribly hard for her. But it had actually been much harder for her to rest and relax. After sleeping through a night and a day, her thoughts had once again started to circle around three main themes, which occupied her mind the most at the moment: the effects of the last events in Mexico, her participation in the hunt for the Legion and of course Mick. Since the latter was the topic on which she based her concerns and the forced separation emotionally drained her so much, she had tried to rid her thoughts of him so she could deal with the other two issues – which hadn't been much easier. Especially when she was asking questions that she couldn't answer, like: Why didn't Hendrik's blood turn her into a vampire? Or: What was the Legion going to do with poor Frank? To what extent would Josef allow her to participate in the pursuit of the Legion?

So many questions and until today, three weeks later, she had not been able to get any satisfying answers. Well, Josef had involved her again in the planning and execution of some actions but he still tried, despite her continuing anger, to preferably keep her out of outdoor activities. So Logan and Seth had become her best friends and had in fact been able to distract her again and again when she began to dwell on frightening thoughts or had sunken too deeply into her painful longing for Mick. Logan's hobbies, which he pursued in secret when there was nothing else to do and Josef wasn't around, had also started to be great fun for Beth as well. To play _World of Warcraft _was quite suitable for getting rid of aggression and to train the mind for strategic thinking, while learning guitar chords and playing along with old familiar rock songs was just plain fun and a wonderful way to forget your problems for the moment. Additionally Logan had a fairly large _Media Center_, as he liked to call it, on his laptop and Beth together with the two boys had held, from time to time, a small video evening while eating unhealthy snacks. Well, actually it had been Beth who had devoured the munchies but Logan had nibbled on at least one or two of the hot tortilla chips with a comment that even vampires could taste such sharpness.

As for their research work and the preparation of certain actions, they had developed, over time, such a good team that Josef along with the others - including Elizabeth, Tony and Thomas who now came more frequently to their meetings - had also started to hand them small jobs. This meant that they were allowed to plan and organize the smaller actions by themselves, and possibly even realize them alone – for this they definitely needed a more detailed agreement with Josef. It had been hard work getting their way with the mission regarding Talbot. The stubborn vampire had flat out refused that Beth would be the one to meet with this man. He had preferred to kidnap him again, which would have been much more noticeable and dangerous and would have drawn the attention of the Legion to the young lawyer again. It had been their luck that on that day Elizabeth and Thomas had been present and had supported them. Elizabeth had agreed to supervise the whole operation together with Max and that had been the only reason why Josef had finally yielded to their united prompting. He himself had had to fly to New York to meet with one of the many financiers of the Legion and in doing so finally move forward within the project 'Freeing Frank Peterson from the hands of the Legion'.

Yesterday he had called her once more to give her some advice to take along... and to tell her that Mick and Gabriel were on their way to New York. After that, the calmness she had worked so hard for in these four bygone weeks had been gone. The rest of the evening her thoughts had revolved around him and all the questions she had pushed back so wonderfully had immediately surfaced in her mind again. She didn't really like admitting to it but in addition to all the joy and longing she felt, a significant proportion of fear had also crept into her emotions, for she had not been idle in relation to Mick.

The Internet had given her fairly good access to information regarding trauma and its management and many of the things she had read there had reinforced her concerns so far. Mick had behaved, in the desert of Mexico, like a textbook case, with his moods swings, panic attacks, aggression and strategies of repression, what it implied was, that even his future behavior could be partially predictable and she was not sure whether she had the power to catch him if he really went out of control emotionally. It wasn't the irritability and temper tantrums she was afraid of but rather the tendency of traumatized people to refuse the bonds to the people they loved the most, to feel alienated and in the same way to behave even alien. She knew that this behavior would hurt her the most, especially because they had become so close to each other in the desert. It would be hard for her to condone such behavior because she needed Mick so much herself in order get through all of this better.

Beth shuddered inwardly, trying to rid herself of all these thoughts quickly as she emerged from the ornate entrance of the hotel. She was still not safe and she had to focus on what was going on around her. She pulled her sunglasses from her breast pocket and put them on quickly. That way she could look more inconspicuous for alleged persecutors. She was very aware that at least one required observation team of the Legion had to be out there somewhere. Her heart gave a little jump when she discovered diagonally opposite the hotel entrance, a dark car and she was greatly relieved when at the very same moment the taxi she had been waiting for turned into the driveway of the hotel and approached her. She got in without a word, nodded briefly to the driver using the rear view mirror, and the car slowly proceeded again. Her pulse quickened as they drove past the darkened BMW and she felt a tingling that caused the hairs on her neck to rise a little. A few seconds passed in perfect silence, in which Beth stared, tense, in the rearview mirror. Though she herself could not observe the traffic behind her, she was able to watch the driver's brown eyes and his reactions to what happening behind them.

"They didn't follow us," she finally heard his deep voice and she closed her eyes briefly, finally allowed herself to breathe in deeply. She could mostly rely on Max's statements, she had learned by now, and with him at her side she felt extremely safe, much like with Malik who, at Gabriel's request, had been her personal bodyguard the entire time. That Malik was not here today was only because Max had taken the lead into his hands in this action and the two didn't seem to be best friends.

"Were you able to get everything done?" Max asked now in this typical official tone.

"Yeah, he has taken the stick and will carry it around for a while, I think," she answered truthfully.

"Do you think he'll find out that this is not just a mass storage device?" was the next question.

She shrugged her shoulders. "He's an intelligent man, so it's very likely. The only question is whether it's going to indeed upset him that we have been able to track him at all times. He's eager to meet with Mick and he will know that the whole thing would be much easier if we know where he is."

She saw Max nodding. "That means, that as long as he's still interested in Mick, he'll cooperate with us without any problems..."

Beth frowned. "I wouldn't say without _any_ problems. There will be certainly amount of trouble from time to time, but he will cooperate in most things, yes... " She became a little distracted at that very moment because something started to vibrate at her thighs. She quickly opened her purse and took out her cell phone. 'Josef is calling,' said the display and she quickly answered the call.

"Yes," she said briefly, preparing instantly for a whole catalog of questions to rain down on her, but it was just a gentle "Hey," that resounded from the phone. However, it threw her completely off course. The warm, deep sound of the voice at the other end of the line caused her to forget to breathe for a moment. It was so unexpected, so taken aback and just so wonderful that she was speechless.

"Beth?"

She cleared her throat, once, twice, then took a breath – God, did it well!

"Hey," was her 'imaginative', breathless reply, and her heart was now beating so quickly in her chest, as it had not done for a long time.

Mick! She had her Mick on the phone, after four agonizing weeks with no contact! Her worries and fears about their future together disintegrated, even though she knew exactly how ridiculous that was. She grabbed the phone now also with the other hand as if she could pull him somehow closer to her that way.

"Where... where are you?" She stammered like a lovesick teenager and her cheeks felt all of a sudden much warmer.

"In Manhattan, with Josef," Mick gave back after a brief cough and Beth was seized with the urgent feeling to immediately pack her bags and board the next plane. Just to hear his voice, was enough to make her emotional world go haywire. She felt close to tears while at the same time would loved nothing better than to cheer and laugh with joy. Mick was back ... _Her_ Mick was back again!

And she wasn't sure exactly what to talk to him about, _how_ she should talk to him. That was totally crazy! Why was she so strangely smitten when she had someone she loved so much finally back after all this time? But it was comforting that she wasn't the only one who felt like this because Mick as well hadn't added anything else to his short sentence - and he could draw on a far greater life experience than her.

'How are you? Did you miss me as terribly as I missed you? When will we see each other?' Those were the questions she actually wanted to get out and what did she say?

"How was the flight?"

_How was the flight_? Why didn't she just ask how the weather was over there in New York?

"Exhausting, but we survived it." She could hear him smile and also the corners of her mouth immediately rose into a lovesick, moronic grin. "I was a little worried when Josef told me what you were planning to do with Talbot in Washington."

"That's all been done and there were no problems," she gave back with pride. Typical Mick. He wasn't even really back yet and was already worried about her... A warm feeling spread in her chest and her longing began to grow. It wasn't enough by now to just hear him...

"Oh... that... this is good..." Mick stammered. Silence.

'When can I see you... hold you in my arms... feel you? Say it, Beth! Say it!'

"Yeah..." Beth grabbed her forehead and rolled her eyes about herself.

"My goodness!" A loud, annoyed voice resounded in the background. Josef. "You two are just unbearable! Tell her she'll be taking the next plane to New York. Simone will pick her up there and will take her to the meeting point. I think we need a team change! Come on! Tell her!"

"I don't need to anymore, Josef," she could hear Mick growl. "I think even our neighbors know it by now!"

Beth let out a little laugh. Josef had never been a particularly patient person and under stress he had even less nerves.

"Tell him I'm on my way," she replied to Mick and she knew he nodded, although she couldn't see him.

"Then ... I'll see you?"

"Yes," she replied with such a beam, that he just_ had _to feel it. "You'll see me..."

Only seconds later she hung up. Her eyes remained for some time on the phone. Finally! Finally, they would be together again. New York was not that far away.


	3. Excitement

_Phew! It's so hot here in Berlin! I have the feeling I melt away… But I still post this chapter as I promised. Thanks a lot for your feedback! Great to hear you liked the new chapters and hope you like this one too. Will be back at Thursday again, best wishes, Jenna_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**E****xcitement **

The guy who stood before me looked really handsome. Tall, dark, slightly soft, but very well proportioned facial features, very tastefully dressed, and this compelling, slightly arrogant smile on his lips... Yes, he really had that certain something, this Josef Kostan.

I ran a hand through my short, in fact perfectly styled hair, ensuring a somewhat dashing touch was given to my reflection. It was hard to believe but I actually looked even better. The only disturbing factor was the small device attached to my right ear.

"Did you get the passports yet?" I now heard Alejandro's rough voice.

"Yeah, they're great," I admitted frankly and with a frown fixed the collar of my dark red silk shirt. "I think with these we'll be able to get through any kind of checkpoint."

"You should remix the teams again right away...," Alejandro advised me in his worried fatherly tone. "Especially when you're traveling. The Legion is especially attentive at the airports and train stations..."

"We'll soon be switching to cars," I tried to calm him down and straightened my eyebrows with care.

"But even then you have to be careful," the Mexican knew. "State borders are even more dangerous in this case..."

"I know," I replied quietly, lifting my shoulders a few times to see how the shirt fell in motion. The expensive fabric had been a very good choice. Almost too good for a club like _The Maestro_...

I noticed that Alejandro hemmed and hawed a little bit on the other end of the line, so he still had something on his mind. I could well imagine what this was...

"When ... when will he arrive?" he finally voiced the question I had almost expected. I had to grin. Currently, it almost seemed as if I were friends with a superstar. The whole world asked for him.

"He's already here," I smiled back and I could picture Alejandro's surprised face in front of me.

"And...?"

"A couple of horns have grown out of his head and he now walks on all fours, but otherwise everything's the same," I couldn't resist pulling his leg.

"That... that's not funny, José," Alejandro managed to say after a moment of shocked silence. I had to laugh anyway.

"He's doing really well," I replied mildly. "He looks recovered and has put on some weight - in a good way, I mean. You know Mick, how seriously he takes his fitness. Gabriel and August seem to have supplied him well - physically in any case..."

"And... emotionally?"

I automatically shrugged my shoulders, for a moment forgetting that my friend could not see me. "He also seems to be emotionally strong, but that..." I looked briefly in the direction of the bathroom where the shower had stopped a couple of minutes ago. "...can be misleading," I ventured to add quieter. "Gabriel said, he would have phases when he's obnoxious and quite difficult to deal with, but they're limited and are, given the extent of his trauma, remarkably harmless so far. We'll see..."

I now clearly heard steps from the bathroom and turned quickly back to my mirror image, when the door opened.

"We... we'll talk about it later," I said. My eyes captured Mick's reflection as he passed behind me, dressed only in dark jeans and rubbing his hair dry with a towel, and didn't let go of him so quickly.

"Take good care of our friend Matthew," I added yet.

"But of course," I heard Alejandro say almost indignantly. "Then I bid you a good evening and best of luck with... whatever you've planned."

I nodded, took the small device out of my ear and switched it off. Then I turned to my friend who had bent over his suitcase and was looking for a shirt that had survived the long journey back to the states fairly wrinkle-free.

"Greetings from Alejandro," I sent out words that hadn't been spoken, but went without saying anyway, and approached him.

Mick looked briefly over his shoulder, forced himself to nod and gave me a small smile and then continued to rummage through his suitcase with laboriously knitted eyebrows.

The grin began, without me really wanting to or even being able to prevent it to start with. Since Mick had talked with Beth and knew he would be seeing her in just a few hours, his state had changed dramatically. This amazing calmness and self-control, which he had brought along from nowhere, began to evaporate visibly and allowed for a significant nervousness. It was really cute...

Mick lifted up one of his fancier looking shirts in front of him and looked at it critically, while I just shook my head and walked over to the hotel closet. I cast a quick glance at my friend's, through hard training, very muscular body, and his enviably brown surfer-skin - in the nowhere, it had to be quite sunny - and chose one of my favorite shirts: Elegant silk, dark ocean blue - tight enough to enhance the advantages of such a well-trained body, but casual enough to not provoke tearing of the seams with movement.

Mick had already slipped one arm into his crumpled shirt, when I pressed mine against his chest.

"But don't complain to me if she jumps you in the middle of all the guests and pulls you into one of the bathrooms or a supply-closet," I added to my requesting gesture.

Mick's eyebrows indeed succeeded in getting a bit closer to each other. "She wouldn't..."

"... do something like that? Nah, not your saintly Beth," I finished his sentence slightly annoyed and happily registered his hidden smile as he took the shirt and slipped into it without another word.

At the moment, I had to remind myself again and again that my friend had only been rescued a few weeks ago and that I still had to deal with him with consideration and attentiveness. When I had met him and Gabriel yesterday in the hotel lobby in the early hours, I had hardly recognized him. There had been little left of the sick, unstrung man who had left us four weeks ago. The dark circles under his eyes had almost disappeared, which was partially due to his sun-darkened skin and he had come back with a calmness that was really admirable in a situation like this. The old Mick's coolness and a large part of his humor had returned and contributed significantly to the fact that I just loved giving in to the illusion that everything was now back to normal and that I had my best friend back by my side safe and sound. Only Gabriel's words of warning, in a quiet private moment and the lack of Mick's typical vitality and warmth in his eyes had prevented me from giving into this illusion completely and tried, every now and then, to recall the events of the last six weeks in my mind.

With this thought and without intending to, my eyes wandered across Mick's chest, inspected the fine, but still clearly visible scars left in his skin by the bullets of the Legion – as if to remind him and all the others he meant something to, for the rest of his life, just how close he had come to death. For vampires, it was extremely unusual to retain highly visible scars because our skin healed so quickly and smoothly that you couldn't detect the most serious injuries, at least not with the naked eye.

Of course, Mick had been a human at the time we freed him from the hands of the Legion and the process of healing his wounds had therefore run very slowly to start with, but later the vampire in him had gradually healed them all– so, what was the problem? Maybe it was a mental thing...

Mick pulled me from my thoughts as he turned away from me and sat down on the couch with his shirt only half closed, and put on the dark socks he had just taken out of the suitcase next to him.

I cast a quick glance at my watch, quarter past ten - still enough time to torment my friend a little. Just enough to distract him from the challenge, _'We'll be going to a well-packed club where it will be confined and stuffy'_, of course. The more he concentrated on his meeting with Beth, the less likely it would be for him to think about the other people around him and the crowded room. What a good friend I was, again...!

"She sounded a little excited," I had to drop casually. Mick's gaze immediately flew up to me and I tried to look innocent.

"Did she?" The question was not meant seriously on his part. He must have noticed it also; thinking that this was going to, once again, receive a confirmation that she was awaiting their reunion as impatiently as he was.

"Yeah," I thought aloud, rubbing my thumb and forefinger broodingly over my chin. "After all, she just got through with an exciting job..."

The disappointment, which immediately appeared on Mick's face almost made me regret my remark. "Oh... yeah ... that's right," it slipped softly from his lips, and the second sock found its place on Mick's foot.

"... but on the other hand..."

Now his eyes were on me again. My my, what love was able to accomplish... This was almost too easy.

I decided to not torment him any further. "... she's certainly, like you, just as wound-up to finally see you again."

His eyes sought again contact with his feet. He plucked at the sock a bit awkwardly. "Yeah, maybe...," he murmured so softly that I had to smile after all.

"_Maybe_?" I asked and one of my eyebrows rose automatically. "So you're telling me that _your_ nervousness is only due to the fact that you're finally getting to visit a club again!"

Mick looked at me now, with knitted eyebrows and a slightly indignant expression in his eyes. "I... I'm not nervous," he lied to my face quite boldly and I could not help it: I let out a laugh.

"Perhaps 'nervous' isn't the right word," I considered under my friend's angry gaze. "'Paralyzed' – yeah, that works better!"

"I'm not..." Mick broke off with a stressed groan and shook his head. "Why do I even react to your comments at all...?"

"Because you know full well that behind them only hides a serious offer to talk about your fears regarding the upcoming encounter with Beth," I replied generously and sat down at once beside him. Mick looked up, a slight smirk on his lips.

" Josef - the specialist in relationship issues..."

"Oh, by no means," I replied modestly. "But I know you pretty well and have also become much closer to Beth and so..." I raised my hands invitingly, but let them fall again immediately. Suddenly a strange expression had crept into Mick's dark eyes, an expression I had never particularly liked...

"Did you?" he probed and his smile was not quite so genuine anymore. Not good... not good indeed. Not because I had not expected such a reaction – for I knew Mick only too well and it was clear to me that this issue was going to come up at some point - but because Mick's jealousy, if it reached its peak, could take on some very unpleasant traits and additionally it had really stung me a bit. From my point of view, I had not deserved such distrust - so I had to nip this very small flame of jealousy in the bud. To my good fortune, someone else took this task from me, this time.

Mick suddenly turned away from me and looked over to the door of the hotel suite and only seconds later I felt the reason for his behavior. A smell, very familiar to me now, came to my nose and then the door opened and Gabriel entered. He seemed in a hurry, took his mobile phone off his ear and walked briskly towards us both.

"Robert Duncan does indeed exist," were his first words addressed to us, "or rather, _did_ exist. He bit on a poison capsule, just as Tony's team caught him."

I closed my eyes and shook my head resigned. Yet another lead that came to nothing.

"But..."

I tore my eyes open again, full of hope for better news.

"... during the search of his office they came across a few things that might possibly help us," Gabriel added. "I'm going to meet Tony and the others right away. Can you handle Jason and Henry alone?"

His eyes went from me to Mick and then remained on his thoughtful face.

"It's only going to be an exchange of information, isn't it?" my friend probed.

"Well, you're also supposed to keep your eyes and ears open to try and figure out just how loyal, in fact, these two are," Gabriel replied honestly. "Surprise visits work really well for this."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and our friend Cynthia will show up in person," I interjected and with that broached a topic that had caused some concern in our community for the last few days.

"That would indeed be a pretty clear cut indication that they've both been deceiving the rest of the community for some time," Mick voiced my thoughts and Gabriel nodded affirmatively.

By working with the material Paul Ritchcroft had left with us and by our own research, we had been able to shed a little more light on the correlations between the Legion's and Cynthia Davis' transactions with the cure. It had dawned on us fairly quickly that she could not have handled the entire operation on her own but would have needed at least a rich businessman who could support her financially in her businesses. My first choice had been Lance - admittedly, not only because I would have blamed him for _any_ crime - but also because I simply couldn't stand him. Unfortunately, Gabriel had put his foot down with respect to this and claimed to be able to exclude him for good reasons.

Logan had brought the name Jason Burton into play after some thorough research. Jason was a fairly young vampire who had inherited, after his father's death, a huge fortune that included a number of nightclubs and bars, and at times threw large sums of money around. So he too wasn't afraid to sink money into risky, sometimes even dodgy businesses - merely because he found it interesting or exciting. It would be just like him to be twisted around the little finger of a shrewd woman like Cynthia and to be mesmerized into risky games with the Legion. And since Henry was his Sire and mentor, he too was certainly embedded deeply in this affair. Our task now was to find evidence for our speculation and to do it inconspicuously enough so our 'dear' friends would no longer be able to slip their heads out of the noose.

"Cynthia would have to know by now that the community is looking for her and certainly wouldn't be hanging around in any nightclubs," Gabriel replied calmly. "But there may be other guests who are behaving strangely in some way. You might even be able to catch Jason in the middle of a transaction or other suspicious activities..."

I nodded in agreement. "Ritchcroft will definitely need the remedy, if he plans to resume the research with Peterson. And I hardly think that there would supplier other than Cynthia."

"At least it didn't appear that way until now," Gabriel added and breathed deeply. His gaze was once again stuck to Mick, who had become totally absorbed in putting on his shoes. To hear the words 'research' and 'Peterson' in one sentence still seemed to be quite unpleasant for him.

"Are you sure that you want to go with Josef?" Gabriel asked him cautiously. I was probably not the only one worried whether two exciting events in one day would be too much for Mick - even though he had given the impression, so far, that he was indeed fully prepared and resilient again. "We could also try changing the teams somehow separate from this little mission."

Mick shook his head and then looked at him. "I... I think I should try, at least once, to move a little among other people. And if it becomes too stressful...," he shrugged his shoulders lightly, "... no one's going to keep me there."

"Not without regretting it deeply," I added, and Mick gave a little laugh.

"I don't think there will be any major problems," Gabriel said, smiling, and glanced at his watch. "I gotta go. If all goes according to plan, we'll meet in Los Angeles in two days."

I nodded and now found it much harder to keep smiling. In two days the next major meeting of the vampire community would take place, which should serve as an exchange of the latest developments and plans regarding the Legion. Lance would be back by then and maybe a few more of his loyal friends...

Gabriel's eyes already rested on Mick again. "Have you got everything you need for the next few days?"

Mick's answer was a silent nod.

"Good." Gabriel tried for a confident expression. "You really don't need to worry, Mick. The control is back and you know what you need to do, if you should lose it once again."

Again his words followed a short nod.

Gabriel took a deep breath and looked at me. His gaze told me he knew his new protégé was in good hands with me and somehow this made me proud.

"I'll see you in two days," he said again, then turned away and left my suite with a flowing cloak.

My gaze wandered to Mick. His eyes still rested on the door, but his thoughts seemed to occupy him so thoroughly that he didn't seem to perceive his environment for the moment, while the fingers of his left hand absently turned the broad ring adorning the forefinger of his right hand several times around itself.

I tilted my head almost imperceptibly and frowned. This ring had, for so long, been Mick's constant companion that I really had felt as if I had gotten a part of him back when Beth had given it to me in the darkest hours before Mick's rescue. And when Mick had left with Gabriel, I had simply felt _compelled_ to hand the jewel back to him, to tell him with this gesture that he would for sure become the old Mick again, that I myself firmly believed this.

In the past, I could never remember Mick touching this ring like he did now. This nervous habit was completely new and yet I had been able to watch it quite often in the last few hours. The message conveyed in this gesture, did not really please me, but it was useful, for it was just another way of reminding me that Mick was still not entirely his old self again. The ring belonged to his old self, to his old life - and seemed as though it didn't really fit him yet, was still much too palpable, not quite welcome. And somehow, I saw it as part of my job to change this. How difficult this would be - I wasn't really sure.

* * *

Beth felt like a sixteen-year-old just before her prom. No, in fact she was even more nervous, more restless than she had been back then. It was probably because it wouldn't be a Timothy Higgins who would soon be standing in front of her door to pick her up, but a Mick St. John. Well, he wouldn't actually be picking her up, but would meet her at the club, so they could act as if they were meeting there for the first time and in doing so watch for suspicious people. Music, dance, alcohol and a lot of people looking to have fun, those were probably the only similarities between the two situations - and the presence of a male person, she was terribly in love with and to whom she felt attracted to in a very physical way. Timothy had disappointed her dreams and desires back then, as he had explained to her, sex before marriage totally contradicted his morals and good upbringing. In that respect, Mick was thinking very differently, she had now learned several times in a very exciting way.

This thought alone made Beth's heart beat a little faster and awakened the butterflies in her lower abdomen immediately. Four weeks without mental and physical contact with Mick... this had felt like pure torture. Apart from all the worries that had consumed her at times, the withdrawal of sex had been one of the reasons for her emotional lows and had also caused the people around her to suffer at times. She was only human and of course she missed Mick so much in this way. The few passionate hours spent with him had just been so exciting, so intense and the thoughts of them together burned into her memory, allowing her little sleep. She simply had to have Mick in her proximity again, for her mental _and_ physical needs and she was absolutely sure that he felt the same way.

Of course, she had pictured in her mind, against all odds, what their first encounter would be like: ardent, passionate and... well, also pretty cheesy - with confessions of love, tender kisses and tears of happiness. She was just a typical woman with a slight tendency towards dramatics. That everything would definitely turn out different from what she pictured was quite clear to her - especially since Mick and her would have to act as if they didn't know each other. Josef and Alejandro had, concerning the change of teams and their many meetings, always been very careful, had always, with respect to the team, put emphasis on group and public meeting places with crowds, because they assumed that the men of the Legion and its allies had exact descriptions of them by now and that they would have their eyes and ears open for them. Another precaution was that no team would know exactly where the other team was, in case any of them were captured by the Legion. That way no one could tell were the others were, no matter what pressures the Legion put on them. They would know the towns they would stay in, but that was all they would know about each other. Any other actions and their successes or failures, would be exchanged usually by phone or in meetings and then the teams would be changed again so that no description of related persons had a permanent validity.

Beth had come to terms with never being able to remain in one place and with having to constantly change her appearance, to take on new roles and on nights like this the whole thing could even develop a certain charm - a small role play to fuel the tension between Mick and her could indeed become quite interesting. Not that they really needed that, but she had to get something positive out of this whole masquerade…

Beth had to laugh at herself when she quickly painted over her lips the last time in front of the mirror - of course with kiss-proof lipstick - and once again gave a fresh impetus to her dark red curls with her fingers. It felt strange again and again to catch sight of her, so altered self, in the mirror. Certainly, the dark red hair and green eyes were interesting enough and even became her, but somehow she felt as if she was looking into the face of a stranger and she couldn't quite get used to it. Because of that, the idea that she only had to play the role again for one night, was quite comforting. At least now the discomfort of the heavy wig she had had to wear the day before was no longer weighing on her, for she had decided to dye her own hair, at least for this evening with a dye that was easily rinsed out after the first wash. She wouldn't have even been able to last an hour in a club under a warm heavy wig. Of this she was sure.

Beth took a deep breath and then stood up. She almost winced as Simone came into the room, who, like Beth before, took both hands and run them through her currently pitch-black hair to give it a little more fullness.

"And? Ready?" she asked, eyeing Beth with a quick glance. "You look fantastic!"

Beth shrugged her shoulders and pulled the revealingly low-cut and quite short black dress, they had bought together in a split second, a little further down. Although she had a similar dress at home and had nothing against low-cut dresses, she was, if truth be told, not such an 'openhearted' type, and normally steered away from showing her charms in such a salient way. But Josef's information to act in the club, as if they would not know the two men and to appear as if they were looking for someone they could drag off, had seduced her and Simone into having a little fun with it and to dress accordingly. To describe Simone's dress as still a dress was almost misleading. With its short length and silky tightness, it looked more like a negligee than a dress and truly enhanced Simone's delicate, yet very sexy body.

Like so many times before, Beth had to once again confess, ungrudgingly, that Simone was a really beautiful woman who additionally exuded, even for Beth, a noticeable sex appeal. It was really hard to compete with such a woman and Beth's discomfort grew. She liked Simone, but to appear together with her in a nightclub, with so little fabric on her body, was a challenge she hadn't been involved in for a long time. They would certainly draw a lot of attention... even before meeting Josef and Mick. And if Mick happened to look at Simone in an explicit way, Beth's evening would be ruined. Of course she knew he wasn't seriously interested in the young lawyer, but she had not forgotten about this little 'biting-incident' in Mick's apartment yet and their relationship was still too new to cope with such glances toward other women without hurt. In Mexico, it had been different. There were no other women and therefore no competition, but here in the city...

Beth had looked forward to seeing Simone again and had even hugged her neck at the airport, as if they had been close friends for a long time. Even when Josef had called and told them about his plans, Beth had still been happy and content despite her excitement. She had received Simone's idea to 'dress to kill' with enthusiasm and had enjoyed buying the clothes. It was only when they had arrived back at the hotel and had gotten ready for the evening that the doubts had risen; Beth had started to think again about her encounter with Mick, and her joint appearance with Simone. For some stupid reason those pictures had played over and over in her mind's eye: Mick pressing his lips full of enjoyment on Simone's wrist and drinking her blood while she was giving the impression she was doing something quite different with him. And so Beth's self-doubts had resurfaced again and this... this damn rivalry which could no longer be banished from her mind.

"Beth?" Simone's slightly confused voice ripped her from her thoughts. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course...," she stammered, and quickly lowered her eyes, pretending she was looking for her purse. "I... I was just thinking about Mick," she added quickly, as she had found the soft top bag and had grabbed it.

Simone met her with a knowing smile. "You really don't need to worry - you will simply throw him for a loop! I just wish I had your curves!"

At once the blood shot into Beth's face and she sheepishly lowered her gaze again. Through the stress of the last few weeks, she had lost quite a bit of weight, but had always been blessed with a body that was naturally curvy and lost little of its femininity with the weight fluctuations. In her youth she had suffered because of this, now she was even a little proud of it. At least, as long as a tall, slim woman like Simone wasn't close by...

"I wish I had your legs," Beth replied, and finally dared to again look at her friend. Simone laughed.

"Thanks, but I can return the compliment." She stepped closer to Beth, grabbed her upper arms gently and looked at her intently. "Believe me, I know what you're going through. When I saw Josef yesterday for the first time in weeks, I was as excited as you are and it's given me a thousand thoughts and worries - all of which were unfounded." She began to smile. "Let's just say... we had a very intense, wonderful evening that will hopefully continue today. And I just _know_ it won't be any different for you and Mick..."

"But Mick ..."

Simone didn't let her continue. "Mick loves you, Beth. That's all that counts... and quite honestly, the way you look, even _I_ would drag you off!"

Beth had to laugh, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I... I'm just not that comfortable with this appearance. I look so... so alien. And it's not just the red hair and the contact lenses..."

"Every woman has two sides, Beth," Simone smiled. "A decent and a wicked one. You just have to give it a chance to wake up. And I bet tonight won't be the only evening that happens."

A sly smile slipped against Beth's will over her lips and Simone turned away from her with another laugh, to get her own bag.

Of course, her friend was once again fairly correct with her presumption. What she didn't know was that Beth had been drugged the last time she had let out her lascivious side and had completely lost control of herself. Back then she had walked to Mick's with only one thing on her mind: to sleep with him and in doing so deliberately cheat on Josh. Under the vampire drug her desire for Mick had grown so strong that any doubts, any holding back had vanished into thin air and had made her a slave of her own instincts. Beth still asked herself today, how narrow her escape had been. If she remembered correctly, there had been a moment when Mick had no longer been able to resist her seduction attempts, and had tried to kiss her. She had dodged him to fuel the tension between them further along with her retreat to the upper floor of his apartment but had unconsciously given him the chance to collect himself again. It could have happened that night... the wicked Beth had a very appealing effect on Mick. And certainly she would have that affect on him again. The only question was whether Beth was capable of teasing the Vamp out of herself on her own, without looking pretentious or put on.

And an entirely different question was whether it made any sense to engage in such a game at all - as attractive as it might seem. Besides, they weren't really visiting the club to have fun, but to do a smaller job and to again mix the teams up. Her reunion with Mick was just a positive side effect of the whole affair, and certainly there was no real opportunity to get closer to each other in a not quite so decent way. Not while they were among other people. Maybe later in the hotel...

With this thought in mind, Beth instantly became a lot warmer and a gentle tingling spread in her interior. There it was again the anxiety and excitement that assailed her in waves and made her body vibrate. This man could drive her out of her mind some times!

Simone appeared in the doorway and gave her a warm, encouraging, smile. Then she lifted up her nose in mocked arrogance.

"Shall we, Amber?" she squeaked and Beth had to refrain from laughing.

"But of course, Daphne," she answered just as artificially and sauntered, in her far too high heels, toward the open door.

"Let's fish the gorgeous boys," Simone grinned and winked at her briefly before she sailed through the door. The laughter fought its way over Beth's lips and echoed in the hallway of the hotel. She took a deep breath again.

'Here you go, Turner!' she demanded to herself, before she walked out. 'Hook that man!'


	4. Masquerade

_Still damn hot here but I'll hold on. Here's the next chapter. It was so great again to read your reviews. Love that so much and at hot times like this it really helps to still sit down in front of the PC and go on writing. Not that easy at the moment… But I'll try to keep this pace and post the next chapter at Sunday again as I promised. See you then, Jenna_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**M****asquerade**

* * *

"_We are not the masks we wear… But if we have to do it for too long, won't we become like them?"_

_Aya Yven, (*1986) _

* * *

To read emotions from the face or the posture of a vampire was usually a difficult task, for the low blood pressure and extreme control over their bodily functions allowed them to stay in most situations expressionless and unemotional - at least until the moment of transformation. However, very young vampires were not really able to control their bodies to this degree and in some excited situations almost slipped back into their previous human behavior patterns again.

Jason was so shocked by my appearance in his small, glass-enclosed private office above the dance floor of his club, that he, as I stepped through the door, not only noticeably lost color, but also transformed at once out of sheer fright. I knew it was a defensive hiss that caught in his throat, as I walked towards him with an appreciatively cool smile on my face, effortlessly pushing his bodyguard out of the way, who hesitantly tried to block me.

"Jo... Josef," Jason stammered freeing himself from the half-naked blonde who still clung to his neck, not willing to part with him now. The young girl looked at me coquettishly before lasciviously settling down on the couch behind her, pulling her extremely tight fitting top up just enough to cover the nipples of her ample breasts so I was no longer distracted by her.

Jason's eyes grew dark again and I noticed how he breathed in quickly, struggling to regain his composure. "Have you..."

"... tried to make an appointment with you?" I asked especially friendly, as I could see how he tried to turn back with great difficulty. At the same I focused my senses on what would usually remained hidden from normal people: The atmosphere in the room, the behavior of the other attendants, the signs Jason's tense body gave off. It was good that I was here, especially today. Something peculiar was going on. Jason was hiding something and I was sure that these three people before me, had just, a few minutes earlier, talked about something they hadn't wanted me to overhear. Even vampires could sometimes behave overly conspicuous. The look Jason gave his bodyguard was brief, but I knew immediately what it meant, and turned quickly to the large, dark-skinned man who was about to move towards the door.

"Oh, please, it would be so nice if the door remained closed first of all and that no one leaves," I said quietly and let my eyes flash bright. "This might confuse my friends out there a little..."

The man stopped and looked at Jason with a questioning expression. The young vampire had no other choice but to give him a nod, for he knew just how powerful the vampires behind me were.

"Then... have a seat," he suggested with a slightly husky voice, pointing to the cozy seating area he was standing in front of. It didn't escape me that his eyes flew briefly to the clock next to me, before he himself settled on one of the soft, pale leather armchairs.

I sent the bodyguard a requesting gesture and the man obeyed with a pinched expression, sat down beside the Blonde who was eyeing me up noticeably. I took the other armchair, and turned immediately to Jason. The plan had been in reality to make this all seem like a nice surprise visit just to exchange information, but somehow the urge to get down to business had struck me this evening.

"How's business, Jason," I asked kindly and the addressed one tried to smile back just as friendly.

"One gets by," he replied evasively. "In these hard times it can be pretty difficult. I sometimes wonder how _you_ manage it. After all, you have so many other things to take care of..."

"I have some very trust-worthy and capable employees who keep my business running smoothly when I'm otherwise tied up," I said calmly and leaned back a little in my very comfortable chair. Again I caught Jason sliding a quick glance at the clock. It was only one breath, but I was sure I saw something like worry flash in his dark eyes. It seemed as though someone had an urgent appointment that I was not supposed to know about. Very interesting...

"Why are you here exactly?" Jason came right to the point. "I wouldn't think it was just to have a little chat with me. Do you need my help with something... or money?"

"No, no," I said and tilted my head slightly, eyeing him up noticeably. Let's see just how nervous I could still make the man.

Jason waited, looked at me tense, but no further words slipped from my lips. Confusion was shown on his boyish features.

"Well… what then?"

I smiled and took another minute to look at him at length. I watched as his Adam's apple move up and down, his eyes wandered again to the clock and he ran his tongue a little erratically over his rosy lips.

"Josef?"

"There are some ugly rumors..." I brought out with a serious expression and said nothing more again. I could feel just how much my vague statement tormented him.

"Rumors about me?" He acted surprised, raised his eyebrows and pressed his hand in an exaggerated gesture against his chest. What an amateur performance!

"What do _you_ think?" I replied with a false smile.

Jason acted as if he needed a minute to think about it. He knitted his brows thoughtfully and avoided my gaze by looking at his blonde girlfriend, who plucked absent mindedly, at the thin strap of her glittering shirt, while she thoroughly inspected her well-formed breasts. She didn't seem to be all that concerned with her boyfriend's misery.

"Well, I'm rich and successful. I'm sure there are plenty of envious people in the world who might want to put one rumor or another in circulation...," Jason evaded me again somewhat helpless. "What exactly am I accused of?"

"Oh..." I took a deep breath taking my time by looking around the room. Walls covered with crimson silk - the retro look was probably extremely popular with the young rich people again. "...this and that... your decadent lifestyle, cowardice, sprawling selfishness... ah, yes..." My eyes flew back to him and bored into his. "... and cooperation with the enemy."

There it was, the twitch in his eyes I had been waiting for. And yet, it still shocked me, for it told me that we had in some way been right about our assumption. Either Jason himself was involved in the transactions with the Legion or knew the person who had betrayed the community in such a threatening manner, and was an accomplice, so to speak. Of course he tried to act as if my words had not bothered him to any great extent - he could not have known that it was already too late to do so. Not only had _he_ betrayed himself, but also his two friends, who all of a sudden looked at me a little more carefully.

He laughed artificially. "That's not only stupid, it's outrageous! Why should I cooperate with the Legion? That would be downright suicidal! Quite apart from the fact that this organization would never do business with vampires."

"What was it a wise man once said?" I replied, smiling, and leaned forward slightly toward him. "Two wrongs don't make a right. It may be because you're still too young to know about these things Jason, but the common history of the vampires and the Legion is full of treachery and deceit, of dishonesty and selfishness. Vampires may belong to a species which could in reality have an edge over the human race but the problem is that they don't usually change their character after being turned and therefore have the same mental weaknesses as humans do: Greed, selfishness, cowardice and so on..."

I let him know with one single glance that in my opinion these attributes fit his character perfectly. "It's happened over and over again that in critical situations, vampires, as well humans, have changed sides in order to save their own necks, or - even worse – tried to make a profit out of the whole affair. For example by selling things to the Legion, they urgently need - no matter what damage this trade may cause the Vampire community... "

Jason Adam's apple began to move once again and the fear in his eyes was almost impossible to ignore.

"What you might not be aware of is that these traitors have always been caught and have, for their unscrupulous trade, received their fair punishment." I shook my head sadly and pretended to look at Jason with compassion. "A distressed community of vampires can be so cruel... All the aggression and the uncontrollable rage... Death sometimes takes awhile..."

Yes, there they were, the first drops of sweat on Jason's forehead. The fear began to leave marks on his body, seemed to affect him now almost like a human. Young, weak vampires were still so easy to see through...

"However, some, have been smart enough to make an about-face in time to help, by providing information, to catch the _real_ perpetrators of the crimes against the community," I added seriously, and the long break I took between my words affected him even more. So it wasn't I, who broke the silence between us again, but Jason's small cough.

"Let... let's just say I know one or two vampires who have done business with the Legion," it slipped very quietly from his lips. "Let's say, I might be able to lead you to these people... would that be sufficient to... to take the burden of these false accusations from my shoulders?"

I looked at him for a moment with a thoughtful frown. Actually, I had him right where I wanted him. I just found it incredibly hard to believe that I had actually achieved my aim so quickly. "It all depends on whether we can do anything with the name provided," I replied.

Jason nodded overzealously, and cleared his throat again. "Cynthia Xavier Davis."

* * *

The club was one of the most elegant Beth had ever set a foot in, in her life; it was huge, ornate and expensive, both in the architecture and interior design. And it was incredibly well attended. The queue outside the entrance had been surprisingly long. Beth and Simone had, only to quickly, been admitted into the nightclub mainly because of their revealing, but still expensive-looking clothes, as well as the special ID cards they showed, which had left the ogling doormen, stepping aside so fast, that one of them nearly knocked over the barrier.

The round, fully mirrored tunnel, through which they entered, led directly to a large platform with a cloakroom, overlooking the large dance floor, on which already many sweaty bodies were dancing to the rhythm of the booming beats of the powerful sound system. The dance floor was framed by a long bar and several sitting areas, separated by foliage and stone walls, which were equipped with plush sofas, chairs and glass tables. The light there was, in contrast to the bright flashing lights of the dance floor, subdued and most of the couples who came there quickly moved much closer to each other.

Beth, however, wasn't interested in all of that. She had only approached the railing to allow her gaze to wander searchingly around the room, while Simone brought their jackets to the cloakroom. Beth's hand clutched the strap of her bag nervously, as her eyes slid restlessly over the many faces below and her heart was again pounding almost painfully against her ribs. As far as she knew, Mick and Josef were already here, but she wasn't sure whether Mick was in the private room in the VIP area of the club, opposite to where she stood, or if he was looking for suspicious persons somewhere in the middle of the crowd of visitors. Unfortunately, the windows of the posh rooms were mirrored and she was unable to see what was going on inside.

"And...?" Simone's gentle voice close to her caused Beth to wince slightly. "Have you located your sweetheart yet?"

The young lawyer gave her a coy smile and raised her eyebrows a bit.

"No," Beth replied with slight resignation in her voice. "It's just too crowded and dark in here." She sighed and turned back to the dance floor.

"What about the bar?" Simone suggested and now also stepped up to the balustrade. "Surely he wouldn't be in the middle of that madness..."

Beth didn't respond to her friend's question. She was frozen in place and her heart suddenly stopped its work for a moment, only to restart in record time. 'Bar' had been an excellent suggestion. A tall, dark-haired, incredibly attractive man leaned on the counter there and watched, from a safe distance, the lively bustle of the other patrons. Beth recognized him right away. His figure, his posture, and the way he now and then sipped at his drink and let his eyes wander...

She could feel her mouth go totally dry, and her legs became wobbly. Good Lord, this was really ridiculous! That was Mick, _her_ Mick, her friend and soul mate, the man she loved... Oh, God, it really was Mick!

"So, what are you waiting for?" She only vaguely perceived Simone's voice but wasn't able to tear her eyes away from Mick's face long enough to turn to her. Instead, she just nodded and automatically set into motion, walked down the stairs with her wobbly legs and prayed to God that she didn't stumble in these high-heels and break her neck in her love frenzy. She was relieved when she finally reached the solid ground of the lower floor, even when the throng of people robbed her of the opportunity to target her sights on Mick. Surrounded by the chaos, she could only see the neon sign above the stately bar, which she now headed for slowly. She felt the other men's interested gazes, who again and again let their eyes roam eagerly over her body, gaining with each step she took, more and more confidence.

'You're Amber Patricia Rudwell,' she told herself inwardly. 'You're here to catch the hottest guy in the club and as always, you _will_ get what you want.'

A tall blond man, she was trying to push past, touched her arm with a long-drawn out "Heeeey…" and beamed at her. "Where ya headin to in such a hurry?"

Beth smiled back, but moved on in the direction of the bar. "At least, not into your arms," she replied with a slightly smoky voice and turned away from him. She knew he would follow her, like the other dark-haired guy, who grinned broadly at her when she was forced by the crowd into unwanted physical contact with him just to be able to move forward. The interest of the male population was flattering – though, for the most part, it was probably due to her choice of clothes and the promises, one could easily associate with them concerning the rest of the evening - but that would not diminish her excitement and the tension. She was accustomed to men's interest in her, for with her feminine curves, she fell into the predatory patterns of many men. But, what she would probably never get used to was the emotional storm that overcame her each time she met Mick after a long separation.

The bar was now within reach. She could see Mick's shape... and another person's! A person with long, slender legs that ended in a very short skirt.

The jealousy surfaced quickly and fiercely, allowing adrenaline to shoot into her bloodstream and anger boil up inside her. She had lost sight of this guy for just one minute and the next moment another woman was hanging in his arms! Well, she wasn't actually hanging in his arms, but only sitting next to him, but for Beth, she was leaning towards him much too close for her comfort and now even touched the forearm he briefly propped himself up on the counter with.

"Did it actually hurt?" Beth heard a deep voice next to her.

"When I fell from heaven?" Beth answered back unnerved and didn't even bother turning around to the next candidate trying to win her favor. Instead, she simply walked on towards Mick, watching like a hawk, as he said something to the admittedly very pretty brunette, and the young woman threw her head back in laughter, again groping his arm. Heat rose in Beth and she unconsciously clenched her hands into fists.

'Stay cool... just stay cool,' she told herself. 'This is quite harmless. He's only trying to be friendly. And he's crazy about you but if he sees you like this...'

There it was, the glance in her direction, as if someone had whispered to him right at that moment to turn around. His gaze was glued to her, roamed with growing admiration over her body, down and up again, and caused every single hair on her skin to stand up. Instantly it was there, lit up in his beautiful eyes, intently looking at her, the desire that she too felt at once, that made her pulse rise even more and sparked a strong urge in her to simply rush to him, to throw herself into his arms and kiss him passionately.

But she held strong and remained composed. She could resist this temptation, these blazing eyes, and this terribly attractive man, who nearly devoured her with his eyes, as she - again all in her role - overcame the small distance between them with swaying hips and a lascivious smile on her lips. The brunette was trying to win back Mick's attention by touching his arm once again, but this didn't bother Beth anymore. She knew she had won even before she had spoken a single word. Mick's glance sank into her deep cleavage as she stopped before him and she took the opportunity to also eye him up now in more detail. His hair had grown noticeably and no longer seemed to be handled as easily as it had been a few weeks ago. A few hairs stood away from his head a little and with difficulty Beth resisted the urge to smooth them down, even though she knew that this was not possible. Curly hair, even in this short state was not easy to handle and besides it gave Mick, along with the stubbles, that natural sex appeal, which she found so irresistible. And he had become so tanned, looked really healthy and relaxed as if he had just arrived from holiday. Her gaze wandered on down, over his broad shoulders, his chest... shirts like these should actually be banned, for the silky fabric clung so temptingly close to his skin and emphasized every muscle hidden beneath it.

Beth lifted her face when she noticed that Mick's eyes had long since returned to her face. His lips - oh, damn, those sensual lips - had lifted into a mischievous smile.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked with a strikingly hoarse voice.

Beth smiled back, in such a seductive manner, that she almost surprised herself. Her eyes wandered down his body provocatively and then found themselves on his face again.

"We'll see," she replied in this smoky tone of voice that really wasn't like her, and pushed past him up to the counter, leaned over and immediately had the attention of the bartender. The fact that she pressed her breast for a moment against the back of Mick's hand was more intent than chance.

"A _Sex on the Beach_, please," she ordered and pulled back, searching Mick's gaze again. Of course, his eyes rested on her face and the glow that was so clearly evident in them now caused a pleasant warmth in the lower part of her body. She could feel how much he longed to touch her, to pull her close to his body and to kiss her...

"I really like this," she whispered to him, underlining the ambiguity of her remark by another seductive smile. She saw Mick swallow. His eyes wandered to her lips and then down again.

"Uh... excuse me?" she heard an indignant voice behind her and turned around reluctantly. The pretty brunette's brown eyes bored furiously into hers. "We were talking here!"

It was hard to say what upset the woman more, the disruption of their conversation or Mick's obvious interest in Beth.

"Oh..." Beth looked innocently from Mick to the young woman. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you were here together..."

"We're not!" Mick replied at once to Beth's complete satisfaction and she rewarded him with a small smile.

"But we _were_ just about to get to know one another," replied the brunette with a false smile.

"Ma'am..." The bartender made himself felt behind Beth and she turned to him, took the drink with a beaming smile from his hand. To her surprise, he raised his hands as she reached for her bag to get her purse out.

"This is from the man over there," he explained, pointing to the blond guy who had tried to gain her attention earlier and now sat, not too far away from her, at the bar, holding up his drink in a cheer to her. She nodded to him with a coquettish smile, ignoring Mick's disapproving snorting and turned instead to her 'rival'.

"Then I won't bother you two any longer," she said charmingly, turned slightly and looked at Mick with a gaze that could cause the blood of any man to boil. A gaze that could only mean one thing: 'You want me? Then come and get me!'

"Perhaps there may be another time when you'll have the opportunity to _help_ me...," she smiled at him and enjoyed the intensity of the growing sexual tension that was clearly building between them. She decided not to touch him, even if everything in her screamed for her to do it. She knew this was exactly what was needed to further fuel his desire for her. She simply walked away instead, pushing her way through the crowd of people amusing themselves and in doing so, produced this sensual sway with her hips, which brought most men to very indecent thoughts. Her wicked side had awakened and this time without having to resort to a certain drug. Her real mission was almost forgotten. The long separation had taken its toll on her mind and her instincts took control over her actions. 'Seducing Mick' was now the number one objective on her priority list and she was sure she would achieve this goal very quickly. She could sense that he had followed her like a hypnotized rabbit.

* * *

Jason's sudden change of mind and the resulting openness not only surprised me it almost knocked me over. For a few heartbeats, I wasn't sure how to respond to his betrayal of his allies and stared at him in disbelief. I shook my head to free my mind from the grip of astonishment.

"You... you know where Cynthia is?" I asked, not nearly as cool as I would have liked.

"Not directly," Jason gave back quickly. "I only know of someone who may know where she is..."

"Henry?"

Jason almost winced and his eyes widened in horror. "Why... why Henry? I haven't mentioned him at all! Henry has nothing to do with this affair, nothing!"

It was hard for me not to laugh. But his facial expression and the excitement that came over him proved him a liar. If he wanted to get away with lying to a Josef Kostan, he'd have to be a little cleverer than that. I slid forward slightly on my seat and propped my elbows on my thighs. Jason's bodyguard also straightened up a little more and looked at me warningly, which didn't bother me in the slightest.

"Listen, Jason," I asked of him gently. "We can solve this whole thing in one of two ways: Either you are lying to me from start to finish and I'll listen to that for a little while before breaking your neck or you cooperate with us and I put in a good word for you with the Council. This means that you'll need to be honest with me and answer all my questions truthfully..."

I watched his eyes fly to the clock on the wall again.

"... and finally you're going to tell me exactly who you're expecting here," I added with a piercing voice and this time Jason in fact winced.

"Expect? I..." He trailed off as he received my threatening gaze.

"So?" I probed and he looked desperately at the ground, as if searching for a hole he could crawl into at the last second.

"Who's arriving here, Jason?" I jostled.

"Henry," he replied very quietly and lifted his eyes, looking at me tormented.

"Surely that's not all!"

"Maybe a few other people," Jason muttered reluctantly and I pricked up my ears. That was indeed not good.

"What people?" I probed immediately. "Other vampires? Cynthia?"

He shook his head and I had a sense of foreboding.

"_Legionnaires_," I hissed.

No reaction. But that said it all. "A strike force?"

"No, no," Jason exclaimed in a slightly whining tone. "They're always the same, one man with a few bodyguards. All together, there are six of them and they're only coming here to pick something up..."

"Something _you're_ providing them with?" I growled furiously.

"Not me! Cynthia! She brings it to me and I... I just pass it along to them!"

"And I'm sure there's a nice little profit in it for you." I got up and Jason ducked his head, made himself very small in his chair, while his bodyguard jumped up and immediately stepped in front of him. I, however, only reached inside the pocket of my jacket, frowning, pulled out a small device that Max had quietly passed to me earlier during our brief meeting in the club, and pressed one of the buttons.

Jason pushed his gorilla aside, and rose now as well. "Listen, Josef, don't think I've betrayed the vampire community all the time. I stopped these transactions, when the battles started up again. But they came here and threatened me and set a deadline for me to get the stuff for them. I had no other choice, you really have to believe me..."

"When are they coming?" I interrupted him brusquely.

Jason needed a moment to collect himself. "Any moment," he admitted softly.

"Will they walk through the club?"

Jason nodded and I gritted my teeth. Not good. Mick was out there among the guests. He'd already admitted to being somewhat strained and would probably not handle this trial of Jason's so well. If the Legion appeared down there now and Mick recognized any of them... I really didn't want to end that thought.

I felt Max and Kurt near the door and turned to them at exactly the moment they opened it and entered.

Max quickly surmised there was no imminent threat and gave me a questioning look.

"Seems as if this whole task is becoming a real operation," I said. "We need reinforcements as quickly as possible. A few of the Legion's people will be showing up any minute to pick up a package. They'll most likely belong to the part of the Legion that's captured Peterson, so it's incredibly important to take them alive."

Max proved that his mind could work as fast as mine. "What about Mick?" was his next question. "He has to leave and as quickly as possible!"

Max nodded to his friend, who immediately disappeared out of the door and I turned to Jason.

"Is there anything else that we better know about?" I growled at him and he quickly shook his head.

"What about Cynthia? Will she be showing up here too?"

"No, she was here last night."

I had to breathe deeply to push back the wave of hatred that swept over me again. The fact that this woman had still dared to continue contact with the Legion, even though half of the vampire community was after her, was simply outrageous!

"And what does Henry want here?" I brought out pressed.

"He wanted to talk with this man, this Kinley or whatever his name is and ensure that it's the last time he appears here," Jason explained with a shaky voice.

I frowned to show him how much I doubted his statement. Henry was an outright coward. Hard to imagine that he'd show up here as a hero who just wanted to free his fledgling from the iron grip of the enemy. At least that's what Jason seemed to believe because he didn't give me the impression he was lying.

"The stuff the Legion wants - where is it?" I asked sternly.

Jason inhaled resigned and walked toward the small safe that was inset in the only non-glass wall. He turned the combination lock a few times, opened the door and pulled out a small, simple package, which he handed to me without further resistance.

I sat down again in the armchair and felt Max step up beside me, watching tense, as I opened the package with flying fingers. I couldn't help it. My heart was beating a few beats faster. I had never held the 'Cure' in my own hands, had only heard of this mystery...

I was all the more confused, when I next found to two small glasses with a strange, crumbly red substance and few vials of blood. Vampire blood - I could smell this immediately. Old vampire blood, with a smell that was strangely familiar to me...

"Vampire blood?" Max voiced my own confusion. "Haven't they collected enough themselves by now?"

The gentle vibration of my mobile unfortunately kept me from giving Jason another grilling. It took me only a few seconds to respond to the call and I uttered a not too friendly "Yeah!"

"I need a little help here," roared Kurt's voice towards me next to the painfully loud music in the background. "This club is too big even for me and too crowded to find Mick so quickly. He's not at the bar anymore."

I closed my eyes for a moment unnerved. "Okay, I'll come down," I replied and ended the call. My eyes flew back over to Max. "Don't let him get away. I'll be back. And if Henry shows up, ask him to kindly have a seat and wait."

Max nodded and I turned on my heel and left the room. A queasy feeling deep inside me told me we didn't have much time.

* * *

Beth headed purposefully for the area of the club, which was far less crowded and bathed in a dim twilight. Just before the wall, covered with dark blue silk, she stopped, turned around and leaned against it in a highly seductive pose, holding her cocktail coolly in one hand. She was enjoying every minute of her role as a man-eater and it caused this energetic tingling in her body she loved so much. Of course, her need to simply enclose Mick in her arms and hold him, to let him feel how much she had missed him, was still incredibly strong, but since she wasn't allowed to let herself go and was forced to play this role... why shouldn't she make the best of it and enjoy their roles as two complete strangers and quickly get a little closer to each other?

Her heart sped up its pace once more, as Mick pushed past a few other guests and headed straight towards her with a look in his eyes that shot cold-hot showers through her body. Apparently he was more stirred up by this little role-playing game than she had planned. His eyes clearly devoured her and suddenly Beth had the feeling that his movements had become inherently predatory and lurking. The heat in the lower part of her body grew steadily until Mick finally stopped directly in front of her. There it was, this irresistible half-smile that caused, along with the immoral glint in his eyes, a pleasant pull in her abdomen. And his wonderful smell: soap, aftershave... Mick ... so undeniably Mick...

It was hard for her to resist grabbing him by the collar and pulling him down to her to kiss him deeply, but she could still refrain, was still strong enough...

Apparently _he_ was not, because he raised his hand to the height of her shoulders and touched one of her dark red curls, dangling just above her deep neckline and let it slowly slip through his fingers.

"Is this permanent?" he murmured to her with a slight hoarseness to his voice. She wasn't sure if he meant her hair color or her behavior.

"Perhaps," she lied with a small smile and put her cocktail down on one of the small glass tables that stood nearby, bringing her closer to Mick in doing so, which was really not intentional at the time. She could feel how he inhaled her scent, could feel his warm breath on the sensitive skin of her neck and quickly leaned back against the wall.

"Do you like it?" she asked with that seductive tone of voice, now considerably more shaky on her legs because Mick had moved even closer and the heat of his body became obviously noticeable to her. He supported himself with one arm over her head against the wall and leaned in a little towards her. "I actually fancy blondes," he whispered to her and his eyes drifted once more down to her neckline.

"What a shame," she replied softly and allowed her eyes to also roam over his so delicious body. It seemed to her as if he had made up for the loss of muscles from last year, at least the silky fabric of his shirt could barely conceal the rippling of his seductively taut body through it. And he was so enviable tanned... this beautiful brown skin, which was presented by the open top buttons of his shirt. It was slowly becoming agonizing not to touch him. Beth forced herself to lift her eyes again and look at his face, into his sparkling, in this light, almost dark brown appearing eyes. Had his face been this close before? Had she felt his breath on her lips before?

"But I can always make an exception," Mick let her know and his eyes slid slowly over her lips. Beth's heart didn't just beat anymore, it hammered all the way up into her throat and her need to kiss him, to finally feel him, taste him after these four tormenting weeks of separation became almost unbearable. Yet she persevered, stayed where she was, and smiled at him seductively.

"Are you sure?" she asked softly, and this time she was sure that his face was closer, for it was now only a few millimeters away. She also moved as well, tilted her head slightly, just before their lips could touch, and brought her mouth close to his ear.

"Me too," she whispered, and felt a strong urge to add something more, something that she had said to him once before in a similar situation.

"I wanna be close to you," she whispered and in doing so her lips grazed his ear lobe, causing small shivers to run down her spine.

And just like then, she stopped again, feeling that he wanted to kiss her, and pulled back from him to savor the allure of the situation even further. Only this time there was not as much space as then, for the wall was directly behind her. It was the heat of his quick breath that first met her lips, then his lips followed, pressed impetuously on hers, took hungry possession of her mouth and challenged her to a kiss that took away Beth's breath and eliminated every spark of reason in her mind. Her longing and desire forged ahead in a deep moan and she automatically dug her fingers into the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer to her. It was her tongue, which pushed between his so wonderfully warm, soft lips and eagerly sought contact with his tongue, deepening the kiss that soon they both had barely enough air to breathe. When she got a little dizzy, she pulled back, pushed him slightly away from her and tried with a deep breath to inhale air into her lungs, her eyes still resting on this sensual lips, so close to her. She had to touch them, had to follow their contours with her fingers, enjoying it, as these touches caused his blood to boil even more. Mick's chest rose and fell with two further, uncontrolled breaths. He pulled her hand gently out of the way and closed the small gap between their bodies to not only press his warm lips to hers again, but to create a much closer more intimate physical contact, that another soft groan escaped Beth's throat and this time she could do nothing else but to wrap her arms around his neck and cling to him. He felt so wonderful, so firm and strong, so warm, so exciting. She wanted him... immediately. Forgotten were all the other people around her, her innocent fantasy of a dramatic-romantic reunion. What she needed now was sex. Quick, breathtaking sex, somewhere in a quiet place, quite near here.

Only she could not tear herself away from Mick's lips long enough to look around. She just had to go on kissing him, deeply and hungrily, had to press her body to him, feel him in every possible way through the thin fabric of her dress. Oh, God, he felt so good... caused a state of arousal in her body that was unbearable. She uttered a small sound of protest as he broke his lips away from hers and acted as if he was moving away from her. With a violently beating heart she perceived that he was looking around, breathing heavily turned a bit in her possessive grip. Then his eyes found her gaze again. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, there was no doubt about it, and apparently the same thought had come to his mind as hers, for he ran his hands up her arms and gently pulled her firm grip from around his neck. He didn't let go of her completely. His large, warm hand closed around hers, as he turned, and again pushed past the other people standing on the edge of the crowded dance floor, heading for one of the exits in their vicinity, leading her there carefully.

Beth followed him all too willingly and the closer they came to the door, the more excited, the more aroused she got. 'Vamp' Beth got what she wanted, and 'good' Beth was more than glad.

Surprisingly Mick stopped in his tracks shortly before they reached their destination, so that she almost bumped into him. Not that she would have disliked it – any kind of physical contact with Mick was currently welcome - but she noticed at once that he was suddenly completely tense, and his gaze was not directed at the door, but aimed at a much more remote area of the discotheque. He let go of her hand.

"Mick?" she asked worried, but he did not respond, just continued to stare past her, with an expression on his face that troubled her deeply. There was horror in his eyes, horror that quickly evaporated and made room for something else. Something that Beth was afraid of: hatred and bloodlust.

She tried to look over the heads of the other people to see what Mick had discovered there in the crowd, but she had to give up in resignation. She was simply too small. She laid a hand on Mick's arm, trying to regain his attention, but he didn't respond, was still petrified, as if someone had pushed a button inside him.

Beth looked around again, now with a fast beating heart, peering past the other guests over to the VIP area. Where the hell was Josef?

She swirled around shocked, when her hand lost contact with Mick's arm and found with dismay that he had set into motion, pushing smoothly and fairly quickly through the crowd.

"Mick!" she cried out loudly and tried to follow him. But that was easier said than done. She was not nearly as strong and tall as he was and had much more problems moving forward. Desperation was added to her fear now. Someone had to stop Mick before he did something stupid. And somehow she knew that she herself would not be fast enough or strong enough to be that someone.


	5. Hatred

_Yeah – the heat is gone for a few days and I feel quite good. My muse is back. So here's the next chapter for you. Thank you so, so much for your inspiring feedback. It's great to write and translate for people who really appreciate my work and effort. Feel hugged. Will be back at Thursday with the next chapter. Best wishes, Jenna_

_Translated by: Francis_

_Beta read by: Jo1027_

* * *

**H****atred **

* * *

_**"The rage can calm down, but the real hatred, growing from a bitter, ill-treated heart, takes root in the whole being, it is a silently continuing act of impotent revenge." **_

___**Wilhelmine of Hillern, (1836 - 1916)**_

_**

* * *

**_

_"Tighten up the ties, Elias! He struggles too much!"… "How does that feel, huh? Afraid? Does it hurt?"… "Have you had enough yet_?"

He could hear the voices. They were back in his head, pale and thin. They brought back the pictures in such quick succession that he stopped breathing; memories of what they'd done, what they'd said and what he'd had to endure. This hate, this anger, this pain, this helplessness...

The panic was driven away quickly. The mad rage, the abysmal hatred, they were stronger causing his heart to beat violently within his chest and making him forget where he was, what he had learned and what was important when he got into this kind of situation. Hate was all that mattered at this moment, hate was what activated the immense energy in his body, shot it through his veins, his muscles, his flesh and awakened it... it… the beast within him. It was so strong, so fast, so powerful. And he needed it now, no matter what this feeble human in his heart asked from him, no matter what the consequences of his behavior could be to himself. The beast would tear this man to pieces, this monster who had just vanished behind one of the more well-hidden doors that led into the back rooms of the club. This man whose face had been burned deeply into his memory, his voice whose mocking laughter he sometimes could hear in his dreams at night.

Mick barely noticed the many other people around him; his anger made him blind to what surrounded him. They were just lifeless dolls that he needed to push out of the way from time to time in order to move faster. It was not yet the right time to use his full strength... not the right time. Only his senses were working at full speed, focused on the door and what was happening behind it. The steps, the voices, a hallway… definitely. Where did the hallway lead?

He had reached the door and focused again. They would not hear him as they were already far enough away. He pressed the latch down gently, opened the door and stopped. There was no one there to see.

The urge to keep running and to throw himself into the back of his enemies was strong but the beast was held back and bowed to the cool, clear instructions given by his vampiric mind. Mick moved carefully into the hall following the scent of these people, listening to the sounds that they made.

"I don't know, something's wrong," he heard one of the men say. "This Jason person has always been in the front of the club and has accompanied us..."

"Hush ..."

An unpleasant shiver crawled over Mick's back causing his muscles to tremble and he stopped, breathing heavily and haltingly. He had to fight these violent, horrific memories that made his whole body quiver, not with fear but with hatred so powerful that it was hard for him to not immediately yell at them, overthrow and mangle them and spread their guts on the dusty ground.

"What?" another voice hissed, confused.

"Come along!"

That voice...

"_Well, can you still stand more? You can definitely stand even more! Absolutely!"_

Mick clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth firmly together trying to rid himself of the memories, of these voices which penetrated his mind so terribly painfully and hampered its work. Focus... Focus... Breathe ... Control... Control...

Somewhere a door opened and the men disappeared. Mick ran off again, now even more cautious than before. The beast in him roared and growled with impatience, but he pulled himself together and drove his nails into his palms to create a distraction against the burning pressure in his chest. His eyes flew over the smooth walls of the hallway, to the ceiling and finally stopped by one of the grates covering the entry into one of the air shafts. He was now standing directly under it and closed his eyes trying harder to focus.

They were whispering, whispering because they knew that he was hunting them. He could hear the release of the safety catch on their weapons and looked up at the ceiling. He did not need much strength to jump up and move the cover off the air shaft. Another leap and he pulled himself up effortlessly, climbing almost soundlessly into the relatively narrow slot. He had to crawl to move forward, but he mastered it with almost no sound. The fear troubled him more, the fear of narrowness and darkness that was now additionally mixed with his already raging emotions. He paused a moment and closed his eyes. A deep breath, another...

Down there was this man, this coward who had tortured him so much... for weeks, for months... at the side of Gallagher… the pictures came back. Mick's breathing accelerated unintentionally. The pressure in his chest grew stronger. Too tight... too tight in here... panic... panic was not good, not good... hate, hate was better. 'Concentrate on the hate!'

It wasn't easy to transform the fear into anger, but the hatred helped him to finally gain the upper hand, and he could once again push away all other emotions. He was able to crawl further and approach his enemies unnoticed. Another air shaft cover. Through its cracks he could glance down towards the six men who were positioned below it, their weapons aiming at the door through which they had just come.

"Are you sure it was one of them?" a tall man with an Army haircut turned to the smaller man by his side.

"Not really," admitted this one a little unsure. The voice sent another ice-cold shower down Mick's back, but this time he managed to hold back the memories, instead focusing on what was being said below him.

"I only saw him from the corner of my eye. It's relatively unlikely but we should just wait a few minutes. Then we can relax again, I think."

Yeah, just relax.

Mick ripped himself away from the sight of his hated enemy, tensed his body and gathered his energies. He could feel the transformation begin, his heart rate tripled, his muscles began to tremble under the excess of energy and then he moved forward silently and smoothly, quickly approaching the next cover without being noticed by the men. His mind was suddenly clear and cold. He had no feelings other than the cold, stinging hatred and bloodlust, while his body almost seemed to boil and his extreme energy begged to be released.

The cover was opened quickly and Mick slid his upper body out silently. He registered in a split second that he was in a narrow corridor, into which the light spilled from a relatively wide-open door. He held fast to the edge of the shaft and plunged down with a measured roll into the hallway. He could smell them, their sweat, their tension and fear and it brought a slight smile to his lips. Then he ran, quietly and quickly which was possible only for vampires and approached the half-open door within seconds. The scent of the people in the room reached his nose unhindered and he heard their rapid heart beats, the strained breathing, the restless shuffling of feet on the dusty floor.

Closer ... closer... He ducked a little as he now gained quite a broad sight line into the space. Only five feet away from him stood one of the big men who had his back turned to Mick and was holding a machine gun in both hands with his eyes probably directed toward the door which was opposite him. Two others stood a few feet away. The rest were hidden behind the open door. The room didn't seem to be very big or very long as the opposite wall was relatively close.

"There's no one coming, Elias," said a voice that didn't belong to one of the men that Mick could see. But it didn't sound too far away. "You were apparently mistaken."

"Apparently."

There was that shiver again, that hateful trembling which always made it so hard to think and made his blood boil. The bloodlust grew, bringing with it this unspeakable thirst that was nearly unbearable.

The man at the door moved, beginning to turn in his direction as if he had suddenly felt something, had felt that his death was closer than it had ever been before in his life. But he no longer had time to really understand this.

Mick's instincts took over immediately as the beast dismissed its chains. He shot up from his crouched position and threw himself with all his might against the man, gripped his weapon with both hands and rammed it powerfully against his lower jaw so that the hard bones gave way with a loud crack. The yelling man was thrown towards his surprised comrades. One of the men slammed backwards with his head hard against the stone wall and went to the floor, the other pulled up his gun, staggering, and Mick kicked. Bones cracked and the gun flew in a high arc through the air. Mick's good hearing perceived the click before the weapons were fired. He seized the other arm of his screaming opponent and pulled his body in front of himself while at the same time driving his teeth angrily into his artery from behind. The man twitched as the bullets of his comrades penetrated his body, but his cry fell silent. The surprise and the shock were too great; Mick could taste it in his blood which was saturated with adrenaline. New energy, new power. Three other men before him were moving back to another hallway while firing indiscriminately in their panic.

"Shoot! Shoot him!" shrieked Elias and his wide-open eyes and chalk-white face showed real panic. "Kill him! Kill him!"

A burning pain shot through Mick's left side and told him that one of the bullets had pierced the dying man before him and had reached his own body. But that only fueled his anger further along with the fact that Elias had now reached the other hall and like a coward disappeared into it. A muffled roar came from Mick's lips. He braced himself, gathered his energy and then just released it all at once. His dying shield flew through the air the next moment and then hit his trigger-happy comrades like a ton of bricks. The force of the impact tore the two men off their feet and Mick in his rage gave no further attention to the half-stunned soldiers who haphazardly tried to regain their footing. All he wanted was to catch Elias and tear the flesh from his bones, shred him, destroy him so that only an unrecognizable mass remained of him. Mick heard that a door was flung open somewhere behind him, felt the familiar energy and knew that in a few seconds the other men behind him would be no danger to him. But that wasn't really important. All that mattered was to feed his lust for blood, to give the monster in him what it screamed so painfully for: blood, screams... revenge.

Elias was close to him. He could smell his sweat, hear his pulse racing and his heavy breathing. He ran for his life. But against such a powerful superior being as Mick he had no chance. Even when he flung himself around with the force of a desperate man and braced the weapon he carried and even when one of the silver bullets shot towards Mick pierced his shoulder leaving a large, heavily bleeding wound behind, even then the beast knew that it would get what it needed. It felt no pain, no fear, no doubt. It didn't matter how much it had been violated, whether it lived or died. There was only this overwhelming desire for revenge, this enormous thirst for blood, this need to wipe out the miserable life in front of him.

Mick launched himself at the screaming man, seized his weapon by the barrel and broke his arm with a hard turn. The screaming became a shrill, anguished sound, but died at the moment Mick grabbed his throat with one hand and slammed Elias with such force against the wall that a few vertebrae of his spine broke with a slight cracking noise. The movement of his legs slackened as his victim gasped for breath while his panicked eyes almost left their sockets. Mick's glowing eyes bored into his. Baring his fangs menacingly he moved closer to the man's face. A low growl came from his throat and Elias gave a muffled whimper and closed his eyes. Mick reveled for a moment in the man's fear and his stifled groan. Then he quickly moved his head and unrelenting rammed his deadly fangs as deeply as possible into the throat of his victim.

* * *

Kurt was right. Even for a vampire, it was not very easy to find a particular person in such a well-attended club such as the _Maestro_. Although our senses functioned much better than those of a normal person, the loud music, the many different smells, and this mass of people, caused me to quickly lose track of things.

The fact that we hadn't been able to find Mick at the bar could have reasons. Either the whole thing, the crowd, the limited room and the volume of the music, had become too much for him and he had hastily left the club, or he had met Beth, and they had not been able to hold themselves back and they were now both in a quiet corner occupied with each other. The latter option indeed appealed to me a bit more so I quickly looked around for places that I myself would look for with a beautiful woman in my arms.

I was concentrating so much that I winced a little when a small hand was put on my forearm and a well-known voice breathed into my ear in a very erotic manner: "So, alone here?"

It did not surprise me to see Simone's beautiful face as I turned around, and once again I cursed inwardly that we had such lousy timing. She looked incredible in that nothing of a dress and had this salacious gleam in her dark eyes that triggered a series of sensual and naughty desires in me that I really didn't need at the moment. I had to screw up my eyes just to get myself to focus on what was important now.

"Listen, have you seen Mick anywhere?" I finally said, at least halfway in control. Simone's mind still seemed to work well because her facial expression changed abruptly from lusting to worried.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, immediately alert.

"I hope not," I replied and looked around for the umpteenth time.

"They were at the bar for a long time," Simone said quickly.

"He and Beth?"

She nodded and I immediately felt a little better. If Beth was dressed like Simone it was quite possible that the two had in fact withdrawn and Mick was no longer paying any attention to his environment... However, I had to find them. Just to be sure.

"The best way is to split up," I replied to Simone. "Kurt is already looking for him."

"What's the matter?" She looked at me intently and I took a deep breath.

"It's possible that some people from the Legion will show up here," I said in a whisper. "And if Mick knows one of the men..."

I didn't need to say more because Simone's eyes had already widened. She also had a well-functioning imagination.

"I... I'll go that direction," she immediately said and turned away from me. "When I've got him, I'll call you!" She whispered to me over her shoulder and disappeared into the crowd.

Again I took a deep breath and set myself in motion, continuing my search for my friend. A red-haired beauty not far away from me tried to attract my attention with an eager waving of her hand, but I really had no time for this right now. Instead, I impatiently pushed my way through the masses of sweaty bodies towards a niche where I could see a pair exchanging intimate kisses. But half way there it was already clear to me that those were not my friends and I stopped again.

"Josef!" The little redhead was really persistent. But wait, how did she know my name? I turned to her, frowning, and was really surprised to suddenly see Beth's pretty face before me. What a difference another hair color could make.

"Something is wrong with Mick," she uttered excitedly and helped my mind to register that he was not with her. A strange feeling began to spread in my stomach area.

"Where is he?" I asked urgently.

"I don't know. I've lost sight of him," was her frightening answer and it got even worse. "He saw something or someone and suddenly he was gone!"

I raised my eyes, letting my gaze fly senselessly across the confusing mass of the many visitors, just to let it return to Beth swiftly. "Where? Where did he see it?"

She turned a little and pointed with one hand in a vague direction. "Somewhere over there! He suddenly changed. Josef, he is surely intending to do something stupid!"

On this we were probably in complete agreement. But I couldn't see him anywhere myself, let alone anything else suspicious. With Jason's background information I could already imagine what Mick could have seen. If that was the case, my worst fears seemed to be coming true. I moved immediately pushing myself in a harsh way through disgruntled guests, heading for the only door that was in the direction indicated by Beth. My instinct told me that Mick had taken this route. I could feel it somehow. Just as I felt that Beth was following me. Outside the door I stopped and turned to her with a very stern look.

"You stay here, Beth," I growled. But she lifted her chin defiantly.

"I will stay behind you, but not here!" she answered firmly.

I wanted to counter that or at least try to intimidate her with my menacing look, but I didn't have enough time because I heard what for most ears was hidden by the droning noise of the disco: shots from multiple weapons suffocated by a silencer, not too far away. Oh, yeah, Mick was doing a stupid thing! Something _very_ stupid!

My effort to protect Beth was forgotten. The worry for Mick was stronger and made me rip open the door and fall into the hallway behind it. All my senses were focused on the sounds of battle that rang in my ears as they came closer with each step. Cries of pain, a dull roar, shots, hateful snarling...

I was quickly at the next door, tore it open and saw Mick plunge into yet another hallway. But this was not the only thing I saw. The two men he had previously knocked over came back to their feet and raised their weapons. They had not seen me yet.

I transformed within a hundredth of a second, was in front of one of the men just as fast and kicked the gun out of his hands. I noticed from the corner of my eye that his comrade flung around and I turned around in the same movement and firmly struck with the ball of my hand into his face. Something cracked and he collapsed. But the other man had recovered, and lifted his fist to hit me. That he held a knife in it I didn't realize until the blade dug painfully into my side. I stifled a cry of pain, grabbed his head with both hands and twisted it until I heard a loud crunch that told me it was the last act he would perform in his life. Then I just let him fall down and looked around quickly. Three other men were in the other corner of the room and showed no signs of life, so I could allow myself to breathe deeply and then draw the knife out of my flesh with clenched teeth.

Beth had been smart and had stayed back in the hallway, but now she ran to me with a chalk-white face.

"Oh, God, Josef," she stammered, and watched me with a deeply sorrowful expression. Several muffled gunshots and a loud, frantic scream caused us both to wince violently and reminded me that there was still a vampire gone wild in the back rooms of the club.

Beth and I moved at the same time hurrying down the dark hall where further sinister sounds were heard causing both of our heartbeats to race. I could see in the darkness as well as in daylight and could discern immediately what had to appear to Beth's human eyes only dimly: Mick had the slightly flinching body of a young man pressed against the wall and his teeth buried so deeply in his neck that I feared the man's head could fall off when he was released.

I reduced my speed a little, because it was very clear to me that Mick had already noticed me and it was quite possible that if he felt threatened by me he might get even more aggressive.

I heard a horrified gasp behind me and quickly stopped Beth with a breaking gesture of my hand to give her no opportunity to interfere in this matter. I could smell, see and feel how dangerous the situation was. I felt Mick's extreme excitement, his blood lust, his hate, his lack of any humanity. And I could smell the silver from the gunshot wounds he had suffered during the fight. Even though he reacted with much less sensitivity to this disgusting stuff his body was still weakened a bit and would not heal the wounds as fast as usual. I just hoped that the bullets were not those melting kind that could poison a vampire's whole body, because to fight the effect would not be easy even for him. To get this situation back under control and to limit the damage was a tightrope act, which could be extremely difficult for me. Actually, I needed Gabriel.

I had approached the intertwined couple by now close enough that I could hear their two heartbeats all too clearly. One was incredibly fast and one was very slow and becoming more and more irregular. I heard a low menacing growl and saw Mick's cold white eyes as I gently moved to the side. They told me he would attack me if I made only one wrong move. My gaze passed that warning on to Beth who had rigidly remained standing with hands pressed to her mouth and did not seem to know what to do.

"Stay where you are," I said softly and noticed right away that Mick raised his head, his teeth detaching from the throat of his victim as he threw a glance over his shoulder.

Beth winced. Her heart rate doubled and I could completely understand why. Mick really looked like a beast at this moment. Not only because the lower part of his face was completely smeared with blood, but because in his bright eyes still glowed such hatred and such a desire to kill that the sight frightened even me a bit. He did not look at her as if she was the woman he loved, but rather as if she was an additional food source. I urgently needed to draw his attention to me.

"Mick," I now spoke to him directly and his eyes immediately flew to me. "Whatever this man has done to you, it's over. He's dying."

At least my friend seemed to be still receptive, as at my words his eyes wandered back to his victim, sliding toward his ripped neck. A really creepy smile flitted over Mick's lips as he finally looked up into the empty eyes of the dying man whose rattling breath told me that his trachea had been damaged considerably by the many bites.

I could see Mick take a deep breath, then he let go of the man and took a small step backwards as his victim slid down the wall and then fell hard to the floor. His heart beat twice then it gave up. Mick inhaled deeply again and I could feel his inner tension slowly withdrawing. The monster crept back into its hole leaving behind a very tired vampire who was still bleeding too much.

"Back off!" were his next words softly growled at me. He did not even dare to look at Beth and I knew why. The thirst still had not disappeared and would not as long as the silver still worked in his body battling against his self-healing powers. So I shook my head and angrily saw that Beth unwisely did the same thing.

"Let me help you to take the bullets out," I said and took a big step towards him. Mick turned to me immediately, his eyes lit up aggressively.

"Take her away from here!" he pressed the almost unintelligible words through his teeth, but I did not move from this spot because Mick's pale skin color really worried me. The process of healing the wounds had made some progress after all so I was able to exclude the dangerous melting projectiles. However, the processes in his body clearly took away his strength. The blood of his victim appeared to no longer be enough to heal the severe injuries completely. He needed more. Unfortunately, the only person who could serve him now as a blood donor was Beth. Not only Mick and I were aware of that, but also the young woman. I could see it in her face and felt her internal struggle. There was still slight fear in her eyes, but finally she voiced the idea that I really did not even dare to think.

"I... I will certainly not go. You need me now," she said in a shaky voice and actually took a few hesitant steps towards him. As a consequence, my friend immediately backed away from her deliberately turning his face away.

My concern for her gained the upper hand for a moment and I grabbed her arm and brought her to a stop. "No, Beth."

The look that followed my words was full of disbelief. "Josef," she uttered with mild indignation in her voice and with a jerk tore away from me, her narrow brows vigorously contracted. "Don't you see what state he's in?"

I saw it and I saw something else. Mick closed his eyes, trying to breathe deeply and calmly and I immediately knew what he planned to do.

My body was almost faster than my mind as I closed the distance to him grabbing him by the collar and with the use of my full body weight pushed him against the wall. The desired reaction came immediately. Mick opened his blue-white eyes wide and bared his teeth with an aggressive growl as he grabbed my hand and dug his fingers painfully into it. I growled back and fought to keep him in check with all my might, inwardly hoping and praying that his self healing would happen more quickly so that I could let go of him and he would turn back into a human. In this state and without a new blood supply, a transformation was suicidal. But that Mick had actually attempted this so as to not be forced to bite Beth made me mad enough to cope with him for the moment.

"Don't you dare!" I growled as he again closed his eyes, visibly struggling with himself. "Mick! Stop it!"

I became aware that Beth had stepped beside me and knew that she did the right thing. She moved as close to Mick as possible and threw her hair backwards to offer her neck in such a seductive way that even I was paralyzed for a moment.

Mick could not keep his eyes closed any longer. Her scent was too strong; the rapid beating of her heart was too close. His gaze was directed towards her carotid artery, lingering there without him being able to do anything about it. He was too hungry and his nerves too testy to fight against his natural instincts. He wrestled with himself, struggled with his hunger, but I knew he had no chance and let him go gently. Beth used this moment to obtain enough room to throw her arms around his neck and get her neck even closer to his lips, and that was too much for him.

Mick took no time to prepare her for the bite or to take her into his arms. He just dug his teeth into her tender skin, barely registering her flinch, and the soft sound of pain she uttered, and immediately began sucking greedily. My slight movement towards him, in order to restrain him a little, made him wrap his arms possessively around her body and turn to the wall with her, hiding her from me. My guts knotted.

"Mick," I said quietly again and went to grab him but Beth raised a warning hand and looked at me over his shoulder as urgently as it was possible for her at the moment. The initial pain seemed to disappear slowly, but she did not look as if she was really fine. How could she be when Mick was filled inside by such unpleasant feelings, and they passed to her unfiltered. Yet she persevered, full of confidence that Mick himself would end this because he had to sense when it became too much for her.

My own heart beat became faster and faster and I wondered if I really should have let my friend attack Beth in such a way. My tense gaze rested on her face looking for a sign that she needed my help. I only marginally realized that his wounds began now to heal quickly, despite the silver. Following my own sense of time I felt it was necessary to interrupt this so important procedure, but just as I raised my hand to intervene Mick moved again. He pulled his teeth out of her neck and lifted his head. Beth closed her eyes in relief and leaned her head heavily against his shoulders while he just looked at her as he slowly transformed back into a human. The color of his eyes quickly became darker and just as quickly his typical fright arrived along with the remorse and the deep sense of shame which had plagued him all along. I could feel how hard it was for him to continue to hold Beth instead of running away in shock as usual. But the young woman was too weak to stand alone and he had to hold her, at least for a few minutes. Minutes I could use to bring more clarity into my mind.

I brushed one hand over my face with slightly trembling fingers and looked for a moment into the dead eyes of the young man who lay before me. Mick's rage here in the back rooms would not remain without consequences. We would not have much time to clean up and then disappear as inconspicuously as possible. Even though the club was owned by a vampire the Legion knew that they had sent their men here and would soon realize that none of them was alive. So I quickly grabbed my phone and dialed Max's number.

"Already there," I could hear his voice just seconds later and now I heard the gentle sounds from the long corridor behind us that told us that we were no longer alone. What a blessing it was sometimes to work with people like Max. "That was Mick?"

I nodded, even though Max could not see me, for my eyes had been glued to those of my friend who had now turned slightly toward me as Beth slowly recovered. He was a human again from head to toe. A person with a good deal of anger inside him which of course could turn predominantly against me. But his gaze didn't frighten me, quite the opposite. It caused similar feelings to awaken in my heart, the very emotions that previously had not found room, but did indeed have a justification. Because_ I_ had not been the one who had gone completely crazy and had risked with an outburst of anger not only his own life but had also ensured that with the death of the man before me we had lost important information about the Legion and Peterson's whereabouts.

Apparently, Gabriel and his training had not been as successful as everyone had hoped and it was really time to talk with him alone!


	6. Afterpains

_It's so great to hear you love this story so far. Thank you so much for the reviews and here's the next chapter. Now you'll see how they all deal with the things happened in the disco. Hope you like it again and leave me and my muse a little comment. Will be back at Sunday. Best wishes, Jenna_

_Lucretia: Elias was not Gallagher himself. He was his right-hand, but one of Mick's to torturer_s

_Translated by: Draco_

_Beta read by: Lucretiareadsall_

* * *

**A****fterpains**

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_"__Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy__." _

_Aristotle, (384-322 BC) _

* * *

Beth felt bad. She was terribly weak and shaky on her legs, although she had already had a couple of times now the opportunity to sit down. And this heavy feeling in her chest, that knot in her intestines, which she carried around now since the terrible events in the disco, weren't helpful in making the whole thing any better. The concerns that were piled up inside her interior were close to choking her, and the tension that seemed to weigh on every single person in this hotel suite added to it as well. Each of them knew that the previous events put everyone under pressure and forced them to quickly set up an emergency plan to remove all traces and leave town as quickly as possible. Above all, Josef had made one phone call after another in the last hour and was now under such tension that Beth really feared that he could explode at any moment. If she was honest with herself, the chances were quite well for this to happen because there was another person in this suite, who had to cope with his nerves and his still relatively high potential for aggression. And that was why Beth could not relax. She just knew that the acute stress was far from over. No, it would explode again for sure and she had no real idea how to prevent it or at least intervene. Mick's and Josef's nerves were far too thin to be reasonable in this situation, to act in understanding of the other or to take a step back. Instead, their anger was directed at each other. Since the incident in the back rooms of the club they had spoken only the bare minimum to each other and the anger that seethed in both of them was almost palpable.

Beth's eyes wandered anxiously to the closed door of the bathroom, where Mick had withdrawn only a few minutes ago, slamming the door right in front of Josef's nose, who had been willing to talk everything through in the end. Only the re-ringing of his mobile phone had been what had held Josef back from pulling the door off its hinges. Beth had clearly seen that in his face. Now he paced up and down in the living room, his speech pressed, words cut short, and looked disapprovingly at the door over and over again.

Beth understood his anger somehow a bit, for she knew that behind it next to stress above all there was a big portion of concealed anxiety. Of course, Mick's behavior had made sure that they had lost an important exchange of information, but Beth was sure that Josef's anger was rather connected with the fact that Mick had put himself into such great danger, had even been wounded in the action and still didn't really give a healthy impression. The last time they had feared for his life, was just not long enough ago to be forgotten...

She realized that Simone settled beside her on the couch and handed her a glass of water, but she refused with a slight shake of her head. She couldn't drink right now. She was simply too tense, had to keep a lid on that door. What was Mick doing in there?

"He will come out soon again," Simone said softly, stroking her arm reassuringly.

Beth did not respond, instead she watched intensely, as Josef came up to the bathroom again with the phone in his hand. A deep, angry frown was forming between his eyes.

"Very well, we'll wait," he said curtly, ending the connection. His eyes flew over to the couch, slid briefly over the table that stood before it, and then turned to Beth.

"Did he have a little brown bag in his hand?"

Beth blinked, confused, trying quickly to remember. "I... I don't know. Maybe..."

Josef pressed his lips together so tightly that they only formed a thin line and shook his head. Then he raised his hand which was clenched tightly into a fist and banged powerfully against the thin wood of the door.

"Mick! Open the door immediately!"

No answer. Josef's anger grew visibly. At his next stroke, the door cracked already alarmingly. But the miracle happened. A key turned in the lock, then the door opened.  
Mick was tall enough not to disappear completely behind Josef's shape and so Beth saw how his almost white eyes switched to a lighter blue. She frowned, but the question of what he had been doing right there in the bathroom was not necessary, when he pushed past Josef and headed to the trash can, standing in a corner of the spacious room. The dressing materials he held in his fist were soaked with blood and his open, once-elegant shirt that he was still wearing, was stained with one more wet, dark patch - Mick's way of removing bullets.

The sight immediately caused Beth an upset stomach and she closed her eyes briefly, slightly shaking her head. Mick urgently needed to calm down. In this state he would not be able to control his actions, even in his human state.

"Didn't I tell you, that I would help you with this?" She could now hear Josef's piercing voice and quickly lifted her lids. The vampire had followed his friend and stood there, eyes sparkling and hands on his hips.

Mick threw him a dark look over his shoulder and then dumped the bandages into the bucket with such force, that it began to waver slightly back and forth. He did not bother to really turn to Josef. Instead, he stormed off into the adjoining room and threw him a gruff "I don't need any help!".

Josef lowered his head and took a deep breath. For one moment he appeared to Beth like a furious bull, on the verge to attack. The only thing that was missing was that he scraped with a hoof. Beth could not help it. She rose in the same second Josef marched off and caught him by his arm.

"Just let him get some rest first," she whispered to him.

"Get some rest?" Josef repeated irritated and much too loud, so Beth's face contorted and she raised her hands soothingly. But her friend had no desire to restrain himself.

"There _will_ be no more rest for the next twenty-four hours! Or do you think we can remain any longer in this city, with the Legion now being aware that we're here?"

Beth was at a loss for words. But she didn't need to say anything, as Mick now reappeared in the doorway, with barely closed, new shirt, and rage sparkling in his eyes.

"Just say it, Josef," he aggressively urged his friend. "Say what you really think! Say it's my fault that we're all in trouble now! Come on!"

Josef shrugged his shoulders shortly. "It's exactly like that," he pointed out with a calmness that stood in strong contrast to his extreme tension.

Mick gave an angry laugh. "And? Do you feel better now?"

"Not really, but you aren't exactly giving the impression that your vengeance made _you_ happy either," replied Josef and Beth could only shake her head incredulously. It would take a turn to the worse soon.

"Josef..." Simone stood up right beside her and took a hesitant step toward him, but came to halt a little scared, because Mick also moved in Josef's direction, in such a threatening way that even Beth was full of fear and worry. This potential for aggression, this burning anger in his eyes was dangerous.

He stopped only a few inches in front of Josef, staring his friend straight in the eyes.

"This... this man... he..." He broke off. His chest expanded under the fierce breath that he took, and Beth moved closer. Her heart was pounding as if it would burst, but perhaps she could do her bit to take the sting out of this situation. Her empathy for Mick grew with every second that he struggled to find the right words.

"You... you have no idea...," he began again, still feeding his anger in order to suppress all other emotions, but couldn't continue anyway.

"Then enlighten me," Josef replied unimpressed, even though Beth couldn't get rid of the feeling that his face had lost its hardness. "Explain to me why you could not wait for us, why you absolutely had to put your life on the line to kill this man. Who was he? What has he done?"

Mick gritted his teeth firmly, so that the twitch of his cheek muscles was hard to miss. He breathed once, twice in and out violently. Then he simply turned around and stormed back into his room. The door slammed behind him with such force that plaster crumbled from the actually rather stable-looking frame.

Josef closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "I'm slowly fed up with this," she could hear him say softly.

Beth felt that he wanted to follow Mick and grabbed his arm again.

"Just let him be," she tried once again to appease her friend and dropped her voice a little more. "It was just too much for him..."

Unfortunately Josef was just too enraged himself to have the slightest bit of understanding for Mick's behavior. She knew that somewhere inside of him it already existed, but his own rage wouldn't let these feelings take the better of him.

"For _me_ it's going to be too much soon, too," he growled, but at least he moved a few steps away from the door. "_He _has no reason to be angry at me! _I_'m not responsible for this bullshit!"

He nervously ran his hand over his mouth and stared at the door again, Mick had disappeared behind. "But_ I_ can pay for the whole..."

"At least he notices that you're here," murmured Beth and Josef finally looked at her again but with a hint of pity in his eyes. He had probably also noticed that Mick, since her last blood donation, didn't even dare to look at her. Josef was not the only one who had suffered under Mick's silence while driving to the hotel. For Beth it had not been surprising as she knew Mick too well, but it had still hurt a bit because their reunion had taken a direction that was anything but beautiful. She wasn't furious, though. She was just sorry for Mick and at the moment felt a little helpless because she did not know exactly what she could do to make him feel better.

"How about if we sit down for a while and take a bit of a breather," Simone suggested, took Josef's arm and pulled him over to the couch. The vampire struggled slightly, but then let himself be carried away to settle for now. It was Beth this time who hesitated.

Her desire to follow Mick, to look if he was at least somewhat alright, was great; even if she knew that he could hardly bear to see her.

"He's not really mad at you, Josef," she could hear Simone say softly. "He knows exactly what he did and projects his anger at himself onto others. And maybe that's even for the better for now..."

Beth had to agree with her friend in her mind. Mick would start early enough to blame and doubt himself. The fact that he defended his actions once and reacted with anger was therefore even very healthy and helpful. Maybe it wasn't that helpful after all that they left him alone with himself, gave him time to reflect on what happened. He was a too intelligent, self-reflected man who wasn't able to overlook his own faults and his thoughtless actions for long. And once he started to condemn himself and to make accusations, it could be quite difficult to get him back from this abyss. In the end, conflicts and anger were still better than depression.

Josef's thoughts seemed to go in a similar direction as hers, because when he looked at her, he was already much more concerned than angry.

"I... I'll go to him," she said quickly and Josef nodded gratefully.

Her pulse quickened at once when she reached the door and finally laid her hand on the latch. She took another deep breath and just walked in, without bothering to knock. Mick was sitting on the wide bed, which stood in the room, had rolled up a sleeve of his shirt, and just pulled out the tip of an empty syringe from his arm. Beth stopped somewhat embarrassed and just stayed with a certain distance in order to digest the sight. Probably he now needed some additional meds again and _had_ to do that, but she had to get used to it again after the weeks of separation. Syringes were so not her thing...

Mick didn't look at her, although he had to have noticed that she had entered. Instead, he took the blood bag, which lay beside him on the bed, took a much larger syringe and began to fill it with blood without a word.

If he wanted to drive her out, he was on the right track. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat shortly.

"Can... can we talk?" she asked softly.

"About what?" he asked right back, but still refused to look at her. Instead he concentrated on the needle in his arm and slowly injected the blood that was in the syringe.

Beth tried to focus on the rest of his body and not on his maltreated arm. It wasn't easy.

"You... you know...," she replied, while struggling against the slight pressure in her stomach. She was surprised, but now Mick looked up, with undisguised fury in his bright eyes.

"You mean your blood donation?" he inquired coolly. "That was what you wanted to do, wasn't it? What is there to talk about?"

Beth was speechless, not only because of his directness, but also because of the fact that his anger was directed against her as well. He was angry that she had given him her blood and thus saved him from getting up to a big mischief. Was he really unaware of how dangerous the whole thing had been for him? Was he not aware of how much he had scared her? And yet she had abandoned herself to him in confidence, bearing the pain which accompanied the bite, just to help him. Even if she didn't want it - now _her _anger began to grow as well.

"Apparently a lot," she said, struggling with her temper. Her nerves were just too thin after everything that happened. "The way you behave now..."

Again he avoided her eyes and pressed the residual blood that was still in the syringe into his arm instead.

"Maybe we should start with you telling me why you make such a big deal out of this?" she suggested, and entwined her arms over her chest, looking at him sternly.

His eyes flew back up to her. "_Make_ out of it?"

Oho, his voice was wavering dangerously!

Mick jerked the needle out of his arm, ignoring the fact that he even hurt himself a bit, and stood up. An impressive, very threatening gesture for a man his size. She caught herself in moving a small step backwards and her heart was beating faster. The memories of his last, not particularly pleasant bite were still too fresh.

"This _is_ a big deal, Beth!" He went on with now open fury. "I could have killed you, damn it! Why don't you grasp that with your stubborn head?"

"Because you would never do that, Mick!" She replied just as loud.

"Didn't you see what I've done there?" He spat out angrily. "You and Josef and all the rest of the world… I didn't care about all that one bit! All I wanted was to kill that man! I had completely lost control!"

"But not concerning me," she snapped back.

He leaned toward her, trying to intimidate her with his penetrating gaze. "How can you be so sure about that?" he growled. "Maybe I just wanted to save me the remains for later!"

"Well, if that's the case..." Beth leaned forward now provoking him by exposing the side of her neck, which was still untouched, with a slight movement.

"Go ahead... There are _the remains_!"

Beth's heart gave another little jump, because to her surprise Mick's eyes turned suddenly quite a bit brighter and stared fixedly and clearly hungrily at her carotid artery. Two, three fast heartbeats she held her breath, and then Mick closed his eyes and shook his head almost imperceptibly. When he opened his lids again, he looked no longer angry, but rather exhausted and so sad, that Beth already felt sorry for her reckless action.

"Why... why are you doing this?" He uttered softly, shaking his head and turned away from her, ran his hand over his face, totally worn out.

"I... I'm sorry," she stammered, and moved back up to him. She wanted so much to embrace him and finally end this terrible situation, but Mick avoided her, pushed past her and left the room.

"Mick, wait ..." She tried to grab him, but missed his arm by a few millimeters. "Where are you going?"

She hurried after him, worried, because she felt he not only wanted to leave the room but the suite. Josef seemed to have a similar feeling, for he got up from the couch and cut off Mick's way.

"Mick, calm down!" he demanded urgently but didn't touch him, so that his friend was able to move around him and reached the door with few steps. However he didn't get far, because when he opened it, there stood a tall, broad-shouldered man in the frame, whose bright blue eyes looked at him quizzically. Beth took a few seconds to recognize him. He looked so different, had lighter hair and was wearing jeans, shirt and a simple brown leather jacket - but it was Gabriel. She was sure of that. No matter what he wore, this aura of power and wisdom could not be hidden. Gabriel. A whole mountain fell from her heart.

"I think this is then again too much of a rush, my friend," he spoke with a warm smile that could melt whole glaciers. Mick, however, let out a frustrated sigh, turned away from him and marched back into the room, putting as much distance between himself and the other persons as possible.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows slightly and then closed the door, letting a rest of his smile linger on his lips. Beth felt anything but comfortable as the old vampire let his gaze roam unconcealed over her body which was still swathed in that disco dress, and his smile turned into a smirk.

"Nice," he whispered to her as he walked past her to Josef, there also eyeing up Simone with an obvious interest.

"I got Elizabeth and Thomas on the phone," he immediately got on to the important things and Beth pricked up her ears.

"They agree with me that it won't do any harm to bring the meeting forward a little, because there seems to be an increased need for the exchange of information in the Community again. Therefore, we have to be in San Francisco tomorrow, in the latest."

It was obvious that Josef found this idea anything but pleasant. These meetings were usually very stressful and nerve-racking for him, because most of the other vampires were constantly shouting for help, but never showed any initiative in the fight against the Legion. But they could bandy criticism about very well. However, when Gabriel was present at the next meeting, the whole thing could turn out a bit different.

"Where did you take Jason?" the old vampire now asked her friend.

"I think Max and the others still hold him in trust," Josef said quickly. "He's waiting for new instructions from me and will protect him till then from attacks of other vampires."

"What about the club?"

"They've cleaned up everything so far, so that at least outsiders won't notice anything that had happened in there not even two hours ago. But the Legion is certainly already alerted and will search all the hotels for us."

Gabriel drew his brows together thoughtfully. "I wouldn't be so sure about this. Ritchcroft's people are wanted by two sides and have therefore to be very careful to avoid detection. That makes a rapid exchange of information difficult - especially since I don't believe that this action in the club was coordinated with Ritchcroft. Someone has acted arbitrarily. He himself wouldn't be so thoughtless to send his men in this situation to a club that belongs to a vampire, whether he has previously done business with him or not. But you're right - we shouldn't waste too much time."

He looked around briefly, but quickly dropped his gaze back to Josef.

"We can't use helicopters under any circumstances this time, because they'll certainly expect it and are going to keep an eye on the airspace in particular."

Josef nodded understandingly. "What about cars?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Some of us can try it, but I think it will confuse them the most if we use public transportation such as bus and train. They won't expect that. But you and Mick should not travel together. You were already seen together twice in public, so they will probably look out for both of you."

Beth could see that Josef didn't like that idea at all, but she was even more afraid when Gabriel turned to look at her, as she feared that his words to her would be of similar nature.

"You come with Mick and me," he said curtly, then turned to Mick, leaving her stunned with her mouth open. Had she heard wrongly?

"I don't think that's a good idea," she could now hear Mick say and the trembling in his voice showed that he was really upset by that instruction. "The Legion knows that she belongs to me. Perhaps they're also looking for a couple..."

Although Mick was trying to stop her from accompanying him, his words caused a warm feeling inside of her and her need to get close to him grew.

"I think by the look of it it's currently no problem," Gabriel replied calmly and moved closer to Mick. "And if we have more time later, you can even change your appearance again..."

He stopped in front of him and, with his head slightly tilted, looked at his tense face pensively. "How are you?"

Mick quickly averted his gaze and shrugged. "Better..."

"Better than what?" Gabriel's eyebrows wandered upwards inquiringly.

Mick took a deep breath and looked back at his opponent now. "I... I'm back in control."

Gabriel nodded and looked at him now insistently. "It's not your fault, Mick," he said softly, and again Mick's eyes fled his insistent gaze, directed rigidly to the floor.

"Something like that can happen. It's _allowed_ to happen."

Mick shook his head, but did not utter a sound so Gabriel could go on.

"It even _has_ to happen because it's the only way you can learn how to bridle yourself in extreme situations, how to keep control..."

"But I _had_ no control!" it now burst out of Mick and the shock about himself which had been hidden all the time behind his anger was clearly shown in his eyes now, could no longer be held back. "I was completely lost in my hatred and anger... I... I could have hurt or even killed innocent people..."

"But you haven't," Gabriel immediately cut in. "No innocent has been harmed, even though there were a lot of oblivious weak humans. That was not a total loss of control, Mick. This can't be compared with your condition a few weeks ago. You still notice what you do and you can put your rage where it belongs... This is a huge step forward!"

Beth could see that Mick fought tooth and nail, could watch the struggle of his conscience with his mind clearly in his face and prayed that Gabriel could change tack once more before Mick lost himself in his depression once again.

"I... I've placed all of us in danger," it slipped ponderously from his lips. "And maybe we would have gotten the information that could have led us to Frank..."

"Maybe, yes," Gabriel agreed. "But you're not a machine, Mick. You can't 'function' perfectly in any stressful situation. No one can do this. And probably everyone else would have acted just the same way in this situation. We'll get our information from somewhere else... And so far not one of us has come to grief."

Mick's look in Beth's direction was not particularly obvious, but Gabriel noticed it nonetheless and turned to her a little. He looked at her for a moment, frowning, immediately recognized the marks on her neck and then turned back to Mick.

"Is this a problem?" He asked the question that Beth had also asked before. "You couldn't have done anything better. This will make things much easier."

Beth frowned and wondered what these words meant, especially in relation to Mick's strange warning glance at Gabriel's direction.

"This brings me to another but equally important issue," he said and turned back to Josef. "Where is the Cure?"

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise when Josef immediately turned to a chest of drawers, on which a dark bag was standing, and took out an already opened and barely sealed package. She had missed out something here. And she was not alone, because also Mick and Simone gave a quite astonished impression and quickly approached the living room table where Josef spread his new acquisitions. There were two vessels with a reddish paste and several vials in which there was a reddish liquid. It was certainly blood.

Gabriel immediately took one of the ampoules, opened it and sniffed at it briefly. His facial expression changed instantly from relatively relaxed to significantly disturbed. But he said nothing, put the ampoule away again and took a deep breath. The exchange of gazes that took place between him and Josef worried Beth even more and made Mick step close to her in order to take a vial in his hand and smell at it as well. The next moment he opened his eyes in astonishment.

"Lance?" He exclaimed in disbelief and Beth held her breath.

"This doesn't have to mean anything," Gabriel returned promptly. "Even my blood has accidentally fallen into the hands of the enemy once. He doesn't have to know anything about it."

The fact that Gabriel defended Lance surprised Beth, as she had always had the impression that he wouldn't have much sympathy for the vampire with the black eye and took no stock in most of his unauthorized acts. Why didn't he think him also being capable of being a traitor?

She knew that she was not the only one who thought so, as Josef raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, but he kept his thoughts to himself as well.

Meanwhile Mick had taken a vessel, which was filled with this paste, and shook his head frowning thoughtfully. The appearance of the package had freed him abruptly from his difficult, emotional state, and let his mind take action - something which let Beth feel something like gratefulness towards the Cure. _Cure _was probably really the right term for it...

"Coraline has told me that there is not much left of it," Mick adressed Gabriel. "Only the can Lance had taken from her, and a small remnant, she had hidden somewhere. But this doesn't look like a 'small remnant'."

"Well," Josef barged in thoughtfully, "this is either an indication that she lied to you once again, or that she and Cynthia were successful in reproducing the Cure..."

Mick's eyebrows wandered towards each other. "What do you mean by this? What does Coraline have to do with it? I thought she disappeared without a trace!"

"That doesn't mean, that she can't continue with her little experiments with the Cure in the underground," Josef replied calmly.

"And supply the _Legion_ with it?" Mick gave an incredulous laugh. "What healthy vampire would do something like that? That would be sheer suicide!"

Gabriel, like Beth, seemed to feel that this conversation was heading back to a very critical point, so he just took the medicine out of Mick's hand and put it together with the other vessel in the inside pocket of his jacket.

"I think it makes no sense to discuss this any further," he said and cast a stern glance at both Mick and Josef. "We simply don't have enough information to really see clearly and we shouldn't blame anyone, as long as there is no clear evidence of his guilt. Often, things are quite different as they seem."

His eyes were now glued to Josef's face. "You take the vials of blood. We must ensure that the Legion will not lay its hands on both. I don't like it at all that they are suddenly so active in this respect. They're on to something... "

Josef took a breath to ask something, but never got the chance, because at that very moment Gabriel's cell phone began to ring and he was forced to turn away from him.

"Yes?" The concern, which became apparent in the old vampire's face after a few seconds, didn't apply to Beth and her heart rate began to speed up once again.

"Good. Then we'll meet tomorrow." Gabriel ended the conversation and turned back to all of them.

"There were first requests for us in another, larger hotel," was the bad news. "We should leave New York as quickly as possible."

Beth closed her eyes for a few heartbeats and breathed deeply. Now things were really heating up. She was just glad that she would have such a strong and experienced vampire at her side for the next few days, as handling Mick's mood swings and organizing a flight at the same time was something that exceeded her powers at the moment.


	7. States Of Mind

_Next chapter. Thanks for your responses. Don't know what I would do without the readers who leave feedback. Probably this sequel wouldn't even exist. So thanks again. You make the story and the translations go on! Will be back at Thursday, as always. Yours Jenna_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: Lucretiareadsall_

* * *

**S****tates of Mind**

* * *

"_**Feelings know more than the mind fathoms." **_

___**Erhard Horst Bellermann, (* 1937) **_

* * *

_Force was not necessarily always the right way to get a problem under control – that much he knew when he was not only holding the broken screw of the rear wheel of his bicycle in his hand, but also had to be on the receiving end of a bleeding, painful bruise on his knuckles. And anger was not necessarily the best response to deal with this adversity, yet he could not do anything against it as he grabbed in a rage the damned, rickety thing of a bike and threw it away, as far as his small arms were able to manage. It rattled loud, pliant soil and grass soared, but that was not enough. He made two steps after, swung his foot and kicked the bike, kicked with his solid, freshly polished boots against the cursed wheel, once, twice, three times, until it was all bent and this burning in his eyes, the pressure in his chest subsided slightly. _

_This horrible, ugly, treacherous thing… it had let him down, just when he needed it so urgently. _

_Drive away, that was what he had wanted to do, as far away as possible from the adults, from Mum and Dad, their friends and from him… Him, who was every bit as treacherous as this bicycle, which he had bequeathed to him a few weeks ago. _

_He wiped a tear from his cheek in an angry gesture and snuffled, took a deep breath, looking critically at the damage he had just caused. Steps along the sandy way behind him made him spin around. The pressure in his chest grew once again and he turned quickly back to his bike, acted quite busy. The traitor… He did not even need to come here. Could disappear immediately to where it dragged him so magically…_

"_Mum worries a bit about what you're doing here all alone, Mick," he was able to hear his voice, and pressed his lips together grimly. He would not breathe a word._

"_She was afraid that you might run away. Dad only just managed to keep her from looking for you…" _

"_So what?" Mick grabbed the bike and put it rudely onto its now indeed very wobbly wheels. He perceived that Tristan stepped closer to him, now also examining the bike, and knew exactly what he would say. _

"_How did _that_ happen?"_

_Mick avoided looking up to his brother, instead he stared as if hypnotized at the elegant eight he had made of the wheel, and pressed his lips more firmly together. That he was betraying everything with this behavior he knew full well, but he could not help it. _

"_I got it," he could hear Tristan say after a little while. "There had to be probably something innocent to absorb blows… for me, right?" _

_Damn it, why did his eyes just start to burn again? _

"_This…this has nothing to do with you!" Mick snapped and let the stupid thing just fall down again. "This is just crap! A stupid, old scrapheap!" _

_He now looked at Tristan after all, lifted his chin defiantly and glared at him angrily. "You can even take it to your new friends. The people of the Academy can for sure repair _everything_!" His voice broke slightly at the end of the sentence, but that didn't matter to Mick at this moment. This was only the anger, only the anger… _

_Tristan actually looked a bit hurt, as he stood there in his new pair of knickerbockers, his bright knee highs and the elegant white Sunday shirt and tie. Like an adult… _

_When did he become so old? Where had his big brother gone, the one who frolicked around with him through the garden and imagined the wildest games in the holidays, when they had all the time in the world?_

_The burning in his eyes became stronger again and Mick turned quickly around, tried to get the trembling of his chin under control by simply biting firmly on the inside of his lip and ignoring this hard lump in his stomach that appeared to grow steadily. _

"_I… I understand that you're mad at me," Tristan now started gently. "I did not want you to learn this today. Not this way. I wanted to tell it to you in person, while fishing or something else… but Dad…" _

_He broke off. A little later, Mick felt a hand on his shoulder, could do nothing against Tristan turning him around to face him._

"_Mick, look at me!"_

_Mick shook his head, blinked as tears were filling his eyes, which he did not want to cry in any case. He was so angry! Why did he have to cry when he was angry? _

"_It doesn't make any sense that you get all worked up about your stubbornness and rage! You can talk to me! We could always talk to each other yet." _

_Yes, but not now. Now you are just walking away and leaving me alone… _

"_I know you're sad. But I'll come home every other weekend and also during the holidays I will…" _

"_I'm not sad!" it now burst out of Mick and the surprised face of his brother's instantly blurred before his eyes, cleared only a little when one, two tears ran down Mick's cheeks, which he immediately wiped from his face as if they were something terribly disgusting. "I… I'm just angry!" _

"_I see," Tristan replied in this big-brotherly tone that Mick hated so much sometimes. _

"…_at… at this stupid bike!" _

_Tristan nodded. "And even more with me," he added sympathetically. _

_Mick gritted his teeth. He felt this terrible words which wanted to squeeze out of him, felt how unfair they were and yet they didn't want to disappear. _

"_I just want you to know that I will miss you too, lil bro," Tristan said and his gaze became very soft and loving, as he raised a hand and stroked through Mick's short, curly hair, which simply hadn't wanted to be skimmed into a smooth Sunday-side-parting and once again stood in all directions. "And I'll definitely not forget you! I'll write to you as often as I can and…"_

_Mick hit off the hand, that had caressed him so consolingly, full of rage and pushed with both his hands against his brother's chest with such a force that he staggered backwards a few steps in surprise. _

"_I hate you!" it burst out of him with a sob. He tossed around and ran towards the house, while the world around him became a vague mixture of colors and dark outlines. He did not want to cry and sob, but the pain in his heart was at once so strong that he could not help it, that he even started to stumble and finally fell down. He struggled to his feet with shaking, bloody knees, wanted to run on, but suddenly there was a tall, dark figure before him, held him and bent down to him. _

"_Slowly, young man," his father's deep voice got through to him. _

"_Let…let me…" Mick sobbed and tried to free himself from his father's firm grip. But he was just too strong, held his arms with both hands. _

"_Michael, calm down," he said with a certain severity in his voice. "You don't go anywhere in this state! You'll just do something stupid." _

_Mick tried to get a grip on his sobs, to breathe steadier, but it was so damn hard. His gaze wandered over his father's hairy underarm, roamed as so often before to his large hand and stopped at the wide silver ring of his index finger, focused on the cross and the blue stone that lay hidden beneath it._

"_Stupid… stupid bike," he brought out haltingly, and now raised his tear-dimmed eyes. _

"_Bike, yeah?" his father probed and his bluish gray, sometimes greenish sparkling eyes looked at him intently. He shook his head very slightly and let out a soft sigh. "Why do you need to be so alike me in this respect?" he murmured softly, and did something he hadn't done for a long time and what Mick would have never expected: he drew him into his arms and hugged him very tightly to him, as if he did not want to let go of him ever again. _

_Any resistance broke down in Mick at once and he clung to his father and began to cry unrestrained, let out his grief about the impending loss of his beloved brother, let out all the despair and fear that had accumulated in his narrow chest and squeezed his heart so painfully. _

_He felt his father stroking his hair, gently and compassionately. __"__What we do isn't good for us, Michael," he could hear him say softly, and the vibration of his chest was something immensely reassuring. "To repress feelings that are so powerful and seated so deeply… that… only damages us, believe me. And it hurts the people we love. Because we're unfair and hurt them, even if we don't want to…" _

_Mick felt his father's hands now on his shoulders, felt slightly pushed away by him and looked up into his so unusually gentle face, which looked at him full of love. They were alike, he had said, and for the first time in his life Mick noticed that his father also had the same eyes as he had. _

"_You're still so young," he said softly now. "You must not make the same mistakes as I. Tell your brother what you feel, what you're afraid of and what you want from him. Talk to him! And don't lock yourself somewhere! He will understand you. He loves you so much. But if you don't open your mouth, no one can help you. Not today, nor in twenty years." _

_Mick looked thoughtfully at his father for a long time and finally he nodded, without knowing whether he had indeed understood him rightly. _

* * *

Certain manners were quite difficult to doff. It was as if you were moving on tracks that had no points and always lead into a direction you didn't want to go to. And if you once had a certain tempo, it was quite difficult to stop, even if you knew that you could overrun other people that meant something to you and hurt them quite pretty.

Gabriel had been able to brake Mick's drift into even more fights and anger, but to counter his tendency to isolate himself, to hide his feelings and his soft, vulnerable side from others was damn hard and something that nobody could divest him of. Quite apart from the fact that he did not want anyone to do so. He had to do it himself, had to find a better way to cope with his fears and worries. The way he behaved at the moment, he could barely stand himself. Thereby it was not really that hard to apologize at least to one of the persons who had had to suffer under his behavior in the past hours, for she sat opposite to him in this little compartment and virtually asked him to seek contact with her with her insecure gazes wandering again and again over to him.

And what did _he_ do? Avoided her every time, looked somewhere else, just not into her direction. Even if there was really nothing in this compartment, which was even close to gaining his interest – except for Gabriel perhaps. But the old vampire had delved into a newspaper and did not seem to be after a conversation or something else alike this.

As many times before Mick looked absently at the broad ring on his right index finger, which felt so strangely heavy to him sometimes, turned it a few times around and wondered if he perhaps had ultimately even become like his father. A person to whom it had been incredibly difficult to show his feelings openly, to show the people he loved what they meant to him. Even if there had been frequent moments when they both had come closer to each other, where they had hugged and forgiven each other, Mick's relationship with his father had always been complicated and full of unspoken thoughts and feelings. At some point there had been a big bang and both hadn't spoken to each other anymore for more than two years.

No, 'at some point' was wrong. Mick knew exactly _when_ and _why_ it had happened. In 1952 he had, according to his father, made the biggest mistake of his life. He had married Coraline. That his father had been totally right with his assumption that this woman would break him, Mick had not been able to anticipate at the time of the dispute. It had been unforgivable to him that his father had not come to the wedding and had sent only his mother. But even more unforgivable had been his early death only two years after that event, for it had defrauded Mick of what he had longed for, for months, but out of false pride had never been able to force himself to do - a talk. And yet this man had in the end of his life been able to still show him how much he had loved him; with his last words, written in a long letter to him he had been able to at least eliminate a big part of the feeling of only having been one big disappointment to his father. And he had bequeathed him the ring, the ring that had suddenly gained so much importance to him...

More than ever, Mick asked himself how many secrets besides his serious illness his father had probably had, what burdens he had taken with him to the grave. And like many times before he was aware that he in no case wanted to become like him - never satisfied, never really relaxed, never at peace with himself.

His father's warning words, Mick had been forced to hear repeatedly in the course of his life as he had grown into a young man, had made sure that Mick had acquired deliberately to be honest and direct to most people, to say what he thought, to show what he felt and to enjoy life to the fullest and with all senses. Only his deepest feelings he had still not let out that often, those which made him vulnerable and weak.

His marital drama with Coraline and the transformation into a vampire had then changed everything again. Just at that time it had again started: the sealing off, the closing up, the replacing of grief and despair through anger and aggression. He had learned in a hard school with Coraline. Never before had another person been able to cause him such emotional pain, never before had anyone succeeded in racking his nerves so much and in doing so almost bringing him to the verge of madness. His deep, almost pathological love for her had made him the victim of her attacks, the plaything of her moods. And yet he had never really gotten away from her. Instead, he had been forced to learn again to hide certain emotions, not to show weakness and to always be on guard. As time drew on, it had become more and more difficult for him to trust other people and to open to them. He had changed little by little, had hidden his humanity, his soft side more and more from the outside world and had also become inwardly cooled, truncated.

Until _she_ had appeared. This incredibly strong, beautiful woman who radiated all he had always longed for: warmth, security, honesty, love... so much love. There hadn't been one person in his previous life who had touched his heart of hearts so deeply and had not only reawakened his spirits but had also made him incredibly strong and at the same time frightening weak. Currently, she only needed to look at him and his emotions began to overflow, made him so human and vulnerable, helpless delivered to his longing for her closeness. He was consumed by her warmth, her encouragement, her mental strength and at the same time felt such an enormous resistance to any approach from her side, that he sometimes had the feeling of being torn apart inside.

He didn't understand himself. He had thought that everything would be easier if he returned. That such mixed feelings would develop in his heart he had not expected. Of course, they had been there before, before this… time. But he had always shifted this onto his concern for her, his fear to harm her in any way – which was still there. But deep in his heart he knew that this was not the real reason why he especially now repeatedly showed this strong tendency to retreat from her. She had once said that he was afraid of being hurt and then she had probably been on the right track. But the feeling inside him that now fought against his love to her, was so much stronger, more urgent, panicked, and he just could not really understand it, grab it, didn't know what it was and what he could do about it, because it hid from the tentative grip of his own mind.

How could he explain to Beth what was going on inside him when he had no words for it, when he himself did not know why he behaved so contradictory? Or maybe it was really only about this matter, this incident in the nightclub, he could not forget that easily and which evoked this queasy feeling in his stomach... That was it ... probably had to be it...

A slight jolt that went through the compartment told him that the train arrived at the next station, and as every time it did, the tension inside Mick grew a little and caused that his senses sharpened to perceive suspicious things as soon as possible. He felt that Gabriel did the same, though he outwardly lifted his head with a completely relaxed expression and gave him a small, very reassuring smile.

It still felt strange to have such an intense energetic connection with a person he knew only for such a short time, that he was even able to sense every subtle change in the old vampire's interior. Gabriel had indeed explained to him that this 'reading' of moods was only possible if the other one let it happen and that way indirectly sent his feelings out, but Mick still didn't feel that comfortable in his skin, because he did not know exactly whether the old vampire could not still sense what feelings assailed Mick when he thought of Beth and their current communication difficulties.

Mick turned his gaze to the door immediately when he felt that someone was approaching it. A little later it opened and Malik came in, with this for him so typical serious, almost expressionless face.

He spoke a few Arabic words with Gabriel and then disappeared again silently. Mick knitted his brows questioningly and also Beth looked at the old vampire attentively.

"It all seems to be peaceful," he said with a small smile. "You can relax again."

Mick leaned synchronously with Beth back into his seat and could not prevent that a little smile in her direction escaped him as their eyes met. The delighted gleam in her eyes showed him how much she had waited for him finally showing a positive reaction to her and he felt a little sting in his chest. Why was he sometimes such an egregious asshole?

Mick noticed that Gabriel watched them both amused and promptly lowered his eyes, looked at his fingers in more detail. He shook his head at himself internally. If he went on like this, Beth would certainly soon be quite angry with him. And with reason. But for now he just could not get out of his skin, although he wanted to so strongly, because this tension between them, this enforced distance, tormented him at least as much as her. For over four weeks, he longed now so painfully for her proximity, wanted to finally feel her again in every imaginable way. And what did he do? He stood in his own way again! Could not bring himself to forget what he had done to her in the back rooms of the club. Could not extrude this painful sound, the taste of her fear and concern in her blood... in her sweet, warm, wonderful blood...

Mick clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth tightly. There he was again, this greedy blood sucker who could never get enough, and no matter how much blood he had fed to himself, he was only thirsting for _her_ blood. It had been bad enough when they had still been in Mexico, but now, after this happening in the nightclub, it had reached a new climax. Something had changed. Her blood had at once a completely different taste, tasted as if it was only made for him, was only matched to his needs and he could not get enough of it. So it had even surprised him that the vampire in him had not resisted to let go of her again, to pull his teeth out of this delicate neck, for the temptation had been so great, the satisfaction so incredibly profound. Surprisingly it had not even cost him much strength, because something, a voice in his subconscious mind had let him know that it had been enough, and the vampire had listened to it without further ado, had become very tired and sleepy, so that his human side had quickly regained the control over his body.

But now the appetite was back, was inspired by his thoughts and supported by his instincts. Gabriel had told him during their time together again and again that he had to be more patient with himself, had urgently to learn to trust his body again and give it the time it needed to regenerate. It was important that his body got after a transformation the possibility to restore the balance between his human and his vampire side on its own, without the use of medicaments. Only patience was something that Mick had never had in a particularly high degree, and now that Beth was back in his vicinity, it was worse than ever. His newly acquired respect for his own immense powers, the feeling of power and control was swept away as soon as he only looked at her. It had no value anymore. He just wanted to get back into a more humane condition with a vengeance, just so that he could approach her without risk, so that this relaxed, anxiety-free manner with each other could develop again which he had enjoyed so much in Mexico. But his body didn't want to obey, was so slow and reluctant...

Mick almost winced as Beth cleared her throat, but had to find that she wanted to gain Gabriel's attention and not his.

"Don't you want to ask Malik if he wants to relax once and join us," she asked cautiously, when the old vampire looked at her with a benevolent smile, and now Mick ventured yet again to focus his eyes on her. This red hair still confused him a bit, but it was her face, the face he sometimes had to reawaken in his mind to banish other images...

"Oh, he rests yet," Gabriel replied with a smile. "To Malik it would be a much bigger pain to sit around and do nothing. He relaxes only when he is in motion."

Beth nodded, as if she knew what he was talking about and Mick frowned. It was not quite clear to him how far Beth had had real contact with this withdrawn man. He had been commissioned to protect her... and what else?

"Does he come from Saudi Arabia?" Beth asked now clearly curious. Probably only because she felt no desire to sit around quietly in silence anymore. But still her interest bothered Mick a little, although he could not really admit it to himself.

Gabriel's smile became a little wider. "Originally from Syria, but he already had a home anywhere in the world..."

"At your side?" Beth probed and the old vampire let out a little laugh.

"Is that the subtle attempt to find out whether I have made him a vampire?"

Beth did not answer immediately. Her lips twisted into this charming, caught in the act smile that Mick loved so much.

"Perhaps," she replied finally and the red of her cheeks became slightly darker.

"My whole life long I've always been very cautious in dealing with my blood, Beth," said Gabriel. "There were only a few people I've deemed worthy of it, who I believed to deserve it. And often enough I was still mistaken. Some decisions I must still regret today. For Malik's turning I bear no responsibility, even if he had certainly never disappointed me. His father made him one of us, shortly after he himself became a vampire."

The train took off again, left the station and also Mick's thoughts came into motion. Malik was old, very old. Mick had immediately felt that at their first meeting. Much older than Josef and most of the other vampires who had appeared in Mexico. And he had the athletic body and the powerful aura of a warrior... Didn't Gabriel tell him that in the 12th century he had lived for several years in Syria, with the...

"He's an Assassin," it slipped from Mick's lips almost surprised and both, Beth and Gabriel, looked at him. Of course, that was why Gabriel had stressed time and again that nothing could happen to Beth in Mick's absence, that she was optimal protected.

Light horror appeared in Beth's eyes and her eyes flew back to Gabriel. "Is that true?"

"More or less," the vampire replied reluctantly. "He doesn't like it when you call him like this. Today the term is so worn out..."

Beth touched her throat with clear discomfort. "They… they were... murderers..."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow slightly confused. "That bothers you? You're actually constantly surrounded by dangerous predators..."

There he was right...

"Besides, Malik is not an ordinary Assassin but one of the older sons of Rashid ad-Din Sinan's, so for the most part of royal blood. Does this make it better?"

"Yes... no... I mean, I just tripped a bit over that word." She lowered her eyes a little ashamed.

"He's one of the elders, isn't he?" Mick asked, whose interest was indeed aroused by now. Gabriel had told him in the past weeks a lot, but there was still so much that was so unclear to him.

The vampire looked at him and then nodded, smiling. "And I'm really happy about it. He has a high intellect, wisdom and a lot of power. We think very similarly about all this."

"Is he allowed to use the name _des Archanges_?"

Gabriel hesitated a moment, but then he nodded again. "He is."

"Let me guess – he's Raphael."

"Raphael doesn't exist in the Islamism," Gabriel responded calmly, leaning slightly back in his seat. "He prefers _Azrael_."

"Wait," now Beth stepped in again, "Malik is one of _the Ancients_?"

Now Gabriel shook his head. "_The Ancients_ were something special, and even much older than he is."

"In what way special?" Beth's reporter instincts had reawakend and Mick could not help but smile slightly, because her questions seemed to be a little uncomfortable to Gabriel.

"They had... special assessments, special blood."

"Other blood than that of normal vampires?"

Gabriel paused for a moment, then nodded reluctantly.

"But you... you _are_ one of _the Ancients_," Beth stated and between her brows this cute little line had formed.

The following pause lasted a few seconds longer than the previous one. "Rumors say that at least," Gabriel replied evasively, and ran one hand across his chin. "But there are many rumors about me."

Yet this slightly precocious expression appeared on her lovely face. "But you said earlier, you've always dealt with your blood very carefully..."

"Oh, any vampire should do this," he answered with a smile that was not quite as convincing as before and Mick's smirk became a grin. If Gabriel really believed that he was able to put off Beth with that, he was hugely mistaken.

The line between her brows got still a bit deeper. "How old are you in fact?"

Gabriel let out an incredulous laugh and looked over to Mick, who was really enjoying this by now. It was not easy to make such an old vampire like Gabriel sweat, but his Beth even managed that!

"Is she always that stubborn?" he asked with a mixture of anger and admiration in his eyes.

"Oh, yeah," Mick replied, grinning, and could not prevent that a little pride resonated in his voice. Beth's eyes rested for a moment on his face, then turned with an almost happy smile back to Gabriel.

"I just want to understand this all," she explained and skimmed a red curl behind her ear. For one heartbeat Mick's view stuck to this spot and then roamed slowly down her neck. Automatically his sense of smell switched on and he used the strength of his vampire side, without really activating it, which became easier for him every time. The scent of her skin rose unfiltered into his nose, caused that his heartbeat accelerated unintentionally and most of his blood got transported more into the southern regions of his body.

"I mean, you... you're the oldest of all vampires," he heard her go on, as his eyes groped along the collar of her blouse down to her cleavage, he had a generous insight into through her slightly forward bent posture.

"Who made you a vampire?"

The soft curves of her breasts that were barely covered by a tight-fitting, low-cut strapped-shirt under the blouse let his mouth get very dry and provided a significant stir in his lumbar region. Not that as well! He quickly broke his eyes away from her and focused on the small advertising panel above Gabriel's head. Not a good idea. Two naked cartoon figures in intimate physical contact, above them the advertising slogan 'Give AIDS no chance – no Sex without Durex!' The world was against him today...

"One of _the Ancients_," he could hear Gabriel say after a moment of hesitation. His answer was maybe exciting for Beth, but it could not detract Mick of his problems in the least. He already knew this story. He needed something better to get rid of his so rapidly flared up lust for her again and to ensure that his excitement didn't get outwardly visible. That was something he still had to urgently get a grip on, this boosts of need, which attacked him from ambush and sometimes made it terribly hard for him to think clearly. Whether it was thirst, hunger, fatigue or lust. It was always _too_ sudden, always _too_ intense and difficult to deal with. Not only his vampire side gave him sometimes a hard fight, but also his human side. Both had their pitfalls.

"The professor has called these primordial creatures _Nigong_," Beth considered. "Was your Sire such a one... basically not human?"

Gabriel tilted his head thoughtfully and ran his fingers over his currently rather stubbly chin. "Frank Peterson found out a lot of things about the origins of vampirism. That's correct. But there are a few coherences he doesn't know. Things I also had to advice Mick of in the first place…"

Oh, his name! Mick had to give a focused, relaxed impression. He wanted to smile, however, managed under Beth's warm gaze only a twitch of one corner of his mouth. 'Look at her face! At her face!'

He bit back an exhalation of relief when she concentrated her attention back on Gabriel and forced himself to look out of the window.

"I'm all ears," he heard her say. Well, wonderful! Now even the sound of her voice let the fine hairs of his arms raise. Fortunately he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and still a leather jacket.

"The few people that got on to the track of our secret so far are guessing that the Nigong evolved into vampires by a mutation, a genetic error," Gabriel explained now, while Mick had started to count the houses, rattling past them. They were now so far away from the larger cities, that this was a fairly simple task. Boring enough to shut down his excitement again. He hoped so at least.

"And that's not true?" Beth asked confused.

"Oh, there _was_ a genetic defect," Gabriel replied immediately. "But at first it had nothing to do with the vampire existence."

"What with then?"

"It caused that a large part of them became infertile. They could only reproduce occasionally and when there were too few female Nigong, the males had to look after female partners of other, similar species."

_Look after_? That was not quite the right word... images of sweating, intertwined bodies flashed before Mick's mind's eye, changed rapidly into scenes which were not that long ago. He bit down on the inside of his lower lip and tried hard to think of something else. Old, smelly socks, fermented milk, Lance's black eye...

"Peterson told me that, too," said Beth, and he could hear the slight excitement, that had attacked her, in her voice. "He said they had mixed with humans."

"Exactly. And the way it is, such mixing of alien genes often doesn't happen without problems."

Mick looked over to Beth yet again, whose eyes widened with the realization befalling her now. "_That_'s how the vampires were born?"

Gabriel nodded. "Because the genes mixed. Some characteristics were inherited, others not. But if an organism is dependent on two characteristics that influence each other, but only receives one of them, this inevitably leads to problems."

"So the children of these two species only got the facilities to build vampire hormones..."

"... or the ones for the blocking agents, which was not further dramatic because without the vampire hormones they didn't make themselves felt. These humans could live like normal people, could get sick, aged and died. They never noticed that they were special. In contrast to the poor creatures who were plagued with the vampire hormones. Most of them probably died, until the evolution also gave them a chance to survive."

"And were you bitten by such a creature?" Beth probed.

Again the answer was a nod.

"Voluntarily?"

Gabriel's eyes roamed briefly to Mick and then wandered back to Beth. "Not really. I didn't know what she was and did not really understand what she was talking about. She promised me immortality, something that sounded to me so incredibly tempting that I forgot to switch on my mind. Some feelings make you blind to the essential things, for threats, lies and fraud."

"Was..." Mick noticed the shy glance in his direction abundantly clearly and knew exactly what Beth was thinking. The parallels to his own history were just too obvious. "Was she... your wife?"

Gabriel's mouth lifted into an understanding smile and he shook his head. "No, much worse. We all thought her to be a goddess back then. But that was not surprising, at that time all that you could not explain was held to be divine."

"When was that? Before the birth of Christ?"

"Gabriel is Sumerian," it now burst out of Mick. Somehow, he couldn't endure it any longer that one always had to worm everything out of the old vampire. Gabriel acknowledged his involvement with a slight contraction of his eyebrows while Beth was staring at Mick with wide eyes and open mouth.

"That... that was... thousands of years before Christ," she stammered, and her stunned gaze flew back to Gabriel. Now she saw him probably with very different eyes than before. The term 'ancient' had acquired a new dimension. The feeling would vanish soon, however, Mick knew this from personal experience. The whole thing was just too... abstract.

"At a certain point, time plays no role anymore," said Gabriel gently. "It changes you, brings a vast store of experience and impressions along, but some things never change. They repeat themselves again and again and you learn to deal with it, to prepare for it."

He paused, looked at the same time as Mick back to the door that opened at once. It was Malik once more and he spoke to Gabriel in Arabic again. This time the conversation lasted considerably longer, and Mick felt Gabriel's internal tension growing. That was not good. Something important had happened.

The old vampire issued a few instructions that Malik acknowledged with a nod, then the Assassin was gone again.

"We have to leave at this station," Gabriel said and stood up, because the train was beginning to slow. "There is a small change in plans."

Mick got up immediately to lift with a slight fear his and Beth's travel bag from the luggage rack. "The Legion?" he threw at Gabriel over his shoulder, who was holding his bag already in the hands and opened the door.

"No," was the reassuring answer. "Tony has found someone else I absolutely must speak with. We will take a little trip to Detroit."

Mick nodded. Gabriel did not sound exactly as if he wanted to explain this in more detail at the moment and that even was enough for now. Beth seemed to see it the same way, because it was nothing to hear from her and when Mick turned around with the two bags in his arms, she was already in front of him.

"Thanks," she muttered and took her bag from his arms, in doing so looking so deeply into his eyes that he could do nothing else than to nod minimally. A jolt went through the train and Beth stumbled forward. Mick could get hold on the luggage rack quick-witted and caught the young woman. Nevertheless, she bumped into his chest with force, her fingers reflexively clutching his shirt, and he could not help but to pull her close to him with one arm. Of course, only to ensure that she did not fall down. That something inside him sighed deeply and satisfied, no one could even notice. Beth's face was now right in front of his. He could feel her warm breath on his chin, the rapid rise and fall of her breasts against his chest and looked into those beautiful eyes, framed by long eyelashes, could see so much affection and longing in them that his need to bend down and kiss her became almost overpowering. A warm shiver ran down his spine, as one of her hands moved up his back under his jacket, for this caressing touch was all too tangible through the thin fabric of his Henley. His eyes wandered to her full, inviting lips...

"We... we'll stop very soon," a voice not far away from them announced with a small cough, and Mick needed a moment to remember where he was and what they had actually intended to do.

"Yeah... I... we're coming," he stammered, while Beth broke away from him with significantly reddened cheeks and picked up the bag again that had fallen to the ground. The loss of her body heat was not easy to digest, but much harder was it to focus on what was important now, to bring back peace and order into his troubled insides. If this went on like this much longer, he would soon become completely crazy.

Gabriel stepped slightly aside to let Beth go ahead and then nodded encouragingly to Mick.

"Don't worry, that'll go off all right," the old vampire whispered in his ear when he was on one level with him and patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. Mick had to take a deep breath before he could walk on. He really hoped that Gabriel was right, and his life 'un-complicated' again, as soon as possible.


	8. Frustration

_Hi everyone out there! Here's the next chapter as I promised. Thank you so, so much for your feedback and support. Great to hear you liked the look into Mick's childhood for it was such a fun to write it. Hope you like also this chapter enough to leave me a little comment. You know I'm an addict. I'll be back at Sunday again. Yours Jenna_

_Lucretiareadsall: I don't tell if Gabriel is 100% vampire. You'll find this out some time. But he's indeed no usual vampire. And I'm surprised you still remember the mummified remains. Most people have forgotten about this but they are indeed of importance for the story around Mick. Great memory, Lucretia!_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**F****rustration**

* * *

_"Frustration is when there is more circling around in your head as there is room for it." _

_Calendar quote _

* * *

Frustration was something I had never really been able to handle. It made me impatient, moody and hungry - especially when there were _so many_ things that frustrated me. Although we were not currently in any immediate danger and had already detoured far enough away from New York that the Legion would never find us, there were still some things that made me not only angry, but furious. It wasn't just being forced to part with my two best friends, having to give up well-deserved sex because I hadn't wanted to take Simone along, sit now in an old refrigerated semi, redesigned to carry passengers, and think about how we were going to get the much needed information about Peterson's current location - no, I was also forced to barrel down the Highway with one of the most annoying people among all my vampire friends. And to top it off, he was now clearing his throat loudly behind my seat.

"Can't we at least turn on some music for a little while?" Baby-ringlet asked and I saw him from the corner of my eye bending forward slightly between the seats and reaching his hand out towards the radio.

"You'll draw back a bloody nub – trust me," I growled, without really turning to him. His hand stopped in mid-air, while Vince next to me in the driver's seat, uttered a slight chuckle.

"Did you not get enough to eat for breakfast, or what?" Logan tried to give his voice an amused sound, but withdrew his arm, which showed he took me seriously. Good for him. Although the image alone disgusted me, I would have done it too, if only to show him he'd better not tangle with a Josef Kostan.

"Well, _I _too wouldn't mind a little music," I heard another snotty voice behind Logan and the Giant Baby sank into his seat once again in order to cast a menacing glance at Jason.

"You'd better shut the hell up and fast!" he passed my bad mood along to him. "You have no say here!"

Jason didn't reply. I could feel that everything in him rebelled against listening to a 'simple' vampire such as Logan, but my presence and the strong, menacing-looking man on his other side, who threw dark looks at him every now then, stopped him from putting up a fight.

"What's the name of that 'hamlet' we're looking for again?" Vince asked me. His eyes had probably caught the mile marker sign on the roadside a good bit away from us. _Sunbury_ was written there in white letters on a green background, with the number of miles to its destination and an arrow to the right.

"Precisely that," I replied in a bad mood. Well, Sunbury was, with its ten thousand people not necessarily what most people would call a 'hamlet', but we big city vampires had a totally different feeling and headed quite reluctantly towards the 'rural' idyll. There first had to be a really good reason for doing this, which in this case was sitting right here between Max and Logan, now staring vacantly into space.

The living arrangments with Max and his men had made Jason suddenly very talkative, and when I had joined them, to tell my friends of Gabriel's little change of plans it had suddenly occurred to him, that he could still be a huge help in our search for Cynthia Davis. The name Dexter Flynn, Jason had then mentioned, was even known to me, for he was to vampires what Alejandro was to humans and could make people disappear so effectively, that some had surmised that he would rather kill them than actually hide them. Dexter changed his residence again and again and was always difficult to find. And very few of us knew what he looked like. That Jason even knew his current address, told me he had probably toyed with the idea of flying the coop for some time.

"Finally!" I heard Logan sigh as we left the Highway. "Can I have a blood bag now?"

"Certainly not," I growled, although I myself would have loved to empty an entire bucket of blood. This always calmed me down so nicely.

"But you said when we got there..."

"We're not there yet," I brought out with a clearly audible grinding of my teeth, and now turned around to him with a threatening look. I felt like a father reprimanding his annoying child and Logan indeed managed to stubbornly fold his arms across his chest and pout. I closed my eyes for a moment and then looked at Jason.

"Where exactly did you say the house was?"

"More in the suburbs near the river. On Front Street," Jason rattled off fast and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"I thought you'd never been there before?"

He pulled back and instantly became paler - for a vampire an enormous performance. "That... that's true… I haven't," he stammered awkwardly. "I just heard about this..."

"Yeah, sure!" Logan exclaimed and slapped the surprised Jason on top of the head with the palm of his hand, so that he flew forward a good piece.

"Say, are you outta your mind?" Jason hissed indignantly. The next arm slammed against his chest and pushed him back into the seat.

"Relax!" Max growled and told him with one glance that he had better behave.

A small smile slipped from my lips when I saw that Jason had to bite his lip with suppressed rage.

We had just driven around a gentle curve when Vince cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"So, we're now on Market Street," he explained and for the first time since we had reached Sunbury I cast a glance out of the window. Flat, simple buildings, shops, parking lots... village-dreariness. It shook me inside. So lacking in style, so third-class...

"It's up ahead a little further until we reach the next major intersection," said Jason. "That should be Front Street. And then we need to make a right hand turn..."

Major intersection! How ridiculous! It wouldn't have surprised me, if out of nowhere a horse drawn carriage had trotted up next to us. We were in the midst of a nightmare of a modernized Western town. Oh, God, there was even a Church yet! A pretty pretentious one for such a small village, with its bright rocks and almost gothic windows. Much too European and thus not so many positive memories for me. I turned my eyes away quickly and instead looked back over my shoulder at Jason.

"You know, you're amazingly street-smart here, my friend," I smiled at him coolly and I could see how he squirmed under my gaze. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times but brought out nothing. Maybe it was better that way because I was already itching to shut him up with the next bold lie. I turned around again and realized that we had reached Front Street and just rounded the corner. Vince in fact had set a fairly brisk pace.

Directly to our left was the river with its ineffable name, murkier and wider than it had looked on the map. But even murkier were the houses passing my window on the right. _Wooden sheds_ were more like it and I prayed inwardly that we wouldn't have to enter such a house. It took only a few minutes before I was taught better.

"Wait! There!" Jason's voice suddenly pierced my ear and I almost flinched. "Over there, there you need to stop!"

Apparently God had it in for me. Perhaps because I didn't really believe in him, but was this any reason to be so cruel?

Vince headed to a small paved parking lot in front of a hut, which pretended to be a three-story house. The lower half was a flat, brown and white building. On one side of it two more floors had been added, like stacked shoeboxes in a store, both equipped with a few white-framed windows and a little roof. We had probably ended up at the back of the building, because the narrow, brown door, which was embedded in the bottom building didn't really scream 'Welcome! Here you're right!'

We stopped beside a small black van with tinted windows and I was hundred percent sure that Dexter owned this vehicle.

"He... he seems to be here," Jason confirmed my guess and I gave him an even more intimidating look.

"I hope so, for your sake."

I let my words work on him for a moment, then opened the door and got out. Grey clouds had moved in front of the sun and made the area around me look even more sinister. The house was surrounded by a few more of its kind, and a high wooden fence hid the approach to the property and parking lot on the left side. Not an unusual choice for the home of a vampire... who didn't have much style. But, for me it was sheer horror, for the interior of the house, which I was about to enter at any moment, would certainly be just as lacking in style as its grubby exterior. I glanced over at Max, who was now‚ 'helping' Jason roughly out of the car, and he nodded to me. To be on the safe side, Vince would wait in the car, which left only one person missing.

I waited and waited and...

"Logan!" It was more of a threat than the mention of his name and it was enough for him to at least stick his head out the window.

"Why is it necessary for me to go in there?" he whined again. "I'm really not a guerrilla!"

I let my eyes glide across my own clothes, over the elegant trousers and the silky, red shirt and then looked at him again, one eyebrow raised. "Do_ I_ look like I'm about to go in there and mop the floor with someone in hand-to-hand combat," I asked with a very friendly smile.

The boy without a doubt dared to eye me up and shrugged his shoulders. "Quite honestly, I think you'd probably go to a house renovation in an Armani-suit..."

I let out an angry snort and Logan, who felt that I had now reached my limit, quickly hastened to climb out of the car. House renovation! As if _I_ would ever do something like that! Quite apart from the fact that, not even the bit about the Armani-suit was right. My clothes were tailor-made for me.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to be of any help to you in there," Logan muttered distempered as he stomped past me, "but if that's the wish of _Mr. Kostan_, I'll obey, of course."

"In there, there's more than likely a computer with the data we need," I replied calmly, while I followed him over to Max and Jason. Even halfway there I felt something was stirring inside the house. I sucked in the air and put all my senses on the energetic tingling in our immediate vicinity. A vampire. Not very young, but still not as old as I was, maybe a hundred, a hundred fifty and I could only claim that because he approached us bravely, instead of running, as I had first assumed. A key rattled in the lock and then the door opened, creaking and the narrow face of a slightly small built man in his forties blinked at us. The wonder in his eyes disappeared immediately when he recognized the man Max was holding on to so friendly in his arms.

"Dexter Flynn?" I asked with a cold smile and immediately pressed my hand against the top of the door incase he got the idea he could slam it on our noses.

He nodded slowly, throwing a suspicious glance at me and an angry one at Jason. "Listen... I've retired," he said in a tone that clearly resonated his slight annoyance. "I've told this gentleman that before..."

"Oh, we're not here to take advantage of your services," I interrupted him at once. "It's about a person who has already done this, when you were still _active_... about a week ago..."

If I had caught him, it didn't show on his face. "There must be some mistake," he gave back a little grumpy. "I've been retired for few years already and for sure cannot help you with your problem. So if you'll excuse me..."

And now he tried it, tried to close the door, even though I was leaning against it. He didn't stand a chance and soon realized it.

"What do you want from me, Mr...?" He looked at me quizzically.

"Kostan. Josef Kostan," I gave back quietly, and there it was, the slight twitch of fear behind the mask of incomprehension and frustration. My name was not unknown to him.

"First of all I would like to come in," I replied, and pushed him aside just so we could enter the interior of the house, even against the will of its owner. I was not mistaken. The house was old, dusty and ugly. This wallpaper and the linoleum floor in the hall... God-awful! The Seventies were so, not, in, anymore! When I entered the even more atrocious living room, I let the air, I had held, out with a slow blow.

"Well, let's get straight to the point, Dex," I turned to the now much more nervous-looking vampire, ignoring the distinct smell, which rose into my nose in a nice note from somewhere. "Cynthia Davis. The name means something to you, doesn't it?"

Dexter feigned astonishment. "No," he lied, and my smile was back again, false, even almost aggressive.

"Blond, slim, strained sexy..."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I told you, I was..."

"... retired – yeah." I uttered a little laugh. What a shameless liar!

"But Jason here has told me something quite different," I continued, and Max pushed the young vampire just a bit closer to Dexter. Jason wasn't able to make a sound at the moment, but that would soon change.

"This means one of you is lying. And believe me, I _will_ find out who. I've never needed much time for this."

"Tell them Dex," Jason exclaimed immediately and I saw the panic light up in his bright eyes. "They only want Cynthia. And nobody has to know about this!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, young man," Dexter replied indignantly, then turned back to me. "Listen, this man is crazy! I have helped, perhaps a few times, vampires who have urgently needed to disappear, but I haven't done this for quite some time now. This man...," he pointed at Jason, who opened his mouth wide in disbelief, "he probably just wants to distract from his own guilt, and is looking for a scapegoat... "

"Then you certainly wouldn't mind if we take a look at your old files and computer data," I replied. Again, this slight twitching in his eyes.

"I've destroyed them all," he lied to me still. "I don't have an office or a computer anymore..."

A cough was heard from behind me and I turned around to Logan, frowning.

"If I'm allowed to ask a question..."

I nodded reluctantly and Logan cleared his throat once more importantly.

"Mr. Flynn, if you don't have a computer, why do you need then an ISDN line?" He pointed a finger at a white-gray cable that ran along the wall in the hallway on the ground and I raised my eyebrows now also questioningly.

"This... is only for the phone," our host stammered now clearly nervous and had already stretched a hand out to Logan, who walked to the cord. But he wasn't fast enough and my angry glance caused him to pause in his motion. I followed Logan into the hallway and found that here, this strange smell became even more intense, a smell, which was strangely familiar to me...

The cable disappeared near a small door under the stairs into the ground and I went up to it.

"What's in here?" I asked, without turning to Dexter, who had instantly followed me.

"Nothing," it burst out of him much too fast. "Only the basement..."

I shook my head in disbelief and simply pressed the latch down. How stupid did this man think I was?

Behind the door was a staircase and I held my breath for a moment - not because I was disgusted with the dust on the steps or the spider webs on the wall, but because the smell of the other vampire, who had to have been down there, grew even stronger. Could it be? Had she been here?

I did not dwell long on my thoughts, but simply walked down the stairs, into this rat hole, which could almost top Logan's cellar-shack with its wretchedness. In the rectangular room, there was a desk with a computer, two file cabinets, a shabby, red couch and two freezers that were both still in working order. The anger in me began to boil. I noticed only marginally that Max was now not only shoving Jason but also Dexter into the room, because my focus was solely on the anterior freezer, which I reached within two quick steps. The smell was so strong that I didn't really need to lift the lid to confirm my suspicion. However, I did, closed my eyes and sucked the scent deeply into my nose. Images awakened in my mind, pictures of a pale, dark-haired beauty, turning around to me in a flowing movement, giving me an indecent smile under seductively lowered eyelids, and then simply let the thin sheet that covered her naked body fall.

I opened my eyes again and firmly gritted my teeth. The mixture of old blood and orchids was unmistakable. And it hadn't been that long ago, at the most, only a few hours.

I spun around and grabbed the startled Dexter by his throat, slammed him against the wall he had just been standing in front of. He uttered a muffled groan and tore his eyes open in horror when he found my bared teeth directly in front of his nose.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy, Dex," I growled menacingly. "The woman... the vampire who was here, when did she leave?"

His fingers clutched reflexively my wrist and now pulled at them. I realized that I had to let go of him to allow him enough air to speak, and loosened my grip minimally.

"About... about three hours ago," he croaked.

"Where did she go?" I spat the next question into his twitching face with contempt.

"Down… down in the southwest."

My eyebrows went up angrily. What the hell was she doing there? In her situation, it would be much smarter to hide. Instead, she was drawn to us. A bad idea surfaced in my mind.

"And what did she want from you? Did she want you to help her go into hiding?"

The tentative shaking of his head did not surprise me, but it caused a queasy feeling in my stomach. "What then?"

"She wanted me to help her to find someone..."

"Who?" I squeezed out from between gritted teeth and my fingers automatically squeezed more firmly again.

Dexter rattled frantically, but couldn't manage to get out another word. Instead he pointed with trembling fingers to his desk. Max moved there immediately, pushed aside a few files and then sought Dexter's gaze.

"Draw... drawer," he croaked and Max pulled it open. He froze for a moment, then breathed deeply and took out a few stapled sheets. On top were more than one photo stuck together with a clip. I let go of Dexter so suddenly, that he slumped down slightly, and was within a few steps at Max's side.

Mick and Beth. One photo that must have been taken somewhere on the road, and beneath it, one with just Mick, leaving his home and an old black and white picture of him from the fifties, before he had been turned into a vampire. Coraline was again on the hunt for my friend and he had no idea that she was already approaching him.

"Does she have any idea where he is?" I turned again to Dexter, who held in a very human way his neck and looked at me scared.

"I... I don't know exactly. She was gone for a few days and when she came back, she said she now knew where to look."

"And were you able to help her with that somehow?"

He cast an uneasy gaze not only at me but also at the others. "I... I have a few connections in certain circles and I was told that St. John had left the country for a long time, but is now back in the States. Someone told me that he was in New York. I guess she had flown there, but hadn't found him. So she came back here..."

I tried to breathe deeply and calmly, but my gaze must have looked so threatening that Dexter backed up against the wall full of fear. "I... I didn't know he was one of your friends, Josef, otherwise I never would have helped her!"

"I see," I gave back with a cold smile and came so close to him that he pulled both his arms up in a defensive gesture to his chest, lifting his hands.

"You will now do the following, Dex," I said softly, plucking lint from his left shoulder. "You will give me and my friends here all the information you have on this. _All_ of it." Another fuzz ball floated to the ground in slow motion. "And if I get even the slightest feeling that you're lying to me, you will learn, why most of my enemies appreciate dying quickly." My gaze dug firmly into his frightened wide opened eyes. "Do we understand each other?"

He swallowed hard and nodded. For a long moment my eyes rested on his throat and the urge to rip into it with my teeth became so overwhelming that I finally turned away from him and favored walking to the desk instead, swapping places with Max.

"Logan," I said, without really looking at him and looked at the computer screen in front of me with a critical expression. His baby face was instantly at my side, as always, when it came to his specialty.

"Can you do something with that?"

Logan inspected the device briefly and then nodded to my satisfaction.

"Not that bad actually," he said, and switched on the computer. "What do you need?"

"Everything that's on it," I replied, and turned to the file cabinets.

"But it's going to take a while," the young vampire reminded me and in doing so voiced my thoughts exactly regarding the files in these cabinets. I looked at Jason, who stood a little bit hesitant in the room and nodded to him, so he immediately came up to me. "Take those boxes over there and put all the files from the cabinets in them..." My eyes wandered to the horrified Dexter. "I'm sure you have a key to the cabinets, don't you?"

"But you... you can't do that," he stammered, desperately. "How am I going to earn a living then? I…"

"Don't worry, we'll provide for you as long as you're with us," I interrupted him with a false smile.

"What?" His noble paleness gave way to a colorless gray. "I... I'm supposed to come with you?"

I let out a small, straight-faced laugh and then turned to Max. "Can I leave these two alone with you for a moment?" I asked him. "I need to make some really urgent calls."

Not surprisingly, Max nodded, and I immediately set into motion, hurried up the stairs to ensure better reception for my cell phone. Gabriel would know what to do in terms of Coraline. For now, I only had to reach him.


	9. Greed

_I have to make this short this time, for I don't have much time today. Here's the next chapter and as the title shows it is a NC-17 one. So everyone who's too young for this or doesn't like erotic scenes has to wait until Thursday, when I'm back with the next chapter. A big 'Thank you' and an even bigger hug to all my dear review-writers! Loved your feedback so much. And see you all at Thursday again!_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**G****reed**

* * *

"_The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices make instruments to plague us."_

_ William Shakespeare, __"King Lear"_

* * *

There it was again, that familiar blond, only slowly emerging from the wetness that made the color appear darker, as she let her brush glide with slow strokes through her hair. A little smile settled on her lips. It was nice to be able to regain a small part of herself after such a long time masquerading, even... relaxing. She put the brush away and pushed the outer strands of her hair carefully behind her ears, looked searchingly at her face. She looked a little tired and exhausted, but was, despite her au natural state, relatively pretty to look at, and the bright, thin nightgown she had slipped into, had a certain charm, for it was a bit tapered and presented the curves of her body in a very pleasant, unassuming way. She was sure that the grumpy man out there in the living room, to whom she felt so painfully drawn to, would be in for a surprise when she came out of the bathroom like this, for his desire for her had grown so much in the last few hours, despite his immense efforts, he couldn't hide it from her. There was such a hunger in his eyes that made her very excited, and had not only influenced her to shower, but to also get ready for bed early and as a result to have as little fabric on her body as possible. To be honest, it wasn't nearly late enough to go to bed yet.

Their trip to Detroit had not taken long, since Gabriel had been able to organize a small private plane that brought them right to the city limits. Beth had been amazed at the connections the old vampire seemed to have anywhere in the world, even more so because she had heard he rarely left Europe and usually led a reclusive, solitary life. But maybe that was just another one of those stupid half-truths that had been bandied about everywhere.

At least Gabriel had been able to secure, in somewhat of a hurry, this little flat on the outskirts, minimizing the risk of being detected by the Legion greatly, for they usually only controlled hotels and other guesthouses. That was why it had not bothered her that much when the old vampire had departed so soon and had told them he would pick them up again early the next morning to continue their journey on to San Francisco. Although he had not wanted to tell them where he was going that night, she had still been grateful to him for his discreet disappearance, because it had allowed her to spend a little time with Mick alone. Time they needed so urgently, because there were so many things they needed to talk about. Quite apart from the fact that she was also dying with longing for physical contact with him.

Mick, however, had not been as enthusiastic about Gabriel's disappearance. She had observed a slight flare of panic in his eyes and since then he had only spoken the bare necessities with her, had avoided her in the small apartment as much as possible, and had again and again cast these glances at her that slowly drove her crazy.

But now she was going to put an end to the little drama taking place there in his head. She straightened her shoulders, turned determined and left the foggy bathroom. In the living room she stopped again and wrinkled her brows in confusion. No Mick. But from the kitchen came a sound, as if someone had pushed a chair back, a soft frustrated sigh, and then silence again. What the hell was he doing in there?

She took a deep breath, steeling herself inwardly for the upcoming battle, and walked with firm steps into the kitchen. The sight, awaiting her there, made her pause slightly shocked, for it hadn't been awhile since he had shocked her with the same image: Mick sitting on a chair with his sleeve pushed up and spread out on the table in front of him, injection utensils. Only this time there was no syringe in his hand. He sat bend forward bracing his forehead in his hand, his eyes closed.

Beth swallowed the lump in her throat and moved closer to him, causing him to raise his head surprised and look at her. His gaze wandered over her body and she all too clearly saw the greed immediately flare up in the depths of his beautiful eyes. He tore his gaze away from her with distinct difficulty and instead took one of the small vials from his case and stared at it with twitching cheek muscles. Well wonderful! This had really started out 'great'!

Beth swallowed hard and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What are you doing?" She asked as friendly as possible.

Mick's chest expanded with a deep breath, his eyes still staring at the ampoule. "I'm thinking," he answered shortly.

"Is this one of Peterson's meds?" she probed further. He nodded after a moment's hesitation and tilted the vial slightly, so that the small amount of fluid in it flowed from one side to the other.

"Then it has apparently lasted much longer than four weeks," she noted in order to conceal the horror that had struck her at seeing just how little of the cure was left.

Mick took a deep breath through his nose. "We went easy with it..."

"And why do you want to waste it now? You just took it a few hours ago... "

She was surprised when he now looked her and contracted his brows a bit confused. Then he seemed to understand what she was talking about and shook his head. "That was just a mixture of vitamins, minerals and other substances that I urgently needed... and blood..." With his last words his eyes left hers and sank back to the vial in his hand.

"I still don't quite understand why you need to use it now," she returned and Mick looked at her again, with this anger in his eyes that always surfaced, hiding his true feelings when things became emotionally dicey for him. How she hated that!

"I'm _thinking_ about it, okay?" He brought out very clearly. "Besides, it's _my_ decision..."

"Is it?" She asked slightly irritated. "Strange, I get the feeling that this decision somehow concerns me for the most part..."

"Then maybe you're wrong," was the impudent lie, and his anger now began to flare up in her.

"I doubt it," she answered poignantly and somewhat won the small battle of gazes between them because he was now looking again at his hands. For a brief moment there was silence between them, tense, awkward silence, then Beth gathered up her courage again.

"Mick, don't you think Gabriel would have asked you to take the meds some time ago if it were really necessary?"

"But I need it," he returned quietly after a brief hesitation, still not looking at her.

"Why?"

"Because ... because..." He struggled for a good reason, but was apparently not successful. "Because I just need it."

Beth rolled her eyes unnoticed by him and took another step toward him, so he raised his gaze warily.

"If this were true... why haven't you already injected yourself with it?" she asked him softly. His eyes wandered back over to his hands and he gritted his teeth firmly. Caught. This was the exact point she had to hold on to.

"We've already dealt with worse situations than this without using the meds, Mick," she went on and saw his eyes flicker, a clear sign that her words had hit the bull's eye and yet he still struggled against this reasoning, clenched his hands into fists so tight that she was afraid he might accidentally crush the ampoule, which he was still holding in one of them.

"And you're not alone," she added. "I'm on your side and can help you..."

His troubled gaze shot up at her. "No! No Beth! You can't help me with this, okay?" He uttered outraged. "There are things I have to take care of on my own, things no one can help me with! Just accept it for once and leave... leave me alone, okay?"

His words stung, but what hurt even more was the tortured look in his eyes that he couldn't hide from her. There it was again, this stupid idea that he had to handle all his problems on his own, to be strong, to take on the world alone, no matter how wounded and weakened his mind still was. In Mexico, they had made so much progress with this. Although she had expected his old behavior patterns to return once Mick had regained his strength and health again. To support and train his vampire side had also meant neglecting his humanity for that period of time, depriving it of the space needed for development...

Beth took a deep breath, tried to put her own anguish aside regarding this insight and to choose her words carefully.

"I know this situation isn't easy for you Mick," she brought out with a slightly husky voice, "but it's not easy for me either. Never before in my life I've been on the run, I've rarely had to endure such fears as in the past months and yet I still believe that this will all be over someday... that we'll be able to live in peace again. Until then, we have others who will help us and give us the support we need… and we have us, Mick." She paused for a moment, because she now saw the chaos of feelings her words had stirred in his interior. His breathing had become much faster, and his cheek muscles twitched so clearly it was hard to avoid. He closed his eyes and she felt encouraged to go on.

"This is the only thing that matters, Mick," she added quietly, "and deep down, I know you feel the same way. You just can't come out and say it. Instead, you hide behind this wall of resistance, fear and aggression..."

She had to once again take a breath to maintain her controlled tone. Her own statements weakening her self-control.

"And do you know what the sad thing _is_ about all of this?" she now added almost in a whisper. "The person you're hurting the most, that you harm the most, is you."

She looked at him for a long moment, watched how her words worked in his head, how he wrestled with himself and then reluctantly decided to leave him alone. To go on pressuring him at this point would go nowhere and would only drive him even deeper into his dark hole. Instead, she turned and started to walk back into the living room. Her heart gave a little jump when suddenly his hand shot out and his fingers closed around her wrist, keeping her from leaving.

"Wait," it slipped quietly from his lips and when she looked at him again, the cold and defensive look was almost completely gone from his eyes. Instead, all his longing for her, his fears, and particularly his deep regret was revealed to her in his eyes so much so that for a moment her breath caught and her heart melted in seconds. Profound relief washed over her and removed all tension from her body.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and the pain in his dark eyes confirmed once again how much his own aloof behavior had burdened him, how difficult it was for him to cope, at the moment, with himself.

She stepped closer to him immediately, because she could feel this was what he wanted, and raised her hand to his face to caress his cheek with all the tenderness she could muster.

"You don't need to be, Mick," she whispered and watched him close his eyes briefly, then he pushed his arms around her waist, drew her still closer to him, now standing with one leg between his. He took a deep halting breath and then let go of the rest of his worries, pressed his face to her belly as she bent down and gently enfolded his head in her arms, burying her nose in his hair, and also inhaling deeply. Finally. Finally he had let her get close to him again. Finally she was able to let him feel how much she loved him... needed him…

"I'm so sorry," she could hear him mutter once again, dull against her belly, and she moved away from him little so she could look at him. The pain written in his beautiful eyes was so deep but also so unnecessary. "I... I don't know why I do this, but sometimes..." He desperately tried to find the right words, but still could not finish his sentence. "Hurting you is the last thing I want..."

"I know," she whispered, instinctively taking his face into her hands, bent down to him and gently pressed her lips to his forehead, his eyes, and finally his lips, wanting to tell him that there was nothing that she had to forgive him for. How good this felt...

The expression in Mick's eyes changed once more, the longing for her closeness became stronger and he raised a hand, brushed her still damp, blond hair gently from her face, only to reach out for her neck and pull her head down to him. His lips met hers again, a little firmer this time, but still far too short. Beth's heart began to pound in her chest and she met the next kiss clearly a little more breathless, capturing his so incredibly soft lower lip for a short time with her lips before she again released him. She searched his eyes nervously. There it was the burning desire, which had also taken possession of her body so quickly, driving her to bring her legs astride Mick's thighs and settle down on his lap. His arms closed around her waist now, pulled her tightly to him, into the seductive warmth of his body. Then his mouth pressed hungrily to hers. His tongue pushed between her lips, quickly found hers and with a low moan began this exciting game of caressing and teasing that Beth also yearned for so impatiently. Her hands slid over his shoulders, down his broad back, dug into his shirt and tried to pull it up immediately. She gasped for air as he released her lips again and instead conquered the sensitive skin just below her ear. One of his warm hands found its way under her nightgown and slid there over her heated flesh, rapidly approaching her breasts.

Beth shuddered and moaned as his hand found their target, slipped gently over her sensitive nipples, hard with arousal, only to then clasp one of her breasts a little tighter, caressing it with his long, warm fingers. She pushed, impulsively even closer to him, pulling now even more impatiently at his shirt, which for some reason didn't want to slide any further than his shoulder blades. Mick's mouth had roamed lower, sucked at the tingling skin of her cleavage, while his hand wandered down her side, grazed her hip and then slid between her thighs. Beth let out a deeply aroused gasp. The touching of her pleasure center, the exciting pressure of his fingers on the most sensitive spot of her womanhood came so suddenly that she'd forgotten for a moment to breathe. The more disappointed she was when he moved his hand away after only a few seconds and also pulled his lips from her cleavage, breathing heavily.

"God... this isn't happening," he uttered with great difficulty close to her ear and she leaned back a little in order to look at his face. He had closed his eyes and seemed to be struggling with himself significantly. She could see that he was clenching his teeth tightly and took a deep breath through his nose.

It was hard for her to think in this state of excitement but she knew immediately what was going on and tenderly touched his face, making him open his eyes again. It didn't surprise her that they were much brighter than before but this had never frightened her. She leaned forward and kissed him again, deepening the kiss as soon as she felt how eagerly he gave in to her. His reason this time had no real power over him. His hands instinctively slid around her back, pressed her again closer to him and she used the opportunity to grab the hem of his shirt and finally pull it from this beautiful brown skin. Beth broke the kiss only long enough to pull the shirt over his head, and caught his lips again as he automatically slipped his arms out of the sleeves. He had little chance to escape her, instead, responded with a deep groan to the urging of her tongue and enclosed her in his arms, rubbing his chest provocatively against hers. Her nipples were so erect and hard that he simply had to feel them, their movement against him, and she closed her eyes moaning, enjoying this contact with all her senses. And this skin beneath her restless fingers, moving over his muscular back... How could something be so soft and at the same time be so firm, feel so good?

Beth let out a choking sound, as his hands rapidly roamed down her back, grasped her bottom and pulled her lower body closer to his, pressing her violently throbbing sex against the hard bulge in his jeans. She took a ragged breath as he released her lips again, pressed his mouth onto her neck, sliding his tongue further down over the heated skin. His next move against her center caused a deep groan to escape her and she automatically pushed her pelvis forward, rocked herself provocatively against him, clung to his shoulders and pressed her lips to his neck. The strap of her nightgown was quickly pushed down her shoulder and the already very deep neckline of the thin piece of cloth slipped further beneath her breast. Beth bit her lip, as Mick's hot breath met her erect peak for she knew exactly what would follow. She dug her fingers even tighter into his shoulders as his lips closed around the delicate flesh and her eyelids sunk. His mouth was so hot and moist, and this suction so unbearable. Oh, God... his tongue...

The loud groan could no longer be avoided. She rocked her womb automatically into his lap again, enjoying the intense pulling, caused by the friction, and provoked a quite similar sound as hers from his throat. He raised his head, pressed his lips to her neck while his hands grabbed her hips and pressed her heated center firmly against his hard erection. His pelvis was moving against her, thus stimulating her in a way that carried her excitement to extremes. Anew, this muffled sound at her neck and then the breathless hesitation.

Please not again... He couldn't do this to her now!

Once again, she leaned back, crossed her arms around his neck and tried to kiss him. But this time he managed to evade her and she caught only his ear. Just as well... her teeth dug into his earlobe with gentle pressure, held it fast, playfully and provoked a further almost tormented sound from him.

"Beth, don't...," he gasped and his hands seized hers, detached them with difficulty from his neck. But her lips glided now under his ear, sucking at the soft, delicate skin beneath it. She could feel him shiver. Nevertheless, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her away from him with great difficulty.

"It... it's not possible," he croaked, and the greedy look at her lips revealed just how hard it was for him to say that. He really didn't need to torment himself so much. With this feeble resistance it was not that difficult to lean forward again and press her lips onto his.

"Beth...," he mumbled and tried to push her back. Though, he had let go of one of her hands again, which immediately found its way across his chest down his taut belly. There was a very simple way to make a man totally submissive... Unfortunately her fingers were stopped by his hands only a few millimeters away from their target and were pulled up again. So she once again pressed her mouth to his neck.

The next sound he uttered was almost frustrated. "Beth! I transform!"

She now looked up again, looked into his bright eyes, watching her with a mixture of concern and devouring hunger, bent forward and simply kissed him anew. And the same game started all over again: The frustrated sound, the pressure on her shoulders, their lips breaking apart only incredibly slowly.

"Are you even listening to me?" he brought out breathlessly.

"Mick, I have no problem with your vampire side," she had to say now in a hoarse voice. "And I have no problem with you biting me."

That was actually not quite true, because the last bite had been very painful and therefore she didn't have a particularly fond memory of it, but her desire was now so strong that she would do anything to satisfy it.

She saw reluctance, almost anger flare up in his eyes. "I... I don't _want_ to bite you!"

She leaned forward, looking at him beneath heavy lids. "Liar," she uttered softly and let her lips brush against his very gently. She felt him struggling with his control.

"I _shouldn't_ bite you," he uttered scarcely audible, his eyes fixed on her lips. How wonderful such a weak will could be sometimes...

"You_ should_," she whispered, took his lower lip again between hers and sucked gently on it. Beth felt the quivering inside him, felt his excited panting on her lips and let go again, letting her lips slide over his chin, over this irresistible dimple...

"You... you don't understand," he whispered to her hoarsely. "It's not just about me..."

His pulse was beating as fast as hers, she could now feel it under her lips, which were slowly moving down his neck, could feel it beneath her tongue...

"Beth..." Moaned, her name sounded even more beautiful. She let her hands slide across his chest, down to his nipples, which shamefully revealed his own desires, in addition to the hard bulge between his thighs. Very tenderly she ran her fingers over them, rubbed them, did the things Mick always did to drive her crazy. There were some men who were just as sensitive there as women, and Mick was clearly one of them, this was evident by the soft hiss he made as he drew air in. She took it calmly, as his hands grabbed her arms and pulled them from his body. She simply thrust her pelvis forward again against his groin.

"Beth..." There was slight desperation in his voice and she almost felt sorry for him. But only almost. Her own desire was too great to be withdrawn now and she had a right to sleep with him, because, since their time in Mexico, they were, in her eyes, a real couple now. He couldn't start again to hide behind his fears.

Unfortunately he saw things differently and had now decided to use more strength yet to push her by the shoulders away from him. She was a little startled when she looked into two white-blue eyes and behind his parted lips indeed showed the tips of his sharp fangs. For a moment she froze and Mick closed his eyes tightly, focused on trying to breathe deeply and calmly. She hadn't noticed in her lust how far his transformation had advanced. And she was surprised how little the sight frightened her, even though the events in the nightclub were still not that long ago. After a few seconds of hesitation, she raised a hand and touched Mick's cheek. He winced slightly and opened wide his still bright eyes in dismay, while her thumb tenderly ran along his cheek toward his ear.

"Mick, you've bitten me so many times by now," she whispered. "It really doesn't matter to me..."

"It's... it's different than before," he replied almost inaudibly, while his eyes were lusting for her lips, which were slowly approaching his. "I... I _really_ want it..."

"What?" she breathed against his lips.

A deep, heavy breath. "Your… your blood... "

The way he said it, the deep desire in his voice, sent a pleasant shower down her back. "Then take it," she whispered hoarsely to him.

"You... you're not my Freshie, Beth," he gasped and his eyes rested now clearly on her neck, on her throbbing carotid artery, brought the skin above it to burn.

"I know, but I want you to have it anyway," she whispered, lowering her lips to his again, but Mick eluded her with a slight shake of his head.

"If I do, the others will see," he gasped tense. "This is dangerous, Beth. It's like a sign to them that you're available to the vampire world..."

"Then bite me somewhere where no one will see it." She couldn't believe that she actually suggested this to him and this idea additionally aroused her.

"Mick, I want to be with you," she added, explaining, "_really_ be with you, be close to you, sleep with you and I know this will work. In Mexico, it was possible as well..."

He shook his head almost imperceptibly. "I was much more human there..."

"You were also in control on our first night together, Mick, and you were a full vampire back then."

"I'm much more dangerous now..."

"Not to me!"

In his eyes sparkled, besides his desire and longing, now, also slight pain. "I... I hurt you, Beth," he uttered barely audible and with deep remorse in his voice, and she knew that he was talking about the bite at the disco.

She smiled softly, stroking his cheek tenderly. "You were in need but you still remained in control and stopped when it was necessary."

"But we... we had no sex. This is something entirely different. We've never had sex before when the vampire in me was so dominant, longed for your blood so intensely."

"Then you'll just have to bite me now, right away. Then the urge will subside." She could hardly believe she had said this, but the words were out, could not be withdrawn. If she was honest, she didn't really want to either.

Mick looked at her for a long moment, struggling with his feelings, but Beth could quickly see how much her tempting offer weakened his will. The hunger for her blood had to be really huge. Her heartbeat quickened as he grabbed her hips and stood up with her, sat her on the table before him, without losing the intimate contact with her body. His deep, blazing look into her eyes made her blood boil again and let the heat in her abdomen grow stronger because she knew that he would not back down again from here on.

He lowered his head, brushed his lips against hers and teased her before he took possession of her mouth, before he let his tongue search for contact with hers. Beth sighed inwardly, her arms wrapped around his neck and she returned his kiss passionately. How could a man taste so wonderful, trigger such a strong desire for him inside her? She noticed only marginally that he pushed her backward, made her slowly sink down onto the table. Her own greed for this man almost burned her inside. She took a deep, trembling breath as Mick's lips roamed to her chin, down her throat to her collarbone.

'He's going to bite you. He's really going to bite you,' it hammered in her head and her excitement grew with every inch his hot, wet mouth, moved down her body. He now pushed up her nightgown, let his lips slide over the soft skin of her ribs and belly. She felt his tongue, caressing her heated skin there in the most intense way, but didn't linger there, instead wandered further down. Her heartbeat upped its pace once more and she caught her breath as he reached her hip bone. Where was he headed?

Her breathing was really heavy now. His lips were just too close to her pleasure center, as they irritatingly slow moved along her hip and shortly thereafter reached the tender, very sensitive skin of the inside of her thigh. He did not move much further down. She bit her lower lip as she felt a slight suction there, and eventually his tongue, stroking the soft tissue above the vigorously pulsating artery there, massaged it, preparing it for the bite. Beth closed her eyes, enjoying the tingling sensation that this intense contact was sending from there directly to her hot, wet center and caused the throbbing and pulling to become almost unbearable. She was so ready... ready for whatever was to come.

The pain was fine, like the bite of an insect, then the suction started and Beth inhaled surprised, grabbed reflexively at the edge of the table and arched her body. She had not known how closely the nerves were connected there to the central point of her femininity. He could have sucked there directly - the intensity of this act would certainly have been the same. The deeply excited sounds breaking from her throat at that very moment were almost alien to her, while she was struggling for air with her heart wildly pounding. Too intense... too intense... Don't stop it... more... more...

Tingling heat wandered from the point he was so fervently sucking at, through the many small blood vessels even into the most hidden corners of her body, made it quake and sensitized it in a way that made her feel even the smallest breeze on her heated skin. The pulling in her belly had taken the same rhythm as the sucking of his hot mouth, increased with every greedy draw and drove her rapidly close to the climax her quivering body yearned so much for. She felt dizzy and her muscles began to tremble. Now... now...

The pulling sensation stopped much too fast and released her abruptly from her tension. Beth's head dropped back onto the table and she closed her eyes, drew in rapid breaths the air she needed so badly into her lung. She felt Mick's fingers on her hips as she tried to get her raging emotions back under control and breathe deeper and calmer, felt him pulling down her panties, slipping them down her thighs and eventually freeing her completely from them. Her stunned mind didn't realize what he was about to do until his hot breath met her heated center, but at this point it was already too late. Beth jerked as his tongue pressed against the most sensitive spot of her womanhood, initially caressing her there only cautiously and gently, but these gentle touches alone were like shooting electric shocks through her so incredibly sensitive body. She opened her eyes and let out a surprised gasp.

"Mick… wait," she gasped, struggling for breath, and tried to close her legs, but he wouldn't let her, instead held her thighs and began to increase the pressure with his tongue, licking and teasing the sensitive bud of her center in such an intensive way that Beth's mind was completely void in no time and her body was ablaze in flames. She heard her own ecstatic moaning and heavy breathing as if from a distance while her fingers now gripped the edge of the table more firmly and her body arched up to him, submissively and quivering.

'More... more ... Don't stop!' was pounding in her head and she closed her eyes again, abandoning herself to this incredible feeling, to the intense throbbing and pulling in her abdomen the enthralling play of his tongue was causing within her. The tension in her abdomen grew rapidly to a level that was almost painful. Then it was already there, the climax, far too quickly and too violently, washing over her writhing body like a mighty tidal wave, let it shudder briefly and then submit to the violent contractions of her core.

Mick's lips had left their place and had returned to where he had started with this devilish game. She only noticed the pull on her thigh again when the violent throbbing in her abdomen, the noise in her ears subsided. She could hear Mick breathe heavily and opened her eyes as he just straightened and closed his eyelids, obviously enjoying the taste of her climax. Her arms trembled under the weight of her body as she sat up out of a deep instinct, threw her arms around his neck and just pulled him into an intimate kiss. She could taste herself and even a bit of her blood on his lips, his tongue, but that didn't matter, only aroused her desire for more. Mick seemed to be a little stunned, reacted to the urging of her mouth distractedly and returned her kisses slightly languid. Beth didn't mind. Somehow it gave her the feeling of power. She let her hands appreciatively run over his warm, beguilingly soft skin, while still kissing him deeply and dearly. These muscles... this body... this taut belly. Her hands met his jeans and quickly opened the belt and buttons. Her heart pounded as if it would burst again as she slipped her hand into his pants, was finally able to touch what had already stimulated her through the coarse fabric of his jeans so wonderfully. How warm and soft and yet so hard...

Mick drew in a sharp breath and closed his eyes, leaning slightly forward against her. Beth let her lips roam across his chin to his neck, sucked on his skin there as her fingers stroked him gently, thus bringing her own lust back quickly. Mick awakened rapidly from his inactive state. His hands grabbed her hips again and pulled her closer to his body, brought Beth to stop in her motion and instead pushed, with growing impatience, his jeans and shorts down his hips. His hot breath hit her neck, just before his lips pressed fiercely onto her mouth, smothering the groan she was forced to utter through his now very rapid penetration. She clasped his neck and enjoyed the firm pressure of his fingers that dug into the flesh of her hips to help her meet his next deep thrust. She tore away from his lips again and inhaled deeply and noisily in chorus with him, closed her eyes and leaned back a little, gave herself over to the sensual rhythm, their sweaty, connected in the most intimate way, bodies moved now. To feel Mick inside her, to feel how he was stretching her, filling her up, was still the most incredible feeling she had ever felt, so exciting, so intense, so breathtaking. His mouth had again pressed to her neck, sucked on her skin, while his hardness began to move faster, more violently within her. Beth propped up her trembling body with one hand behind her, pushed her legs over his hips, crossed them above his buttocks and pulled him even closer to her. Mick bent forward to support his hands on the table to penetrate her deeper, giving his thrusts even more force. Beth held firmly to his shoulder, pressed her face against his neck, breathing heavily and closed her eyes. The tension in her throbbing core was driven to the absolute maximum and she held her breath.

The orgasm came quickly and again with this incredible force that made her cry out Mick's name this time. Then came the whistling and humming in her head that drowned out the beating of her heart, this pleasant shower, these goose bumps that seemed to invade her whole body, and the violent waves of contractions in her abdomen, which now also drove Mick across the border with a deep groan, finally collapsing on her. Despite the exhaustion, washing over her, she noticed that Mick did something close beside her neck, but she was too exhausted to turn around. Moreover, it was so much more wonderful to wrap her arms and legs again more tightly around him and to savor this feeling of oneness for a little while longer, to enjoy the reverberations of this wonderful act.

"I love you," she whispered into his shoulder, pressed her lips to his collarbone and took a deep breath, felt like he did the same and was simply happy for this moment. She hoped so much, that in the near future there would be many more of these happy moments. They both needed them so urgently.


	10. Indistinctness

_Back again! Here's the new chapter. Hope you enjoy it as much as the other ones. Feel hugged for your feedback again. It's great to have some so true readers! Don't know what I would do without you. Will be back at Sunday again. Until then: Have a great time!_

_Translated by: Draco_

_Beta read by: Jo1027_

* * *

**I****ndistinctness **

_It was a strange picture how this ancient, extraordinary vampire sat directly in front of him on the bright terrace of the large house in the shade of an olive tree and read - but only if you knew that he was actually a creature of the night who could not tolerate sun and heat very well. To everyone else he looked like an ordinary man, very tall and broad-shouldered, of course, and a little mysterious, but never would anyone have thought that he really was a vampire. His skin always gave the impression that he was a little tanned and here in this environment he looked so relaxed and calm as if he was actually spending a nice holiday in this hot region. That this wasn't the case, Mick had just experienced yesterday evening. This was precisely the time when they all got active, for the point was mainly to elicit the vampire inside of Mick and to train him. Too much sun was in this case a small hindrance. The day served for sleeping and resting and so it was already late afternoon, although Mick had just gotten up. _

_It was still very hot, but that didn't bother him very much. His human side loved the sun and its warmth and the mild wind that blew from the nearby river brought enough cooling not to feel uncomfortable - at least if you were human, for the most part. However, what had led Gabriel to sit on the terrace rather than to linger in the cool rooms of the small house, Mick really didn't understand. Therefore, he could not prevent the pensive wrinkle between his eyebrows as he made his way toward the old vampire. _

"_Have you slept well?" Gabriel asked without looking up from his book. That was when Mick realized that it was Frank's thick notebook in which he had been so absorbed. _

"_Hmm," Mick only replied and took, with a slightly queasy feeling in his stomach, a seat on one of the other chairs at the table. He wondered how much of the content in that book was probably about him and what exactly Gabriel was reading. _

"_Interesting reading?" His tone was grimmer than he had originally planned. _

_His companion now laid the book down and looked at him a little smile gracing his lips. "In some ways," he admitted. "But this passage wasn't about you." He tilted his head slightly and thoughtfully wrinkled his dark eyebrows. "Are you hungry?" _

_Mick had heard this question so often in the past three days that he was tempted to roll his eyes in an irritated manner. Well, his appetite was not nearly as great as it should have been, considering the strain he put on his body every night, and his stomach was actually growling constantly. However, sometimes he lacked the motivation to eat which didn't prevent Gabriel and August from stuffing him with the most delicious things, whether he wanted them or not._

_Gabriel was still waiting with questioningly raised eyebrows for an answer, so Mick shrugged his shoulders a little hesitantly knowing that it wouldn't have the slightest impact. Gabriel promptly gave a sign to someone behind him. When Mick turned around he saw one of the two maids disappear into the interior of the house. He hadn't even noticed that she had stepped onto the terrace after him. The two women were only there a few hours each day and always only one of them at a time, and Mick felt sure that they were present not only to satisfy his hunger as a human, but also to supply Gabriel and August with fresh blood, although he had never caught them while they fed. Mick tried not to think about it any longer and instead drew his attention to the book lying before him and the related problems which they would have to take care of soon. _

"_And? Have you found a tutorial for a self-made cure?" he asked as calmly as possible to outplay his discomfort about the contents of the book. _

_Gabriel's laughter was barely audible. "Something like that," he admitted. "Frank was very thorough with his notes and you can follow the progress of changing the substance gradually to make it more sustainable and effective, and to ultimately fine-tune it for you." _

"_How much was it changed?" Mick asked interested. Frank had already tried more than once to explain everything to him, but he had used so many medical terms and complicated explanations that Mick soon had gotten a headache, even though he wasn't a layman in regards to medicine. And of course one had to consider the fact that he hadn't been in a very good shape some of those times. "What have they added?" _

_Gabriel's smile became a little strange. "Nothing."_

_Mick knitted his brows confused. "Nothing?" he repeated skeptically. "Then… they have withdrawn something?"_

_Gabriel nodded. "They have instead _reduced_ it to your needs. Otherwise they wouldn't have progressed because certain components of the cure were a hindrance for the development of your body's system." _

"_And what exactly does the compound consist of?" _

"_Of the juice and the leaves of a certain rare plant." _

_Mick nodded. That was what Coraline had told him as well back then. _

"_And blood." _

_Mick raised his eyebrows in surprise. _

"_Rare blood," Gabriel added. _

"_Human or vampire?" Mick asked. He remembered what Gabriel had told him yesterday about the heirs of the Nigong and, in this context, about rare blood types and an unpleasant idea forced itself slowly into his hard-working mind. _

"_Human, as it's written here," Gabriel said calmly, pointing at the book. _

"_Is… is there a blood type mentioned?" It was difficult for Mick to ask these questions as he believed to know the answer already. _

"_One?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows more seriously. "I think you can find all rare blood types that exist among the humans in this book. They were experimenting with all of them and many have worked together with the plant extract. But only one was perfect."_

_Mick gritted his teeth and nodded. "A0 negative," he said softly, and knew that he was right. With the things he had learned from Gabriel the previous day, all this was suddenly making sense. _

"_How… how does it work," he asked a little more composed. "I mean, why can the cure turn a vampire back into a human?" _

_Gabriel looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and then took a deep breath. "Didn't Coraline tell you anything about that?" _

_Mick did not respond to his question immediately. To hear the name of his ex-wife spoken by Gabriel was so strange. Not that it surprised him that Gabriel knew her, after all, she belonged to his family, it was the strangely gentle manner in which he pronounced her name that startled Mick. So he could only shake his head barely noticeablly. _

"_And you still just took it?" Gabriel asked with a small smile on his lips that made him aware of his own naiveté once again. Mick gritted his teeth more firmly, but didn't break eye contact. _

"_Your confidence in the women you love seems to be quite strong," Gabriel observed. _

"_I'm no longer in love with Coraline," Mick replied slightly annoyed, and his annoyance grew further when Gabriel's lips twisted into a knowing smile. _

"_Love cannot die. It can change, weaken, but it does not die," he added. "Anyway. You wanted to know why the cure works." He sat up a little in his chair, interlaced his fingers and took a deep breath. _

"_I know that Frank can explain this all much more accurately and better than I can because although I'm not completely clueless in the field of medical research I'm not a scientist and my knowledge does not really go into depth. But since we currently can't use his knowledge…" He sighed softly. "All I know is that both components taken separately show no effect for most vampires. This is probably because the blocking agents have changed over the centuries, becoming weaker, mostly through disuse. They alone are not strong enough to cause a longer-term change in the body of a vampire. As soon as they get into the body, they are already spent. The plant extract, however, ensures that they replicate in a fraction of a second and block the production of vampire-hormones, so that some kind of standstill of both factors is obtained in the organism. What remains is a perfectly normal human being: weak, vulnerable, mortal." _

_Mick nodded understandingly. "But if the human is injured, the production of vampire-hormones reactivates." _

"_Exactly," Gabriel agreed with him. _

"_So it's not sufficient to only take in blocking substances," Mick concluded. _

"_In your case, I'm not that sure of this anymore," Gabriel replied. "According to these notes you have received implanted cells that produce these blocking substances themselves and the contact with exogenous blocking agents seems to titillate these cells to a greater production. That's why they have reduced the plant extracts in your serum ever since."_

_Mick ran his hands over his face and exhaled loudly. That was almost too much information, as each has a chain of questions trailing behind. But one of these he still had to ask immediately. _

"_Yesterday you… you said that not all people who have this rare blood type carry the Nigong-blocking substances, that only very, very few own the cells that can produce these agents."_

"_That's right," Gabriel confirmed his statement._

"_But how does one determine that?" Mick asked, although he did not really know if the old vampire could even answer his question. "How does this make itself felt? Is it obvious in a blood count?" _

"_No," Gabriel replied without hesitation. "It's almost invisible even for doctors. There is only one way to find it out." _

"_That would be?" Mick asked with a bad feeling. _

"_The human has to consume vampire blood." _

_He looked at him in horror. "Then… then he turns!" _

"_Or he doesn't." _

_Mick didn't seem to trust his ears and just stared at his companion blankly. "He… he doesn't?" That sounded so terribly abstract. _

_Gabriel leaned a little further across the table and looked straight into his eyes. "The vampire blood activates the sleeper cells in the body of such a human, Mick," he explained. "It makes them pour out a large amount of blocking substances so fast that the V-hormones are not even able to spread and settle. They get extinguished completely. The only thing that remains is a temporary resistance to all kinds of diseases and an enormously fast healing of all kind of wounds. Only after contact with the blood of a vampire can the blocking substance be found and proven in the blood of a human." _

_Mick didn't really listen any further. His mind was struggling with all the new information that immediately tried to fasten on his new realizations. _

"_That means people who carry this predisposition of blocking substances in themselves can't be turned?" he asked and his intestines began to knot up slowly. _

_Gabriel nodded, and a trace of sadness showed on his face. "They can never become a vampire, even if they wanted to. Their time in this world is as limited as that of any normal human being." _

_A clattering sound behind him made Mick wince slightly. As he turned, he saw how the young maid shoved a little car with all sorts of foods and beverages onto the terrace. _

"_Oh, breakfast!" Gabriel said as pleased as if he himself would be able to participate. Mick couldn't emulate his joy for he knew that their conversation would be finished for now. Gabriel would hardly be grabbing for some fruit, but much more likely for the arm of the young woman, and he would certainly ask to be excused to retire with her. _

_On the other hand, Mick also wasn't so sure if he wanted to continue the conversation at all. There were so many things connected with it, so many tough questions and he was not sure if he was inwardly strong enough to endure the answers._

* * *

Eventually they had been forced to talk about it again. About the rare blood types, the composition of the cure, about its history and the research on it and… about Beth. Beth, who had this blood type. Beth, who could be a carrier of these blocking substances. Mick's thoughts about all this had been as conflicted as the rest of his strange existence was. He didn't even know if he should wish for her to be a carrier or whether he should hope for the opposite. The former made her, should it ever be made public, a goal of both the _Legion_ and all the vampires who were hungry for a little more humanity, and the latter always hid the risk that one day she may be turned, and then would have to share his dark fate. It was strange, but somehow he had felt more comfortable with the second thought. As terrible as it was to imagine that his warm, joyful, soulful Beth might have to scrape a living as a cold, apathetic creature of the night at some point, it also gave her the possibility to defend herself effectively against threats from the outside and to withstand any other living creature. And deep down inside him he had heard his inner vampire purr contentedly at the thought as he longed for a companion for eternity.

Mick sucked the cool night air deep into his lungs and let his gaze roam once again across the line of houses opposite the small balcony where he had settled. There were only a few lights switched on and nightly calmness had settled on the narrow street like a damping cocoon. It was late at night... or rather early in the morning. Four a.m. Time for his nightmares. Time to spend the rest of the night in dark thoughts and deep concerns.

Sometimes he was lucky. Sometimes he could feel the dreams coming and was able to wake himself forcefully. Just as today. Just as this night. He had fallen asleep amazingly fast with his Beth in his arms and had had no time to regret anything or to consider whether they could afford to really behave like a couple and enjoy their intimate togetherness. Her warmth, her kisses, her touches had given him no room to feel uncomfortable. She had transformed him back into the man who enjoyed every single second in her presence to the fullest, who didn't want to think about what was happening outside of their small, happy world. To feel her soft, warm body pressed so close to his, just to breathe in her proximity had sufficed to help him sink into a blissful sleep.

That man, blind and deaf for love, wasn't gone yet, and every thought of the beautiful woman sleeping deeply inside the apartment increased the urge inside him to go back to her and slip under the covers, to hold her in his arms and show her in every possible way how much he loved her. But he couldn't, for a much larger part of him was terribly worried about her and he knew that if he woke her, she would immediately sense that something was wrong. And she shouldn't. He wasn't allowed to talk to her about this matter as long as he wasn't absolutely certain about this. She already had had to face so many other fears and worries, so he didn't want to bother her additionally with such depressing thoughts.

Again, his chest expanded with a deep, heavy breath and his eyes fell on the heel of his hand where his own sharp teeth had left behind two small punctured scars. This craving for her blood. He shook his head. He couldn't afford to give into this urge so easily again, had to take care that no one came even remotely close to the idea that she would provide her blood for the vampire world. He had been far too careless in recent weeks, and had, by doing so, endangered her. With this… this morbid addiction. With the revival of his human side, it had been almost gone, but he knew that the urge would return as soon as the vampire in him began to stir once again. He was so strangely fixated on her blood.

Mick had successfully repressed his memory of these conversations with Gabriel for a long time, even after he had noticed that Beth's blood tasted different. Only now, after he had tasted it a second time, he could no longer hold back the memories. And yet he wasn't sure that Beth indeed carried a part of his cure inside herself... even though there were so many things that indicated it to be true. So many things which he could not really explain otherwise. Why had her blood changed? Why had the bite on her neck almost been healed after just a few hours? Why did her blood have such a calming effect on his vampire side? Why did the human in him now come back so clearly? Questions that allowed only one answer, but yet he couldn't believe it. Beth had never been bitten by any other vampire and she had certainly not consumed any vampire blood. Why should she? She had never expressed a desire to be turned. He had rather gotten the impression that that thought scared her. There had to be another reason for the changes in her blood's taste, a better, preferably harmless one.

Hate! Rage! It hit him so suddenly and so hard that Mick threw himself back in his chair and took a hissing breath. These weren't his own feelings and they weren't nearby... Gabriel.

Mick closed his eyes and tried to focus on this energy boost like the old vampire had taught him. Maybe he could see pictures this time. He winced as a very vague image of the face of a total stranger appeared in his mind's eye. The man's eyes widened in horror as he grabbed his own throat and only a few milliseconds later, dark blood oozed between his fingers. The image was distorted, torn in dark rags, just to focus on a dark car that raced away with screeching tires.

Mick jumped up, stood on the balcony swaying for a moment and tried to understand what just happened. But there was too little information and he did not know whether Gabriel really intended to send him these images and feelings. A dull feeling in his gut told him, however, that something hadn't gone as it had been planned and that they were no longer safe in this apartment. He gathered his thoughts briefly and then rushed into the dark apartment; he reached the bedroom in just a few steps and was instantly at her bedside. She was still sleeping soundly, had no idea of what had just happened. He bent over her, bracing himself with one hand next to her warm body and gently touched her shoulder with the other.

"Beth…"

She moved and uttered a faint sigh that sent a little shiver down his back, and then turned onto her back, her heavy eyelids slowly opening. A charming smile appeared on her lips and she stretched out her hand to touch his arm, gently stroked his skin, leaving goose bumps which spread over his entire body. She probably misunderstood his excitement, his rapid breathing, for she showed a clear tendency to pull him back onto the bed.

"Beth you need to get dressed," he said, his voice a little scratchy. Damn urges! "We need to get out of here!"

Beth, who was suddenly wide awake, got up immediately and Mick stood up at once and collected all the private things he could find on his way from the bed over to the travel bags. He strictly forbade himself from looking at Beth while she was still not fully dressed.

"What's the matter?" he heard her whisper worriedly. The rustling of clothes told him that she was following his instructions.

"No idea," he replied and pulled the zipper of the first bag shut. "Something went wrong. We're no longer safe."

Mick froze. He had felt something. Once again an energetic tingling and it was much closer and unknown. An alien vampire, an old vampire. So he wasn't mistaken, something had happened that nobody had anticipated and now endangered them all.

Beth noticed his tension immediately and rushed over to him.

"What?" she whispered to him.

Mick didn't answer, instead he closed his eyes and breathed in the air of their surroundings through his nose. The vampire was getting closer, moving up to their apartment, sneaking up on them.

Mick turned around and looked at Beth urgently.

"You stay here!" he said as firmly as possible and immediately knew that this was completely pointless. The concern in her eyes told him this, the reluctance that she couldn't hide from him. Beth was not a woman who hid from danger, especially not when she had the feeling of having to stand by his side. Mick gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.

"Stay… stay behind me at least," he corrected himself and this time she nodded. Apparently she could live with that.

'Catch your breath! Stay calm! Focus!' he said to himself, as he slowly groped his way along the wall to the front door of the apartment. 'You can do this without turning. You have learned how to do that.'

Mick stayed right next to the door and didn't need to turn around to know that Beth did the same. She was really quiet, he had to give her that due.

The other vampire had now reached their floor and approached their door quickly. Something jingled and Mick frowned in confusion. Did he have a key? He hadn't much time to think about it, because the next moment the door opened and a dark figure slipped into the room. Mick reacted immediately. He rushed to him, grabbed him by the neck and slammed his back against the nearest wall pushing him so high that he lost the floor under his feet and no longer had the ability to push off it to break free.

"You've five seconds to explain what you want here!" Mick pressed through his teeth, his face near the intruders neck, and his inner vampire already began to growl in a threatening manner. Five seconds were almost too long.

"Gabriel... sent… me," the vampire brought out only with great difficulty because the pressure of Mick's fingers was just too strong.

"Oh yeah?" Mick growled, but loosened his grip a bit to make it easier for the man to talk. "Where did you get the key from? From him?"

"It's... it's _my_ apartment," the man coughed. "I'm Clement. I belong to the family."

"Family?" Mick drew his brows together thoughtfully, and now dared to put the much smaller man back on his feet. But he remained suspicious. There was no real evidence that the vampire was telling the truth. However, he indeed had an apartment key in his hand.

"We... we should really clarify this matter elsewhere," the man urged and looked over at Beth. "They could be here any minute!"

"The_ Legion_?" Beth asked and Mick could hear the fear in her voice. Unfortunately Clement nodded and robbed her of her last remaining self-control. She spun around and stormed back into the bedroom to get the bags.

Mick cast another skeptical glance at the vampire, but then quickly went over to the small cloakroom where their coats hung and took them off. He could almost feel that Clement used the chance to eye him up and he didn't like that at all. Something about this man was strange.

"And where's Gabriel?" Mick asked as he turned to face him again.

With a slight twitch the man seemed to startle out of his thoughts. This didn't go unnoticed by Mick.

"He will be here any minute," Clement replied and his eyes went to Beth who came back with the two bags. Mick relieved her of them and handed her the jackets instead while he kept his eyes glued to the other vampire. Earlier he had had some difficulty in recognizng when a vampire was nervous, but now he could feel it clearly; he could feel the tension as if he was connected with this man.

"He went to get a car," Clement added and turned to the door. "We really should go downstairs."

He pointed to the door and Mick forced himself to nod, let Beth go ahead before he left the apartment himself. He felt Clement looking at him as he closed the door behind them at last and followed them. The skin of Mick's neck began to tingle under his gaze. Something was wrong. Clement was perhaps a vampire, but Mick knew from experience that such commonalities lost their value when it came to one's own survival, or even one's own advantage. There was treachery everywhere. The only question was how Beth and he could get out of this situation, without attracting too much attention or taking the risk that she might be injured. He could outfight _one_ vampire no matter how old he was and how much strength he possessed, but if reinforcements appeared the whole thing would get much more difficult. Especially because if the vampire within him had the feeling that Beth's life was threatened; he could not be suppressed then and certainly would cause a bloodbath on the street. This wasn't to be allowed to get that far out of hand.

He sensed that Beth looked at him uncertainly from the side and he gave her a brief glance to make her understand that they could not talk for now. But somehow he had to communicate with her, had to give her a signal that she had to be prepared to flee, to run away as far as possible if something did happen.

They had already reached the first landing of the staircase. Only two more and they were all the way down and would maybe run directly into the arms of Clements back-up. Mick tried to concentrate, to clear his mind and to focus on just one thing, a small sequence of images that were immensely important: Beth. Beth as she flung herself around and ran away. Again and again the same image sequence. 'Run away, when the time has come. Run away. Run away. Run away.'

The heartbeat next to him accelerated and Beth's gaze wandered over to him again. Mick looked straight ahead trying not to show how relieved he was. It had worked - really worked! The connection was really there, wasn't a figment of his imagination. He could reach Beth mentally for real. And now she knew, could react quickly if things went downhill. Now it was up to him to give her an escape route, if it turned out that Clement was indeed a traitor.

It was not long before they reached the end of the stairs. Mick tried hard to keep his own treacherous heart calm, but this wasn't so easy anymore. The tension grew, especially as he really could make out a dark car through the opaque glass of the front door that arrived and stopped with screeching tires.

"Here they are already," he could hear Clement say from behind and wondered who he referred to as 'they'. He really hoped that he was wrong, and that the person that would get out of the car was in fact Gabriel. But that did not happen. Actually, nothing happened. The car with tinted windows just stood there and waited for them. Even when Mick, his heart now pounding fairly quickly, pushed the door open and stepped out with Beth at his side nothing changed. Mick stopped a good two feet away from the car and Beth did the same. Her pulse was going even faster than his, and every single muscle in her body seemed to be tense. That was good.

"Don't be so shy," Clement said with a false smile and pointed in a welcoming gesture to the dark car. There was something malicious lurking in his voice and Mick just set down his bags.

"Maybe you should load the luggage into the trunk first," he said with a calmness he didn't know he owned.

"But of course," Clement replied with a false smile but made no move to even bend down to the bags himself. Instead, he gave a sign to someone in the car and the driver's door began to open immediately. A strangely familiar smell rose to Mick's nose, but his eyes immediately flew to Beth signaling her to start running. She didn't look at him at all. Her eyes were fixed on the tall man who got out of the car in one fluid movement. This energy... Mick turned around again and froze. It really surprised him to see Gabriel in front of him, but the shocked expression on Clement's face said that he had not expected to see him.

"Ça te surprend n'est-ce pas?" Gabriel addressed the now much paler man with a beautiful shark-like smile that ripped him out of his stupor. The movement in Beth's direction was unseen, but Mick felt it before Clement had a chance to perform it. In a split second he had pulled Beth to the side and grabbed the other vampire by the collar pulling him with such force to his own chest that the man's breathing stopped due to the force of the impact.

"Don't you dare!" he growled, and felt himself turn immediately as his fangs slid out and the urge to kill became a dominant feeling in his heart.

"Clement, haven't you learned _anything_ in all the years you've pretended to be a loyal stalwart to me?" Gabriel asked gently and walked up to both of them, giving a contemptuous gaze to the man who was now trembling strongly with suppressed rage and fear.

"You can't lure me into a trap that I can't see through or, even better, that I can't use for my own purposes. Did you really think I failed to see how much you and some of your friends hate me? Did you really think I'd leave my protégés alone and completely unobserved in order to meet up with Emile?"

Gabriel shook his head, smiled, and it was his turn to give a nod in the direction of the house. Malik's dark figure slipped from the wall just a stone's throw away and he was with them a few, quick steps later.

Clement's eyes were still staring into Mick's, but had discolored into a whitish tinge and were now full of hate.

"Infâme bâtard!" he hissed and bared his sharp fangs. „Je maudis le jour de ta transformation, mordu!"

"Cela suffit!" Gabriel interfered, grabbing Clement by the shoulder and Mick's arm with his other hand.

"Let him go. We'll take care of him," he said, and looked at Mick urgently.

Mick found it really hard to follow Gabriel's command as he was aware of what this man, for some reason, had intended to do, and the words he had just thrown at Mick weren't really nice. But he finally succeeded in prying his fingers out of Clement's collar and then to push him away contemptuously. Beth was instantly at his side, clutching his arm with trembling fingers and pressing herself close to him. It was quite clear to her that this had been a close call and Mick's anger didn't seem to want to settle at this thought and was now directed against Gabriel as well, whose secrecy they had to thank for all this excitement. Somehow Mick couldn't help the feeling that they had involuntarily been used as a decoy in order to unmask a traitor in their own ranks. But it bothered him the most that he could still not understand at all what had happened or what this was all about.

"That... that's means that the _Legion_ isn't coming, I guess?" Beth adressed that question directly to Gabriel who had just passed Clement to Malik.

"That's what he said, isn't it?" asked Gabriel, smiling back and Mick's anger grew even further.

"No, this has little to do with the _Legion_," the old vampire added and at least had the decency to get rid of his smile before he looked at Mick again.

"I know that this stirred up a lot of questions and a lot of anger in you," he said gently and with great understanding in his bright eyes. "But I can explain everything later. Clement is not the head of this and we really need to get out of here. But not together."

"What?" Mick blurted out in disbelief but got no answer because at that moment a black van turned into the street and headed in their direction.

Mick stepped back immediately and hid Beth instinctively behind himself, but Gabriel lifted his hands soothingly.

"They're with us – don't worry! Listen, you will now get into that car," he pointed to the Mercedes in which he had arrived, "and simply follow the instructions of the on-board navigator. It will guide you to a private property on which a small private plane is waiting for you. It will bring you directly to Omaha."

"Omaha?" Mick repeated confused. What was that supposed to mean?

"Our meeting will for some reason take place there now," Gabriel explained quietly, with a brief look at the van which now came to a halt beside the Mercedes. Only a few seconds later the passenger doors opened and two vampires completely unknown to Mick jumped out and helped Malik to load the clearly reluctant Clement into the van.

"And what are _you_ going to do?" Beth, who had stepped beside Mick asked, confused.

"I'm going to have a little chat with my friend Clement and then I'll follow," the old vampire replied with such a cold smile that it even send a shiver down Mick's back. He didn't want to think about how this 'little chat' would turn out.

Gabriel gave Malik a sign and he came over to them immediately.

"Malik will accompany you," he said. "If you want, he can drive, that will give you a little time to… talk."

The hesitation lasted only briefly and was not accompanied by a smile so Mick wasn't sure whether Gabriel had indeed meant to give his remark this slightly salacious tone. That was actually more like Josef. But it made Mick wonder.

"See you in Omaha!" Gabriel added and patted his shoulder briefly while giving Beth an encouraging smile.

"I hope you save some time to have another talk between the two of us," Mick replied a little louder as Gabriel was already moving towards the van.

"But of course," the vampire replied with a little laugh and disappeared into the back of the van with an easy gait.

Mick's anger had not dissipated completely as the door closed behind him, but he had cooled enough that he at least was in a position to release some of his tension once again. He felt Beth moving closer to him and looked at her. She nodded over to Malik who was just about to place their bags in the trunk of the car.

"You drive and I'll have a heart to heart with him," she whispered to him, and Mick couldn't avoid his lips twisting into a wide grin.

He only needed to raise an eyebrow briefly and she knew he enthusiastically agreed to her plan. The sly smile that she now could no longer hide made a warm feeling spread inside of him. That was his Beth. Secrets could never be kept from her for long. If there was anyone who could interrogate people or vampires without using any violence and could see through people, then it was her. Poor Malik. The next few hours wouldn't be easy for him.


	11. Reunion

_Sorry for the late update but I had to work today and came back only very late. But now I'm here with the new chapter and hope a lot of you are also out there now, waiting for it and willing to leave me a little comment... ;0) Loved your last comments and consumed them greedily. Thank you so much! I'll be back at Thursday, as always. Until then have a great time!_

_Lucretia: Interesting speculations about Beth and Coraline and the blood type… _

_Susan: Yes, Mick has bitten Beth in the neck before but now there lies a big meeting with many alien vampires ahead who could see his bitemarks on Beth and that's the reason why Mick is afraid. He doesn't want the other vampires to think that Beth is just his Freshie for he knows that Freshies lead a dangerous life. The other situations were totally different._

_Sci fi fan30: Yes, it means indeed that there's the chance that Beth may never become a vampire. But I won't say anything more about this. Just go on reading… ;o)_

_Translated by: Draco_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**R****eunion**

_Houses have a lot of individuality. They betray not only the skill and imagination of its architects, but also often reflect the character of the people who buy and live in them. Coraline was a cold, elegant woman with a lot of sex appeal, who loved to show off and point out all her possessions - whether they were material things, her own charms, or people who were often forfeited to her. All this got her however a higher value when others saw it and also possibly desired it. _

_It was no wonder she lived in a house of glass, which granted a generous view into almost every room. Only the bedrooms and basement remained hidden from prying eyes in order to conceal the fact that she slept in a freezer instead of a bed. _

_Coraline had called me earlier that morning. How she had known that I had been back in LA for a few weeks was a mystery to me, because I had tried to keep it a secret as long as possible. Given the events of recent months in New York, I was emotionally not yet my old self and therefore had stayed away from public appearances. However, I let myself be persuaded by her to pay her a little visit to provide some professional advice in terms of a new, very expensive investment. What had in fact tempted me to seek her out, however, only became clear to me when I walked through the spacious driveway to the front of the huge house and made my way to the entrance at a rapid pace. I had long since perceived her smell and yet my senses were still looking for something else, something I didn't know that well yet, a male touch, which I unfortunately still couldn't fully distinguish. Consequently, I heard something else: the slightly melancholic sounds of a piano piece that was all too familiar to me. _

_I frowned, and the hope that Coraline's current 'husband' wasn't yet dead and buried somewhere increased slightly. After all, he had told me at our last meeting, which was already two years ago, that he was a musician... _

_When I reached the entrance her smell was so strong that it didn't surprise me when she opened the door, even though I hadn't yet rung the bell. The expression in her big brown eyes told me, however, that in spite of her call she hadn't really expected me. Quite apart from the fact that she was not only wearing a tight-fitting, low-cut, sparkly dress, but was also prepared with a hat and coat._

"_God, Josef," she blurted out more angry than embarrassed, "I had totally forgotten about you!" _

"_Well, then it's a good thing I remembered for the both of us," I replied smiling friendly and simply pushed my way past her into the house. "I'm certainly not going to make this journey twice, my dear…" _

_I heard her take a deep breath behind me, while I took off my coat and hung it in the wardrobe. Then the door slammed shut. _

"_I'm really sorry, Josef," she tried again to get rid of me, "but I need to take a rain check…" _

_I didn't respond to her, but walked towards a larger area of the ground floor, which looked like a living room. I had been here once or twice before when the house was still fairly new, but Coraline tended to redecorate the place every other month so there was always something new to discover - such as the __tasteless reclining bronze dog, that I had come to a halt in front of. I raised an eyebrow critically. _

"_You have a pet now?" I asked her, without turning round. _

_She appeared next to me and sighed, more __than vexed. "__He just bought it to annoy me," she growled, and then I vaguely remembered that there had been a small incident in Coraline's past involving a vicious hunting dog - or had it been a whole pack? _

_My other eyebrow joined the first. "Oh, so you've finally reached the marital war?" I smirked. "After only two years?" _

_She gave a scornful laugh and went over to one of the huge windowed sides of the house. "This isn't a war," she said coolly, and turned to me again as I, while curiously looking around in all directions, strolled through the living room. The music was now even a little closer, but I couldn't see Mick or the instrument yet. _

"_This is just childishness." She rolled her eyes. "But with that…" she stretched out her hands towards the round passage near me and I knew she was talking about him playing the piano, "… he's really driving me mad!" _

_I smiled, obviously pleased that she was so angry. "So what's your problem?" I asked back hypocritically. "He seems to be rather good at playing the piano…" _

"_This profoundly sentimental nonsense has just been too much to endure in the long run," she snapped. "How can one let themselves go that much? Over such a long period of time!" _

"_When did he discover his passion for classical music?" I asked Coraline happily and she gave me an angry look. _

"_Since yesterday," she growled. _

_I raised my eyebrows questioningly again. "And? Was there something that set him off?" _

_She looked past me, shrugged her shoulders almost imperceptibly and then pursed her full red lips. "His father died," she replied, looking at me again after all. "He was sick and nobody knew it." She glanced in another direction and_ _added softly_. "_He should be happy he's dead. He only caused bad blood…"_

_For a moment I didn't know how to respond. Usually the death of a human left me as cold as Coraline, but she was talking about the father of her husband's, whom she pretended to love… in this context I wasn't expecting such cold-heartedness. Not to mention the fact that the events of the last few months had still left quite an effect on my mind and I reacted quite strongly to issues surrounding loss and death. _

_My confusion must have obviously shown on my face, because somehow Coraline suddenly felt the need to defend herself. _

"_He didn't even come to our wedding! He said that I would only lead Mick into disaster…" _

"_Well, you did turn him, didn't you?" By now I had picked up the delicate scent of another very young vampire and was sure that it was Mick. _

_Around Coraline's lips twitched a little mischievous smile. _

"_Against his will?" I probed further on. _

_Again she avoided my gaze, but the smile could be __seen clearly now with a slightly notorious touch. _

"_This, for a man like him, probably comes pretty close to the term 'disaster'…" I__ said. "I'm surprised he's even stayed with you." _

"_I'm his Sire, Josef," she replied, now with this lascivious gaze, which had turned so many men's heads. "He's still so helpless in our world. And he's too good to be able to survive alone. He needs me…" She came back to me, stopped very close to me and took my tie in both hands, letting it slip through her fingers playfully. "Not to mention the fact that he's fallen for me completely…" Her voice became softer and more lascivious and had a slightly smoky tone. _

"… _forever," she whispered and tilted her head slightly. "However, I probably should think twice about keeping him if he continues to go on like this…" She sighed again, let go of my tie and stalked toward the exit. _

"_I'm so sorry for you, Josef, but I have to leave for a few hours," she said, picking up her purse. "I need to blow off a little steam somehow… Perhaps you can persuade him to lay off the piano?" She looked at me quizzically, but wrinkled her brows thoughtfully the next moment. "Maybe I should just set fire to it" _

"_The piano or your husband?" I asked casually, but was completely serious. She was capable of both. However, she only laughed her typical bell-bright-laugh, and then simply disappeared through the door without another word. _

_Actually, I should have been furious. A Josef Kostan wasn't ordered to an important business meeting only to be left behind on a whim. But if I was honest, the real reason for my __coming__ was still in the house and I couldn't help it that my mood actually improved as I wandered through the big house following the music of Ludwig van Beethoven._

_I found Mick at the piano in another larger room where there was even a small bar. He had a pleasant vampire smell, ever so subtle and unobtrusive, even that for vampires characteristic mysterious aura wasn't really strong yet, a clear sign that he still wasn't coping with his new form of existence._ _Coraline hadn't exaggerated when it came to his dependence on her. I wondered, however, why this was still the case._ _After two years every new vampire was actually able to care for himself and to go his own way. I had no doubt she was quite capable of deliberately keeping him on a short leash and to deceive him with problems that didn't really exist. _

_Outwardly Mick had changed a little as well. His hair was longer than before and gave a disheveled impression, his face urgently needed a shave and the white shirt he wore was hanging halfway out of his pants - which really went well with the homeless look and bare feet._

_He hadn't looked at me when I entered the room, as he was completely absorbed in the piece he was playing at the moment, but I knew he had noticed me._ _Vampires take notice of every living being near them rather quickly, as long as they aren't distracted by something else. _

_Mick played the last note of "Moonlight Sonata" and then looked at me, eyed me up, a slight smile on his lips. "This doesn't surprise me a bit," he said and reached for the glass of brandy, which stood next to an ashtray with a smoking cigar on top of the piano. "If there's anyone who can impersonate the perfect vampire, it's you."_

_He raised his glass to me and then took a generous sip, as I came up to him with a smile. I hadn't really known how he would react to me once he himself had become a vampire. But he didn't seem to be all that mad at me and even appeared to be glad I had come. Apparently he didn't receive many visitors._

"_Is she gone?" he asked, as he set the glass down again, and I nodded to him. "Great. Ludwig and I make a pretty good team…" He patted the shiny wood of the piano. _

"_You wanted to drive your own wife out of the house?" I asked with a smile and leaned my elbows onto the instrument._

_Mick acted as if he had to think about my question. "That sounds a bit drastic, but yeah… as a matter of fact." His grin didn't reach his eyes, but reflected at least my own joy at his actions._

"_Trouble in paradise?" I asked curiously, even though I thought I already knew the answer. _

_Mick laughed, more angry than amused. "Paradise… that's a good one…" He struck the first notes of another serious piece of Beethoven, but stopped again._

"_I thought you were a guitarist," I changed to a more harmless topic. "You and classical music – I would have never expected it."_

"_Oh, please! The melancholy lounge pianist, deeply lost in his music, whom all females worship – This hasn't escape me!"_ _Mick replied with fervor and his grin became a whole lot wider. _

"_So? Who had to beat you into taking piano lessons?" I asked and gave a little laugh._

"_My father," he admitted, and a tinge of sadness was evident in his eyes. God. I hadn't thought of that. But Mick surprised me with a warm smile. "But there was never any need to beat me though. It's one of the few things he taught me himself and I really did enjoy spending that time with him…"_

"_I thought he was against you becoming a musician," it slipped over my lips and Mick's eyes rested on my face with a slight frown again. He seemed to be surprised that I had even remembered that._

"_Oh, he didn't mind," he said. "As long as it remained in my spare time, I was allowed to try many things."_

_He smiled absently to himself, but then looked back at me. "And you? Do you play any instruments?"_

_I shrugged my shoulders. "Fairly well..." _

_He raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "Which one?"_

_I answered with a nod in the direction of the piano and his eyebrows actually wandered a bit higher._

"_Well, then…," he said, bent forward, pulled up a stool which was standing just next to him and then made room for me. Actually, I played mostly alone, just for myself, whenever I had time to do so._ _Music was something very private for me, especially when I made it myself. Still, I couldn't seem to resist his request._ _This man really had quite an alluring side, which strangely enough I couldn't seem to resist_. _I usually wasn't like this… it seemed this thing with Sarah had thrown me emotionally off track quite a bit… _

_I let my fingers glide smoothly over the keys once and could feel my lips move involuntarily into a gentle smile. The piano had a wonderful sound. A Bechstein, if I wasn't mistaken. _

_Then I just started to play the first thing that came to my mind… one of my favorite pieces: Clair de lune. It was a difficult piece to play, but over the centuries it had become quite easy for me. I felt it more than deliberately played it and started, as always, to forget the world around me: the man at my side, the house where I was sitting, and the role of the emotionless, cool vampire, that had become second nature to me. My thoughts drifted to where I let them so rarely, into the most emotional memories of my long life, back to the beloved people I had lost and who I still missed so terribly that I felt I would break; back to Sarah, whose loss had only been a few weeks ago and always made the pressure in my chest so unbearable when I could no longer resist my feelings and memories of her. But somehow it was different this time; I didn't feel as lonely and isolated as I had before. Someone with very similar feelings was at my side, so very close in spirit to me, felt what I felt and understood me perfectly without having to exchange a word or even a look between us. The music had unwittingly opened a door that I hadn't even dared to touch in the presence of other people before and as the last note died away, I felt for the first time so relaxed and…warm, as if someone had placed a small lump of coal to glow inside me._

_I heard Mick taking a deep breath beside me and saw how__he discreetly wiped his nose when I turned around to him. _

"_Fairly well, yeah?" he repeated my extreme understatement from earlier and could barely conceal his emotions from me, even though he tried to give me a little smile. The warmth in his suspiciously shiny eyes made even my lips twist into a, for me, unusually affectionate smile. I only shrugged my shoulders and then took a deep breath myself, __eager to get out of this strange emotional state…_

_There was a moment of awkward silence between us. It seemed as though neither of us knew how to deal with this new, much deeper connection between us. So I was quite relieved when he again took a breath to say something. My own speechlessness had become a bit scary to me. _

"_So… what brought you here actually?" he came with a much more harmless question. _

"_Business…," I could admit without a problem. _

_He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "You want to do business with Coraline?" _

_My smile was back. How quickly a person could lose faith in someone he had once thought to love from the heart. Though admittedly… the breach of trust Mick had experienced had no equal. _

"_Then I promise I'll come visit you sometime under the bridge," he added, winking at me sympathetically. I had to laugh. He fortunately hadn't lost his sense of humor, despite the dramatic events that had haunted him. _

"_My work would have been limited, in this case, to some advice only," I replied, rejoicing that my self-confidence was back now. "A favor - nothing more…" _

"_Which is probably worth a whole pile of money…," he added knowingly and I had to grin again. _

"_True, only the air we breathe is free," I agreed. "Although my advice can earn a ten to twenty percent return on your investment. And I'm prone to understatements…" _

_Mick leaned back a little and looked at me thoughtfully. "Let's say I gave you ten thousand dollars with a mandate to increase it…" _

"…_which I normally wouldn't take, because for such a small amount, I'm just not the right person…" _

"… _then you could assure me…" _

"… _that you could stop worrying about your financial security for the rest of your life. And we're talking about a fairly long life…" In addition, he'd at least, in this aspect, no longer be dependent on his wife. What a beautiful idea… _

_Mick crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at me with a thoughtful frown. "Are you really that good?" _

"_Let's just put it this way: I've had many, many years to develop the best and safest ways to earn wealth," I explained to my young friend. "Yes, I _am_ that good, even better." _

"_And modest," he added, grinning. _

"_That too," I agreed._

_He let out a low chuckle and I felt this dangerous warmth flare up in my chest again, which was slowly scaring me, since the last time I felt this way, it had, in the end, given me nothing but heartache and pain. Why had I come here? _

_Mick was now once again taking a deep breath and the serious look in his eyes told me that a slightly more annoying topic would follow. _

"_If I ask you a question now, will you answer me honestly?" _

_I looked at him in faked amazement. "Do I look like I'm capable of lying?" _

_He only raised an eyebrow and I indeed felt forced to answer him honestly. "I'll try," I promised. _

"_How long have you known Coraline for real?" _

_Good thing he didn't ask how_ well_ I knew her... _

"_Around ninety-two years," I admitted bluntly. "And the story about the party and the boat is in fact true." _

_Mick's eyebrows narrowed. "How old are you?" _

"_I was born at the end of the sixteenth century," I replied and could see how Mick's eyes grew wide at my words and his mouth opened._

"_You're about three hundred and fifty years old?" he spat with an incredulous laugh, and then drove one hand over his mouth. "My God… You look like you're only in your mid-twenties…" _

"_That was my age when I was turned." _

"_Did you want that or was it forced on you too?"_

"_It was _my_ decision, if that's what you mean." It was frightening how openly I spoke. Why did I always feel so relaxed around him? _

_There was a clear lack of comprehension in Mick's gaze. "Why? I mean, how could someone choose such a life voluntarily?" _

"_You mean a life of eternal health and lack of concern?" I replied a bit annoyed. _

"_No, this… this bleakness inside, this insensibility," Mick spat back contemptuously. "The only moments I feel anything anymore are those in which I give in to my urges. And most of the time an innocent person has to suffer because of it, has to experience pain and fear for their life…" _

_I raised my eyebrows slightly confused. "Is it like that?" _

_He gave me a look as if he were questioning my sanity. "You can't seriously believe that people don't mind being used as a food source in this way!" _

This way_? I feared the worst. Again, it fit so well with Coraline and her sick idea of love and partnership. _Possessiveness_ was the more appropriate term. _

"_Am I correct in assuming that Coraline has refrained from using Freshies in your presence so far?" I asked with a smile that couldn't conceal my annoyance. _

_The confused expression on Mick's face didn't surprise me in the least. "Come again?" _

_I sighed theatrically. "When you're hungry, what do you do?" _

_Mick avoided my eyes and gritted his teeth. So this wasn't a subject he was willing to discuss with me. Too bad…_

"_She goes hunting and brings back poor, whimpering people who are scared half to death," I simply voiced my own, certainly correct assumptions. "I would bet that more than a few of them haven't survived this either…" I shook my head, unseen by him, because he was still staring at the piano, as if he wanted to crawl into it. _

"_Once again her selfishness knows no bounds," I added and got Mick to look at me carefully. _

"_She doesn't want to share you, Mick," I let him know. "She can't stand the idea that you might give pleasure to a woman other than herself." _

_Mick's confusion reached a new climax. "What do you mean by that?" _

"_I mean that Coraline has done a piss poor job of being your Sire," I said and glanced at the clock. Half past eleven, just the right time for the 'Dark Lust'. _

"_We're going to do the following: You're going to shave and get changed. Together we're going to visit a club and have a lot of fun. And then we'll talk again about the whole bloodsucking thing…"_

_Mick had still drawn his eyebrows together suspiciously, but I could see curiosity twitching in his eyes and behind it, the deep desire to finally get the hell out of this nightmare of a marriage. I gave him a conspiratorial smile. "Believe me, you'll drive her over the edge this way…" _

_There it was, the little smile that told me that I had him, and my heart gave a little joyful leap. Gone was my own need to hide myself in my house and mourn. I had found a new mission: to lead Mick on to the blissful side of vampire life and to free him step by step from the stranglehold of his mentally ill wife. Quite a challenge, but I felt I was up to it. Let the power struggle with Coraline begin…_

* * *

Vampires have very sensitive hearing. Our audible range is similar to that of bats, and even allows us to perceive ultrasound, if we choose. Accordingly we are sensitive to volume and unpleasant noises.

Loud engine noises were therefore something I normally couldn't stand, but had to endure, despite the earplugs, when I was traveling by helicopter.

The helicopter in which I now sat was neither mine, nor was it particularly comfortable. Nonetheless, I had a satisfied smile on my face that expressed exactly how I felt at that moment: relief and relaxation. To no longer be cooped up in a car with these annoying, nonstop bickering vampires and to know that I would land at any moment and have the opportunity to indulge in fresh blood and to jump into a freezer - that thought alone almost brought me to a state bordering on happiness. It didn't even bother me that Logan was sitting just opposite me, telling me some senseless and mindless story again - the headset made it far too easy to switch off my sense of hearing and to just give a little nod every now and then, in fact, it allowed me to indulged in my own thoughts and memories.

A few times I had confused Logan slightly, since the nod I had given him had probably not quite fit his question, but he was so engrossed in what he was talking about it hadn't really bothered him. Gabriel's call had felt like redemption from purgatory. Not only because we now suddenly had a goal in mind by going to Omaha, which was much closer than the original meeting point and I could be sure Coraline was going in a completely different direction to try and find Mick, but also that we had additionally gotten permission to travel by air again, which was much faster and more comfortable.

Due to the type of work Dexter was into, he had told us about some connections he had to some discreet 'transport companies', after some friendly persuasion from Max of course. This vehicle couldn't even compare to one of my own helicopters, but since I had lost one of these expensive machines only a few weeks ago and hadn't dared to get the other one out of its hanger because of our current situation, I was content with this one.

Except for Logan, the rest of my company seemed as deep in thought as I was. Jason and Dexter had become much paler and more nervous over time, as they incidentally had noticed that we were going to attend a meeting with other more powerful vampires and that they could be just as pleased about their past activities as I was, if not more. To see them worry and tremble, lifted my mood substantially, but most of all I looked forward to meeting the people that were dearest to me. Even though Mick and I hadn't necessarily parted on good terms, the odds were quite high that his mood had improved considerably in Gabriel's, and especially Beth's presence. With her, his behavior was the exact opposite with Coraline. Coraline was able to provoke Mick's darkest, blackest side and get him to do things that no mentally sane person would ever do, where as Beth had the wonderful ability to calm him down, ground him, and to change him back into this gentle, sensitive, warm-hearted person he actually was deep down in his heart. Quite apart from the fact that sex usually had an extremely calming, stress reducing effect, and if Gabriel was as smart, which I suspected he was, he had probably made arrangements to give them some time alone for just that. So, I could only hope that our next meeting would turn out a little more enjoyable for me as well.

"Are you even listening to me?" Logan's voice pierced my ear now a little louder, because he had bent towards me and looked at me with raised eyebrows with a slightly irritated look in his brown button eyes.

"Let me guess. You just asked when we're finally going to be there," I gave back with a friendly smile.

"No, I didn't," the boy replied insulted, leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I'm certainly not going to repeat it..."

I shook my head quite amused and looked out the above, Omaha didn't seem much different from other cities and judging by the number of tall buildings and narrow streets, I realized that we had in fact already reached the city center**. **I also had the feeling we were steadily descending, which indicated that we were already in a final landing approach, andif I wasn't mistaken, the helicopter would be landing on top of the flat roof of the building directly below us. I narrowed my eyes a bit;there already were quite a few people, their gazes turned upwards towards us. I opened my senses and found peace of mind in the fact that they were vampires, familiar vampires: Guillermo, Thomas and... one younger vampire...

"Seth! There's Seth!" Logan exclaimed in excitement and the jubilation in his voice was almost embarrassing to , they were best friends, but was this really any reason to lose one's self-control like that? I was already prepared for him to start waving like a lunatic... Fortunately, he didn't but only pressed his nose against the window. What a big child!

It took a few more minutes for my excitement to grow a bit as well - after all there was going to be a nerve-wracking vampire meeting - then the helicopter finally sat down with a slight jerk and we could undo our safety was first to climb out and immediately engulfed a beaming Seth in a hug and to greet a somewhat less enthusiastic Guillermo in a warm embrace as well, whose eyes were already searching for me.

The long flight had left my limbs a little stiff so I lacked my usual elegance when I stepped out of the machine, but the joyful gleam in Guillermo's and Thomas' eyes told me that this hadn't hurt my appearance.

"You look pretty crumpled," the Mexican just had to point out the barely tolerable condition of my clothing while grinning at me, and I also noticed when I was close enough that we were able to talk in a reasonably normal tone of voice despite the noise of the machinery. I gave him a sarcastic look, sized-up his casual shirt and the not so crease-proof, stylishly tattered jeans. "At least _I_ can say that I've had a long, arduous journey behind me. What's your excuse?"

Guillermo laughed and actually embraced me briefly with a male, casual pat on the back that didn't feel that unpleasant to me.

"I'm glad you're here," Thomas greeted me now with a warm smile and an equally warm embrace."There're so many things to report and discuss that others should absolutely not notice..."

"That probably means I won't be getting much time for rest,"I concluded from his words slightly resigned. But Thomas waved me off immediately.

"We won't attack you all at once," he said quickly. "Take as much time as you need to get your strength back. The whole ordeal will be quite strenuous..."

He looked over my shoulder and nodded most likely at Max. When I turned around, he was just coming towards us along with Jason and Dexter.

"Then perhaps we should go down now," Guillermo said and Thomas nodded affirmatively. The Mexican went ahead together with the happily chattering younger vampires, while Max stayed behind with his 'friends', Thomas and me at his side.

"Where are we exactly?" I asked, as we went through a door and entered the marble faced lobby with its two brilliant golden elevators. What a pleasant surprise - a house that actually promised a little luxury...

"It's a new building, designed to attract many business people to the city," Thomas told me with a knowing grin. He knew my tendency for exquisite things only too well. "On the four upper floors there are eight spacious suites, including office space and on the bottom floors there are a few expensive shops."

"So you're telling me we'll be staying in one of these apartments," I added encouragingly, and my heart gave a little joyful jump when Thomas indeed nodded with a small laugh. This was just too good to be true.

"The freezers were delivered yesterday," he added, just as the elevator voiced a soft ping as if to confirm his words. Cloud nine had never been so close...

Thomas looked at Max and pointed with a nod to the second elevator that had just arrived and the man immediately understood and pushed our other guests into the elevator to give us the opportunity to speak a little more openly.

"Gabriel's probably going to be a little late," Thomas told me when we were inside the spacious elevator and he pressed a button.

I frowned. "Is there a problem with Mick?" I asked uneasily. It had been a while since I had talked to Gabriel myself and everything had been fine at that time.

"Not with Mick," Thomas replied evasively. "He and Beth will be on time. Guillermo will be picking them up from the airport in about two hours."

I saw a happy smile emerge from Guillermo's lips and made a mental note to talk to him again about Alejandro and specifically the story connected with him. Alejandro's shared history with the _Legion_ would certainly become hard to hide from Mick soon, since our old friend was going to continue to support our actions in this specific way. Mick was just too sharp not to notice the vast amount of knowledge this man had regarding the _Legion_. And he was certainly not going to be very thrilled that we had withhold that very important detail from him for years.

"Is there anything else I need to know in a hurry," I pressed the issue.

"Lance is already here," Guillermo said between clenched teeth and I felt my good mood vanish immediately. Logan and Seth too, had stopped their animated conversation at the mention of that name and looked at the Mexican.

"Don't worry, I have him housed one floor below us," Thomas added instantly, while the elevator gently slowed and opened its doors again with this - now much less beautiful sounding - ping. However, the sight of the person who waited for us in the hallway was more than pleasant…

"Elizabeth," I uttered in a surprised fascinated toneand I couldn't help but let my gaze wander over her beautifully flaunted body that looked striking in the narrowly cut dress she wore, as I walked toward her. What elegance...

"How could I have missed your presence?" I said with a smile and felt that familiar tingle inside that was always triggered by her dazzling smile.

"You seem to be a little absent minded," she said to me, fluttering her eyelashes at me in her consummate way and presented her hand, which I took at once, quite gentlemanly, to my lips. "There was a time when you could feel my presence even if I was still a hundred yards away from you," she added playfully insulted and eluded me again.

"I was obedient to you, Liz," I gave back with a salacious smile. "That fortunately has changed a little…"

She laughed and then turned to Thomas. "I've already explained to Max where our guests are to be situated. He's on his way there now and will meet us later…"

Thomas nodded and then proceeded to a door ornamented with golden tendrils. He pulled a card through a device, and as the lock opened with a soft click we were able to enter. The apartment, which had been hidden behind the door, left little to be desired, even for me. It was bright, spacious and elegantly furnished, with light, modern furniture, soft carpet on dark floors and interesting paintings on the walls.

"We had two freezers put in one of the bedrooms," Thomas said, while I enjoyed looking around this little paradise. "More would have been too obvious and we will only be staying for a few days anyway… You'll have to alternate."

My eyes snapped around to him. I feared the worst. "With _you_, you mean..."

"You, Logan, Seth, Mick and Beth," Thomas replied calmly. "The apartment has two bedrooms with double beds… plus two freezers…"

I tried not to let my reluctance show, but it was damn hard. For me to share an apartment with Mick and Beth was one thing, but to have to cope with Logan and Seth was a whole different story…

"We... we are going to live _here_?" I could hear Baby-Huey ask incredulously and his friend Seth snapped for air like a fish out of water. I just turned away from these two and went to the large window. Just don't think about it… just don't think about it…

I felt Elizabeth step up next to me looking at me inquiringly from the side, while Logan and Seth bombarded poor Thomas with questions about the apartment and its technical equipment.

"Gabriel told me about your 'woman problem'," she said and I knew immediately that she was talking about Coraline and not my lack of physical affection, which was also taking its toll on me. That was obvious by the significant reaction my body had with the appearance of Elizabeth: goose bumps, increased heart rate, an all too familiar pull in my lower-region… not easy to fight, with her irresistible scent in my nose.

"He's given me orders to sit down with you and go over how we intend to proceed in regard to specific persons. He himself can't take care of it currently…"

I raised my eyebrow slightly. "There's not much to go over," I said lightly. "We're gonna look for her, find her and ensure that she keeps out of our and especially Mick's sight forever…"

Elizabeth surprised me with a chuckle. "Sometimes it's frightening just how fast Gabriel is able to get a picture of someone he hasn't known that long…"

My eyebrows were moving again, but now downward and towards each other. "Then he already knew that's what I would say?"

"He used almost the same exact words." There it was again this dreamy, adoring expression that only people in love master with this perfection.

"Does this mean he has a different opinion?" I concluded from her words and it surprised me a bit.

"He wants her alive," she explained. "He said she could provide information that we could desperately use."

"He thinks so, hugh?" I repeated and was angry about my realization that the old vampire was probably correct in his assumption. Cynthia worked with the _Legion_ and Coraline was her best friend and was probably even involved in this whole thing. So it was very likely that her knowledge _could_ help us.

"Things are usually more complicated than they seem, Josef," Elizabeth said, looking a little absently out of the window. "People have many different sides. We should give them a chance to show them all and not condemn them because of certain actions for the rest of their lives…" I realized for the umpteenth time since knowing her, what a beautiful, interesting woman the former Countess was. Hard to imagine that there was such a bloodthirsty creature hidden under that soft, angelic facade. Elizabeth had done things long ago that had even shocked me. That she now regretted some of those things did not alter the fact that they had happened, and that even now a part of her soul still lusted for it. We all had dark spots in our past that we tried to hide as best as possible… Speaking of dark spots…

"What about Lance?"

Elizabeth looked at me astonished. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't Coraline his sister? Maybe he has an idea how we can track her down…" And if he refused to help, then that would be a sure sign that he was involved as well…

"Coraline isn't his biological 'sister', Josef," she replied with this maternally instructive smile she had given me so often in the past. "She's only related to him as I am or Thomas is, through Gabriel's blood. That makes us 'siblings' to some extent, 'blood relatives', but not in a genetic sense."

My eyes widened and I stared at her for a moment with my mouth open. "Gabriel is Coraline's Sire?"

Elizabeth nodded hesitantly. She looked as surprised as I was. "You haven't noticed?"

"No, not really," I replied softly, while my thoughts tumbled. That explained so much, especially the strange attraction that had lured me to her at our first meeting. She had at once reminded me of Elizabeth, although she was actually a different blood type. Now I knew why.

"I still don't understand," I said after a pause. "Coraline had told Mick that she and her 'brothers' were turned by the same Sire, but as far as I understood, it was supposed to be a cousin of Louis XVI - which excludes Gabriel as a possibility."

"Oh, there are many rumors about this family," Elizabeth waved off with a little laugh. "And they were spread deliberately, just like many old vampires don't give their real age or reveal their Sires. These are all protective measures. Besides, Coraline has never been particularly honest, quite apart from the fact that the real story is much too complicated to tell on the fly. I'm not sure how much of a hurry your friend was in back then…"

"Does that mean that Gabriel turned these 'siblings'?"

"No. Only Coraline and Lance - Lance had already been turned much earlier. The others were turned by Luis."

"The King of France?"

"No, his older brother... but that's really complicated," she looked a little nervous and gave the impression that there was something else, which kept her from continuing to talk about it. "You should let Gabriel to explain it all to you, then you might understand Lance a little better and maybe some of the problems we are struggling with at the moment." She tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace that even distorted her otherwise handsome face a little.

"It might be best, if you just lay down now for a couple of hours in one of the freezers and rest," she added, grabbed my arm overzealously and pulled me with her in the direction of one of the bedrooms. "The coming days will be very tiring. There's so much to discuss and plan, and I promise I'll talk with Lance about Coraline. Maybe he can in fact help us…"

I frowned but said nothing, but simply let her tow me into the next room. She was probably right. A conversation with Gabriel would be much more enlightening than poking around in her memories. It was _his_ family, _his_ past, and_ his_ actions, which resonated into the present time, so he had to take responsibility for it. And I was really looking forward to the things he had yet to reveal. It seemed as if Gabriel had some secrets, calling for urgent detection…


	12. Togetherness

_Here I am with the new chapter! Thanks to __**borntobemybaby**__, __**Moonjat54**__ and __**Lucretiareadsall **__for keeping faith with me here and motivating my muse. I really need this feedback. Hope you like this chapter as well and see you at Sunday again. Best wishes, Jenna_

_Translated by: Francis_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

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**T****ogetherness**

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"_We are molded and shaped by what we love."_

_Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_

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It was with a slight jerk that Beth woke from her light sleep and made her sit up and look around in alarm immediately searching for Mick. However, only a small glance to her side was enough to calm her down. He sat, or rather hung right next to her in his seat and slept soundly. Beth blew out the breath of air that she had been unconsciously holding and then allowed herself to look around. It only took a few moments for her to recognize the wide, comfortable seats in front of her, the round windows on either side and the deep steady hum in the background. She was in the small but exquisite private plane they had boarded a few hours earlier to fly to Omaha. Her mind was still not fully awake and she felt faint, similar to having a hangover. Just driving to the plane had been terribly stressful, especially since they had not really gotten that much sleep the night before and their self-imposed task of interviewing Malik had been far more difficult than they had previously assumed. It was no wonder that they had both fallen asleep now that they had a little break. Malik himself sat on the other side of the narrow walkway, as she could now see after taking another look around. He was absorbed in a newspaper, an English one mind you, considering that he had pretended over and over again to have difficulties understanding them during the drive. Beth had already guessed that this was only a ploy to escape her probing questions. Malik was one of the oldest vampires in this world - difficult to believe that he had not developed his knowledge of different languages over the centuries.

Still she had been able to glean three important things from him: That Gabriel had not gone to Boston to meet with an informant. He had sensed from the beginning that a trap was being set for him and had taken the opportunity to uncover one or even several traitors in their midst – which in retrospect had made Mick quite angry, and would certainly lead to another pretty unpleasant and heated discussion between the two men.

The traitorous vampires' plan of action had been to get their hands on Mick. What they had planned to do with him, however, even Gabriel and Malik didn't really know. The only thing they had been able to learn for sure was that they hadn't necessarily wanted to return him to the Legion. At this point a rather uncomfortable hunch had gripped Beth, a feeling that hadn't left her yet.

Regarding her third finding, Beth still wasn't sure if she was right about this, since it was a result of her own thoughts and not the difficult talk with Malik. Besides it wasn't that earth shattering - just something that had puzzled her, something that had been thought provoking. Gabriel had left Malik with them for their protection before the whole thing with the traitors had happened; yet Mick had not noticed a thing of this, as he had admitted in the car. She knew that it was sometimes difficult for vampires to perceive one another's presence, if they were further away or if they were distracted, but Mick had even sensed the _foreign_ vampire when he had approached them…

When Beth had mentioned that to Malik, his lips had twisted into a small, mysterious smile and Mick's eyes in the rearview mirror had suddenly lit up, just as they did every time something had just dawned on him. But he had not wished to share his secret with her; he had told her that they had no time for such things. She had been a little upset at first but then remembered that with Mick, regarding the exchange of information, she could use a quite a different tactic that would make it much easier and even create a lot of fun for herself, and so she remained quite calm. She certainly hadn't anticipated that they would fall asleep in the airplane so fast.

Beth leaned back in her seat now and looked at the man next to her who was, even in his sleep, still incredibly attractive. Mick's head rested heavily on the frame of the window at his side and he was breathing deeply and evenly through his nose and half open lips. You could hardly call it a catnap. If she wasn't mistaken, he was pretty deeply asleep, and that was a good thing. The coming hours would, apart from her own plan of attack on him, certainly be very exhausting. He was now much better than at the last big vampire meeting, and was also much more under control. Still, the issues that would be addressed at the next meeting would not be too pleasant in nature and would again touch on the events of the last year about which he really didn't want to speak of yet. Beth was in fact a little worried about him - again - and decided to curb her own curiosity, at least, for a while and to wait and see how things would develop. Not only in relation to the assembly but also to their relationship that was steadily becoming more intense. She so hoped that the previous night had loosened the knot in his innards and that he would let her get close to him, especially mentally, like it had been in Mexico. She didn't want anything else yet…

Her eyes roamed over Mick's relaxed face: his dark brows, closed eyes, the cheekbones, his stubbled chin with its distinctive dimple… Why did he just have to look so damn sexy with that stubble? She felt that her close examination was again causing this considerable heat in the lower regions of her body, especially when her eyes roamed down his neck, slipped on over his broad chest, which lifted with each of his deep breaths seductively towards her, as if beckoning her to touch him. Beth already felt her fingers tingle and shook her head at herself. It had never been this bad before. She had never been a woman who was particularly innocent and chaste, but that she just couldn't keep her hands off this man, especially after they had been able to act upon their sexual needs so intensely just a few hours ago, was really new and frightening to her a little. Apparently it was not just Mick who had developed new sides – she had too. The stronger her feelings of affection and love for him became, the more intense was her need to feel him also physically, as often and as fervently as possible. And she wasn't really able to appease this urge just yet…

She forced herself to limit her gaze to his face and to be content with simply watching him while he slept. She was affected a little by the necessity to take a somewhat uncomfortable position in her seat to do so. It was so rare that she had the opportunity to be this close to him without worrying about his response to her proximity.

He also had beautiful hair, she told herself. Full, dark, glossy, to be envious about it. And these short curls that he hadn't been able to comb smooth because of the lack of time… They stood out in all directions, so cute… she just couldn't resist. The inner urge was too great. She held out her hand and touched very tenderly the cheeky little curls behind his ear. He did not even startle, didn't seem to notice. How soft… She moved closer, her fingers continuing to slide over his hair. Hmmm… so wonderfully soft and then this warm, delicate skin of his neck just below his hairline…

'Beth!' she admonished herself and pulled her hand away again. 'Don't be so selfish! You'll end up waking him!'

She looked at him, waiting for a stir, but he slept on… seemed almost comatose now. Beth's eyebrows met. Did she have to worry now?

She winced as the speaker above her seat crackled briefly and then the friendly voice of the pilot spoke: "We will be arriving at our destination in about 15 minutes. Please prepare yourself for landing and fasten your seat belts."

Mick uttered a low, humming sound, moved his head briefly and then lay still again. Beth pressed her lips tightly together so as not to let out a quiet giggle that bubbled up within her. Her heart swelled with affection again and she was really sorry that she now had to deprive Mick of the sleep that he could enjoy far too rarely in this significant way. But of course he had to buckle up and since the belts were buried halfway under his body…

"Mick," she whispered, but then stretched a hand toward him again and gently stroked her fingers over his cheek. She told herself that she was closer to him than she really needed to be and bent over him way too far, but she could not fight it. The previous night had caused her will to become weak and her emotional side strongly demanded an urgent repeat of this amorous event.

Mick took a deep breath now and between his brows the first signs of an angry frown showed.

"Mick," she repeated with a smile and let her hand slip over his prominent chin to the other cheek. He again uttered this light hum, which brought the butterflies in her belly to stir, because it had sounded incredibly brutish. Fantastic! Vamp Beth now took the lead again. Another soft caress and Mick's eyelids began to move, opened, then closed again… just to lift again.

"Hey," she whispered with a warm, loving smile on her lips and could see how his mind was trying to free itself slowly from the veil of sleep until he realized after a few moments who was with him. His momentarily deep blue eyes flashed warm and his lips twisted into a charming happy smile. He raised a hand and touched her cheek so gently, as if she was the most fragile, most precious being in his world. Her need to crawl onto his lap now and shower him with kisses was starting to become almost painful.

Unfortunately, the numbness of sleep fell away quickly now. This was evident by the fact that Mick's eyes left her face, perceived where they now were, and blinked a few times, then he straightened up a little more and looked slightly confused. Particularly annoying was the fact that his hand fell back in his lap, leaving behind only a warm tingling sensation on her skin.

She herself was not yet prepared to move more than a few inches away from him. And her smile was there immediately again, when his eyes wandered back to her face.

"Did I… Did I fall asleep?" he uttered in a still pretty scratchy voice and the next pleasant shiver ran down her back. He looked so soft and accessible, was still not able to build up his wall and defense mechanisms with which he otherwise protected himself. This could be useful…

"_Sleeping _is not even the right word! You were so spaced out - I could have done _anything_ to you without you even noticing it," she said back in a low, velvety voice and left no doubt about what she meant with _anything_.

Mick's gaze changed immediately, became deeper, more intimate. She saw how that glow in the depths of this expressive eyes awoke, this glow, which also supplied her new side with this amazing energy and made her think such indecent thoughts. Him too, it seemed, because his lips moved to a mild, fairly salacious smirk. "Not _anything_," he corrected and the dark, slightly husky tone of his voice, gave her goose bumps, which spread over her entire body.

Beth approached him a little closer, neared his face to only a few inches and set her eyes on his tempting lips. "Maybe I should just test that the next time," she breathed and showed him a sensuous smile, which now also made him gaze at her mouth. He still was not awake enough and now no longer had the will power to defend himself against so much intimacy, for he again lifted his hand to her cheek and let his fingers, like a stroke of a feather, caress her skin.

"Maybe," he replied and his lips met hers almost imperceptibly and caused a pleasant pull in her belly. She had not even noticed how close they had come. Still it surprised her that Mick's hand roamed to her neck and that his lips brushed against hers again in a much more intimate and stimulating manner than before, only to pull her into one of these fiery, deep kisses, that robbed her of her breath immediately and awakened desires in her that they really had no time for. She had not expected that Mick would so easily give in to his desires. She should awaken him more often…

"I… I wasn't talking about now," she gasped as he released her lips again and let his own wander in a pretty exciting way slowly down her neck.

Mick stopped shortly before her breasts and looked up at her with a glance from which she could have died. How could someone have such beautiful, expressive eyes? This sea of different colors, framed by those long eyelashes…

"No?" he asked hoarsely, and his warm breath blew over her sensitive skin, ensuring a number of additional showers, all of which migrated into a particular region of her body.

"Besides, we're not alone…" she whispered, as she herself only slowly became aware of the truth that lay in her words.

Mick froze for a heartbeat, looked at her in disbelief and then slowly moved his head sideways to see past her. The fact that he briefly closed his eyes and made a face, told her that Malik was still sitting in his seat and was probably acting as if, behind his newspaper, he hadn't noticed what was going on between them.

When he looked at her again, the expression in Mick's eyes fluctuated between amusement and embarrassment. Beth couldn't help but give him a faint smile, while her own cheeks began to glow. She withdrew from him with great reluctance and sat back down neatly to buckle up. When she met Mick's eyes again, he pushed himself up with an elbow on the armrest between their seats, put his chin in his hand, and hid his own grin behind his fingers. His eyes were amused and there was still a little lust…

"You shouldn't do that again," he whispered to her with another intense and exciting gaze.

"What?" she asked with an innocent glance and was glad that at the moment the human Mick seemed to have the upper hand.

"Wake me up this way," he replied softly, his eyes wandering down, clearly looking for a way to catch a deeper glimpse into the very low-cut tight-fitting blouse she was wearing.

"Which way?" She pulled her cleavage up and blinked at him with a naive smile. This game was fun, alright, even though it was fueling her need rather than cooling her down and the fact that he played along gave her immense hope that their relationship would develop into a very positive direction.

His index finger ran quickly, but in a very seductive way over his lower lip before he dropped his arm on the armrest. But his eyes remained on her face, while another lewd smile crossed his lips. He leaned a little forward and took care to ensure that her heart began to stumble. "Believe me, I would really love to show you," he whispered into her ear and his warm breath let the skin of her neck tingle pleasantly. "But like you said… we're not alone…"

"And we're going to be landing soon," she replied, turning her face a little towards him. And there they were, his lips, right before hers, just a few millimeters away. Their noses touched again, their breathing mixed and got significantly faster and faster… God, why had they only woken up so late? There was an airplane toilet… Had she really just thought that? Sex in public was usually sooo not her thing!

"You need to fasten your seatbelt," she breathed and the deep, lusty tone of her voice made this harmless sentence seem terribly indecent.

His gaze became once again deeper and more lascivious. "Whatever you want," he replied with a small smile in an incredibly seductive way, and only when he withdrew in order to strap in, had she remembered that she had said the same sentence to him in the exact same pitch seemingly such a long time ago. She grinned inwardly and noted to herself that to awaken Mick was a new and exciting opportunity to open him up to nip his ingrained defense mechanisms in the bud - even when he currently didn't give the impression that he wanted to put this wall of fear up between them. You never knew…

The airport where they landed was a small, private and open one and the sight of it caused Beth to feel a sense of relief wash over her when they had left the plane and she noticed that there were no annoying checkpoints and eternal waiting for baggage. In addition there was only a negligible chance that the Legion had parked a couple of spies here. The weather however was poor. It had become rainy and cold and the wind that blew unimpeded across the flat terrain and drove uncomfortably into her clothes made her shiver. It would have been better if she had thought to slip into a slightly heavier coat before. Not everywhere in the country had spring already started.

She wrapped her arms tightly around her body and let her gaze roam searchingly over the level ground while she waited for Mick and Malik to return with their luggage from the rear of the plane. Not far away from them a car turned into the entrance of the airfield and she narrowed her eyes, trying to see who was sitting in the vehicle. Of course she didn't succeed at this distance, but was rather surprised that she could still see quite clearly that there was only one person with dark hair. She felt Mick approach her, but didn't turn to him.

"Guillermo," she heard his voice close behind her and now she turned to him, looking at him with an appreciative smile.

"You can see that from here?"

He shook his head a little. "I feel it."

Beth raised her eyebrows. "Energetically?" Stupid question… What else?

Mick gave her a small smile, but evaded her gaze surprisingly quickly. Instead, he placed the two bags on the floor before him and took off his jacket.

"Can all vampires do that?" she inquired further.

"We sense a lot of what humans miss," he said, came closer to her and held up his leather jacket, giving her an inviting glance. A smile beamed over her face and she slipped gratefully into his jacket, that was much too large for her, and let herself be wrapped into it. The jacket was heavy but warm and it smelled so terribly good, smelled so wonderfully of Mick…

"Better?" he asked with a smirk and her own smile grew even brighter. She stood on tiptoes and quickly pressed a kiss to his lips.

"You're my savior," she added with a grin and leaned against his chest, like so often sank into the bright blue of his eyes, which were full of so much affection for her that her desire to be alone with him as soon as possible again became an almost painful need for her.

A cough very close to them broke them both out of the light trance, in which they had sunken and Beth moved away from Mick slightly embarrassed, gave Malik, who now seemed even a bit annoyed, the same apologetic smile that Mick had also sent to him.

"We should maybe go and meet him," suggested the vampire with an accent-free English. His anger at the lack of restraint between his two companions seemed to have made him forget that he actually had pretended that his English wasn't that good before.

Beth silently made a little note that she absolutely had to talk to him once again and followed him along with Mick to the dark car, which had now stopped only a few feet away from them. The driver's side door opened and the young man, who got out at once, did it with such a wide smile that Beth felt like the whole area around them had become a whole lot brighter. The smile that appeared on her own lips came all on its own. She liked the young Mexican. He had always been sympathetic to her and next to Logan and Seth was one of the few vampires who took her seriously and had always involved her in all activities and conversations. However, this time he only gave her as well as Malik a passing nod. His full attention rested solely on one person: Mick. It took Beth a moment to remember that today the two were meeting again for the first time in a very long time.

"Como estas?" asked Guillermo, even before he had reached Mick.

"Bien. Y tú ?" Mick answered back with a similar smile as the Mexican, and let him hug him in spite of the bulky bags that he carried along.

"Estamos en estrés, pero bien," said Guillermo and now took the time to thoroughly inspect Mick. His enthusiasm concerning the fact that he already looked so healthy was clearly written on his face and Beth could see his eyes shining suspiciously. His relationship with Mick seemed to be much warmer and more intimate than the two had previously shown. She had never asked Mick how they had met. If she was honest, there was still an incredible amount of things that she didn't know about Mick, which was normal this early in a relationship, but unfortunately they had not really had the time to tell each other their life stories, and if truth be told the main focus of her interest was in getting to know each other on an entirely different, less intellectual level…

She wrinkled her forehead a little upset because Mick and Guillermo had continued to speak in Spanish and she read from their faces that the topic was suddenly of a very serious nature. Malik's concentrated facial expression told her that he, too, understood that language – so she was the only one who was left out. She had learned a few languages, but Spanish wasn't one of them. So, she cleared her throat loudly and the two men looked at her in amazement. She needed just to raise her eyebrows and Mick knew what she was trying to say.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized immediately. "Josef, Logan and Seth are already there and waiting for us. It seems as if in this short period of time some things have already come up that we need to discuss urgently…"

"In English I hope," she interjected immediately and Mick gave her his adorable crooked smile.

"Of course."

Guillermo nodded in the direction of the car. "We should really get going. The meeting begins in four hours and you might want to rest before that…"

'Rest' sounded good - it sounded like a little time of cozy togetherness, even if that could be deceiving. Nevertheless, Beth immediately began to move, walked over to the car and Guillermo gave her a loving smile when he gallantly opened the door for her to the back seat. The little playfully suspicious look that Mick sent the young Mexican before he entered the car after her, did not escape her, bringing a broad, very contented smile to her face. It seemed as if Mick was developing a slightly possessive manner concerning her and even if she usually did not like that, in this case it pleased her very much because it promised that Mick again showed tendencies towards adhering to their relationship, even in public, and didn't shut himself away again.

The drive to the meeting point didn't take long, however, it had been enough time to learn some things from Guillermo. The meetings that had taken place thus far were probably not comparable to this one. There were now far more vampires invited from all over the world; vampires directly affected by the actions of the Legion. Beth could feel the tension and excitement building in Mick with every word Guillermo spoke. She knew the exact thoughts that were once again going through his head and with a heavy heart she prepared herself for the fact that the warm, relaxed interaction between them that they had both developed together, would not survive the evening. There would be arguments between them, for sure.

The fact that some of the older vampires were already there, including Lance, exacerbated the whole situation, as well as the information that Gabriel would probably not appear in time for the meeting.

In addition, the Mexican also told them that they would be sharing their apartment for the next few days with Josef, Logan and Seth. This would almost exclude that she and Mick could get physically closer to each other once more. So it wasn't surprising that their once so wanton mood had absolutely plummeted once they finally reached their destination, and parked in the subterranean garage.

But wait things got even better. A dark car with mirrored windows pulled up right next to them when they were in the process of leaving and she felt Mick tense immediately. It was instantly clear to Beth that at least one of the passengers had to be a vampire he knew. 'Please don't let it be Lance… not Lance… please…'

The man who got out of the back of the car was tall, broad-shouldered and dark. The bangs of his midnight black hair fell slightly into his face when he turned towards them with a terribly false smile and his different colored eyes turned immediately to Mick.

"St. John with appendage," he uttered in a cold and snidely manner that made a shiver run down Beth's back. But the expression on his face changed abruptly when he met Malik's sharp eye, who had now also left the interior of their car. Although there was no fear or humility in his eyes, which was always so clearly visible when he spoke to Gabriel, he still showed a significant amount of respect to the Assassin and greeted him with a nod that was to some extent even benevolent. It had been a smart move of Gabriel to let them travel with this man, for he probably could outface the other vampires at the meeting and owned a power, which was not to be underestimated.

"You have indeed managed to rise up within our ranks remarkably quick," Lance still couldn't resist saying in Mick's direction, who had immediately stepped up to Beth's side.

"And you seem to have a fairly high shortage of employees," Mick replied with a provocative smile and nodded to the two men attending to Lance. Both were completely unknown to Beth.

Lance snickered coldly. "Well, what could be the reason for that?" he asked back seemingly relaxed, but Beth could see the anger sparkle in his eyes. "You better keep an eye on your toy," he added with a sidelong glance at Beth. "Not all of my 'employees' are as clumsy as Hendrik was when it comes to getting a not entirely voluntary blood donation…"

Beth's head spun around in shock to Mick, whose brows were moving toward each other in deep confusion. His gaze wandered from Lance to her and then back… and the knowledge came, along with a large dose of horror and disbelief.

"Oh, she didn't tell you then?" Lance probed with mocked pity in his voice and seemed to visibly gloat in Mick's burgeoning anger and his troubled breathing.

"Laurent," Malik's sharp voice interrupted them while he took a menacing step toward him. He was smaller than Lance, but the man still gave way a little, a troubled flickering in his eyes.

The very next moment a sheer torrent of French words rained down on him, of which Beth understood only fragments despite her knowledge of the language. But since some of them were bordering on swear words, it was understandable that soon indignation and anger showed in Lance's eyes. He said, however, nothing, not even when Malik stopped again. Instead, he simply turned around without a word and walked towards the elevators with a flowing coat and his head held high, followed by his silent companions.

Beth's gaze was still following him for a while, not only because the man was scaring her more and more, but also because she didn't dare look at Mick again. She felt his tension, felt his staring at the back of her neck, knowing full well that he was really angry with her, just as she also knew that she would_ have_ to look at him again sooner or later.

Her eyes wandered to the floor, then she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and turned to him. Of course he still looked at her, with this reproach in his eyes, this disbelief that had evolved with his rage into a mixture of really unpleasant emotions. The flexing of his cheek muscles told her that the chaos of emotions inside him took on really dramatic shapes. It would not take much to make him explode. So she said nothing, waited for him to say something, to let off a bit of steam in order to avoid a worse fit of rage.

"We… we should really be getting upstairs," Guillermo rose to speak much to her chagrin and, loaded with their bags, took a few awkward steps towards the elevators. She could see that he also suffered from the sudden tension between them.

Beth stayed bravely, kept up the eye contact with Mick and waited. It was better when he let it out, when he finally stopped bottling up his emotions inside and quite putting himself into such artificial tension anymore. That was the only way they were going to be able to get back to a normal exchange with each other.

Mick straightened his shoulders, closed his eyes briefly, shook his head and began to move, pushed past her without saying a word, simply followed Guillermo. Wonderful! Beth rolled her eyes, turned on her heel and could do nothing else but accept the decision of the majority - at least for now.

The drive up to the apartments was hard to bear for her. Mick was terribly angry, but pressed his lips firmly together and said nothing, letting his aggressions and grief eat at him rather than talk to her about it. Beth clung to the hope that perhaps he was only waiting until they were alone again and she wouldn't have to suffer in this tense silence for the rest of the day. And if he didn't, then she would just make sure that he discharged his emotions once they were alone. Even though this was what she had decided to do, at the same time she was filled with horror at the thought of having to quarrel with him. She hated it so much…

They went pretty far up and the pressure in her stomach was getting stronger. She could have almost exhaled relieved when the elevator finally stopped and the sound of the little ding rescued her.

Guillermo headed for a door across from the elevator and opened it with a keycard. He himself remained standing outside and nodded encouragingly to them. Beth set into motion at first and went wide-eyed into the vast apartment. She heard as Guillermo murmured to Mick "See ya later!" and then the door closed again and she decided to postpone the inspection of their new home and her amazement to a later date. She wanted to turn around to Mick, but he simply walked past her to the large sofa-landscape before them and threw their bags onto one of the cozy-looking couches.

Beth bravely gulped down the lump in her throat and was about to begin to speak, but Mick suddenly turned to her and stared at her angrily.

"When?" he pressed through his teeth in a tight voice. "When did he do this?"

Beth gulped again, but couldn't answer him right away because she needed to first process the fact that he was really looking for a direct confrontation with her. "What… what exactly?"

"When… When did he attack you, what else?" he said back unusually harsh.

"During the struggle in Mexico, when you and Josef were gone…," she answered insecurely.

Mick looked as if he would like to shoot something down in flames. He turned away from her shaking his head, ran his hands over his face and into his hair and for a moment grabbed his short hair. The idea that a vampire had come so close to her, that her life had been so threatened, seemed to put him in almost physical pain and Beth's own guilt grew. She was so sorry that he had to learn about it this way. She had not wanted it like that… Actually, she had not wanted to ever have to tell him.

Mick dropped his hands again, stemmed them into his hips and visibly tried to calm his breathing. "What did he do?" he asked in a trembling voice, without turning around to her.

"Not much…," she said quickly and approached him cautiously. "He couldn't because…" She couldn't finish her sentence, because the next moment the door to one of the adjoining rooms flew open and Logan stormed in with a radiant joyful smile.

"You're here!" he cried out enthusiastically, but slowed in his movement, surprised when Mick turned and held up a commanding hand in his direction. His eyes bored into hers again.

"Did… did he try to turn you?" he asked, tense. "Did he somehow try to force his blood on you?"

Beth shook her head in confusion. "No, he just… he just wanted to…" She stopped again, because his eyes were flickering again so alarmingly.

"Are you talking about Hendrik?" Logan asked cautiously from afar. Mick's gaze immediately flew over to him.

"How do you know?"

"I… I saved her," said the young vampire, not without pride, and now Mick looked surprised. "Together with Seth and Gabriel..."

"Gabriel?" Mick's voice cracked slightly. Then the anger flared up once again in his eyes. "He knew about this _as well_?"

"Mick, it was all not that bad," Beth tried to downsize the whole thing a little. "He wasn't able to harm me…"

"What happened to him?" Mick asked, scowling.

"He's dead," Logan answered and stepped closer. "Gabriel killed him."

This statement seemed actually to appease Mick a little, but could not completely eliminate his excitement yet. Something about the way he looked at her, they way he now eyed her up once again was strange.

"Did you somehow come in contact with his blood," he asked again. "Did it spray into your face? Did it somehow come to your lips or in your mouth?"

She shook her head, first strongly, then with a marked delay until she finally stopped and opened her mouth… Quite unexpectedly it was suddenly there again, one of the issues that had occupied her mind so much during Mick's absence - and she felt sick.

Mick's gaze changed from angry and urgent to worried. "What? Beth… what?"

"I… I bit him…," she said in a low voice. "Into his hand…"

Mick grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her closer to him. "Did you taste his blood?"

She nodded silently. Oh, God, she knew that this was not good. Perhaps she would turn after all. Perhaps the whole thing just took longer because she had not yet been in a life-threatening condition. Mick let her go, gazed at the floor agitatedly and wiped a hand over his mouth.

"Will… will I transform?" Her voice was barely a whisper, shaking noticeably. Somehow the idea of turning into a creature of the night had all of a sudden completely lost its attraction. She did not want that. Not now. Not like this, and certainly not by the blood of a vampire like Hendrik. If anyone was to be her Sire, then it was to be Mick. She wanted to have _his_ blood in her veins and to be connected with _him_ forever.

"I've never heard of a transformation taking this long," Mick replied a little more controlled and looked at her again. The anger and turmoil in his eyes seemed to now slowly settle.

"Nor have I," agreed Logan without being asked. "And frankly, you don't smell like that…"

"Then… it was perhaps too little?" she proposed hesitantly.

"Probably," Mick said, but he again couldn't look at her.

"Besides, you weren't bitten," Logan added. "With just vampire blood alone, it wouldn't work… "

She didn't look at him. Her gaze still rested on Mick's face, in which now traces of the stress left behind in the last few minutes were evident. He suddenly looked incredibly tired and exhausted and his eyes were so… so sad.

"I'm so sorry, Mick," she said in a husky voice. "I wanted to tell you at some point, but I just didn't know how…"

He shook his head slightly, then suddenly reached out his hands for her and drew her into his arms without another word. Beth immediately clutched his waist and pressed herself against him, pursed her lips, fighting back tears that were immediately rising up inside her. She hated fighting with him, always felt immediately so vulnerable and weak.

"_I'm_ sorry," he murmured into her hair and she felt that he really meant it. "First you have to live through something so terrible and then I behave like a moron…"

He moved a little away from her and looked at her with these rueful puppy dog eyes that transformed her heart within seconds into a soft, flowing mass. She said nothing, but stood on her tiptoes and just kissed him gently.

"This is just the stress," she smiled and was pleased with the warmth and tenderness that had returned to his eyes. She heard another door open somewhere and reluctantly pulled away from Mick's eyes, pleased to note that Josef had appeared in the doorway, just tying the soft band of the silky robe he was wearing.

"I knew it couldn't be anyone other than the two of you," he said with a slight shake of the head, but looked at them with great favor and eyes sparkling with joy. "With this loud and energetic drama… " He sighed deeply and heavily.

Mick chuckled next to her and Beth had to smile because she had to admit he was right. The emotional roller coaster ride was a part of their relationship, which could not be overlooked by an outsider, and above all not overheard. It was really vital that this had to stop…

Josef was smiling at them both. "Now that you've cleared everything up and the wonderful make-up sex will have to wait for a while, anyway, I would suggest that you freshen up a bit and then we can sit down together and discuss how we'll all manage this stressful situation here."

He raised his eyebrows with a slightly questioning expression and Mick and herself nodded in sync almost unable to say something against Josef's direct words.

"Good then," he grinned and Beth was unable to respond any different than to grin as well. Even if she would have liked to spend a little more time with Mick alone, it was really great to have all her friends around her again. She felt stronger and safer and thus her fear of the Assembly faded a little. And if she wasn't mistaken, it was just the same with Mick.


	13. Scars

_New Chapter! A bit earlier this time, but I think you won't mind. ;o). Loved your reviews so, so much! Hugs and kisses to all of you! See you hopefully all at Thursday again and hope to hear from you until then. Best wishes, Jenna_

_Translated by: Cleo28_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

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**S****cars**

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"_**The quiet one always seems heartless to the excited one.**__** And yet this one can feel deeper and think better."**_

_**Otto von Leixner**_

* * *

_Nothing was as it seemed to be.__Everything changed with the flow of time, even if it was just a few hours, which chased the day away and brought on the night… The simplest of changes like lighting conditions could suddenly create a whole new world.__Things that only a few minutes ago had seemed so familiar suddenly took on such a strange radiance, throwing long shadows, changing colors or that were just swallowed by the twilight.__The broad river suddenly took the shape of a dark, sluggish snake that dragged itself slowly through the barren landscape, palm trees became scary figures with multiple arms reaching out to heavens, yet it was only the warm wind blowing off the Mediterranean Sea that made their broad leaves move.__And the sky became clear and deep, opening to show generously what the bright blue sky of day was hiding: endless space full of suns, planets and other celestial bodies where time didn't matter… But changes, changes always mattered.__No one could escape them, not even the infinite and unfathomable universe.__It was forced to react, sometimes violently, sometimes less violent, but always trying to regain the balance that held it stable, only to be able to withstand the next change._

_To have __internal peace again and to be able to adapt, that was the trick - but it was just so damn hard to do if you were just a tiny little person being buffeted about in the wake of a constantly changing world and not even this could ensure calm and order within._

_How would Mick ever be able to move about in a setting, which consisted of flight, threat and fight if he couldn't even manage to visit a peaceful market in a small Greek village on the banks of the Evrótas._

_Just a few minutes of frantic gesturing and people loudly negotiating had been enough for Mick to take to his heels, sweating and trembling, struggling with all his might against the beast inside that like a rabid animal, had wanted to tear up all these innocent people._

_He had run far away, into the barren landscape, and had finally thrown himself into the river, at least to provide his overworked body with a minimum of cooling. The vampire had withdrawn growling and Mick had finally settled under the shade of an olive tree, and waited for Gabriel to fetch him.__But he hadn't come, not after an hour or even two and not as nightfall had announced itself._

_Mick wasn't really surprised.__Gabriel was so different from Peterson, Josef or Beth.__He let him have an incredible amount of freedom, let him rave and curse when he felt like it and tried not to calm him down or comfort him when the memories came and caused him to break down mentally.__He had made it clear from the beginning that he wouldn't force him into anything and would only offer his help when and if Mick asked for it directly.__It was important to him that Mick tested himself, his strength and found, on his own, the mechanisms that would allow him to handle his vampire side in a better way.__Nothing was forbidden, and at first he had been very pleased with that. He had in fact exhausted this space, had brought his body to the verge of complete exhaustion._

_No, 'verge' was not quite the right word… there had been a pretty severe circulatory collapse, followed by spasms, pain, fever and two days of self-imposed bed rest under August's supervision.__After that, Mick dealt far more cautiously with his body and had indeed asked for Gabriel's advice and help._

_The last two days had been days of wonder and amazement, days in which Mick had learned to see vampires and their forces with completely different eyes._

"_Most vampires succumb to their own myth," Gabriel had declared with a gentle smile.__"They are only too clearly aware of their weaknesses while never really trying out their strengths, only making use of what's obvious.__It is said that the strength of a vampire increases with age but that's not totally true.__It increases with his experience, his growing understanding of himself. Only when you really understand your body can you obtain achievements which amount to a miracle.__Concentration, inner peace and deep understanding of yourself are the key to the effective use of superhuman powers."_

_It hadn't been empty words.__Gabriel had demonstrated this in a very impressive way by performing within seconds a series of movements which one could barely follow with one's eyes but were still followed with an impressive result.__Since that day, Mick had been quite willing to allow himself be instructed by Gabriel and had begun to see his body, his condition, with the curious eyes of a student.__Too quickly, he had forgotten the negative aspects of his hybrid existence, had forgotten what he was capable of and what a monster slept inside him, and had overestimated his own abilities.__Otherwise he never would have accepted Gabriel's suggestion to go to the village and see how his vampire side behaved among alien people._

_The result had been more than sad.__It had showed him only too clearly that he had changed too much to ever live like a normal person in a big city like LA again, to be able to live among other humans normally… to love Beth and spend the rest of his life with her.__He was a freak, a mutant… and would always remain so…_

_An energetic tingling, quite close to him… Mick closed his eyes shortly and focused, tried to concentrate his remaining senses on what seemed to be in his proximity, to smell it, feel it.__But he didn't succeed.__The human in him refused him access to his vampire senses._

"_It doesn't work that way," he now heard Gabriel's voice not far from him and he opened his eyes but didn't turn around._

"_When you start again to despise the vampire side of you, he won't open up to you until you want to transform."_

_Mick said nothing.__Instead, looked down at the dark river and felt a bit of cool air blow over them._

"_You're too hard on yourself, Mick," he heard Gabriel say now directly behind him.__"And far too impatient.__You need to give the vampire more space and time to unfold himself…"_

"_So __that he can then freak out in a crowd and run about wildly biting and even kill some of these innocent people?" Mick threw to him over his shoulder contemptuously._

"_It hadn't been the vampire who lost control there," Gabriel gave back quietly but sternly.__"And you know it!"_

_Mick gritted his teeth and bowed his head.__He didn't really want to admit it but the old vampire was right.__It was Mick the human, who had not been able to handle the new situation, had been overwhelmed and had completely panicked.__The vampire in him was only trying to protect him, to put an end to the ordeal._

"_What a really great combination I am," Mick finally uttered with a scornful laugh and turned to Gabriel.__"One half a hysterical, traumatized human, the other a dangerous, murderous monster…"_

_The old vampire said nothing at first, but only looked at him with a thoughtful frown.__"You astound me," he finally said, softly.__"I had actually considered you to be a fighter, not a person who after a slight relapse loses himself to self-pity…"_

_Mick could hardly believe his ears but the rage that surged up within him immediately told him that he had not misheard._

"_What?" It slipped quietly, but menacingly from his lips and he got up slowly.__Gabriel might be a lot taller and stronger than he but right now he didn't care._

"_You heard me," he indeed said with a friendly smile.__"Although I must say, I like you much better the way you're behaving now."_

_To __Mick's anger the vampire held his penetrating gaze._

"_I want to make one thing clear to you, Mick," he added now.__"Neither the human nor the vampire in you are acting in an 'abnormal' behavior, considering what you've been through.__Anyone would have trouble after such a traumatic time finding their way back again to a fairly normal environment.__They would also feel alienated and pressed with so many foreign people around."_

_Mick crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows doubtfully.__"And you know this so well because…?"_

_Gabriel's smile became a bit softer. He then raised his hands and started to unbutton the white silky shirt he wore.__Mick was so amazed he wasn't able to ask one of the questions that had immediately come to mind.__Instead, he observed, frowning, how Gabriel pulled the open shirt over his broad shoulders and turned his back to him._

_For a moment Mick forgot to breathe.__He had never seen anything like that on the skin of a vampire before.__His muscled back was covered from shoulder to buttocks with scars of varying sizes and lengths.__They weren't puffy, as with normal people, but the skin was lighter in these places and a little uneven - old traces of a torture one could only imagine._

"_Good God!" Mick exclaimed shocked and he stepped a bit closer to him to check whether he wasn't mistaken in the shallow light of the moon._

"_I've had to learn many times over my long life that the powers of vampires also have their limits, that we can also become seriously injured, tortured and even killed," he heard Gabriel say softly.__"We're not invincible and we can get scars."_

"_But how?" Mick indeed did not understand this, for he had to fight with the same inexplicable phenomenon._

_Gabriel turned to him and pulled his shirt up again.__ He wasn't smiling anymore. It was o__nly now that Mick noticed there were similar bright lines and spots on his chest and belly, as well.__"I think it has to do with the duration of healing and the state you're in at the moment the injury is inflicted on you.__Some things simply remain…" He took a deep breath because he was also assaulted with the images of his past.__"I have seen many cruel things, was a witness to what kind of monsters walk amongst humans, but very few events threw me off track, actually made me want to die…" His eyes went briefly to the ground and when he looked at Mick again, one could see just how hard it was for him to still talk about it.__"Among other things, it was 221 AD and I was very reckless and fell into Roman captivity… Those were the worst three days of my life and at the time I didn't think I would survive it.__I can still remember the noise my bones made when they broke, just before the inhuman pain began…"_

_Mick looked down and gasped for breath, struggling against the images and sounds that were added to his own memories with his description._

"_It had excited the fantasy of my torturers very much when they found out that my wounds healed astonishingly fast…" he heard Gabriel say and Mick closed his eyes briefly, trying to breathe slowly and deeply.__"But I also learned something else very valuable at the time,__namely, that the spirit has amazing powers over the body, it's able to push even the most unbearable pain away, it can ensure that even a seriously damaged body is able to regain enough strength to save yourself in those critical moments,__ w__hether it's during the horrible situation or after it.__What matters is using the right skills and mechanisms at the right moment."_

_Mick raised his gaze again and when he looked into the old vampire's eyes, he felt closer to him than ever before. Something had changed. He wasn't alone anymore._

"_It's hard to fight back against a trauma," Gabriel continued softly and put a hand on Mick's shoulder.__"Especially when the threats and stress still continue.__But I'm quite confident that you'll make it Mick, if you just give the vampire in you a chance to help you."_

"_But how?" it slipped softly from Mick's lips.__"How can__ he __help me?"_

"_What makes the life of a vampire sometimes so shallow and unsatisfying," Gabriel asked back._

_Mick thought for a moment, then he suddenly understood what he was aiming at.__"The callousness, the internal coldness," he replied thoughtfully._

"_Exactly," Gabriel smiled and let go of his shoulder again.__"Even the vampire in you has several facets.__You just need to learn how to deal with them, to use them exactly when you need them."_

_Mick nodded insightful.__If he remembered correctly, he had already done this during the terrible battle in Mexico, quite unconsciously, more instinctual.__And it had worked - at least for the most part._

"_But I can't just transform back and forth," he instantly voiced the concern tied to this thoughts._

"_You shouldn't," Gabriel replied calmly.__"You have to learn how to activate your super-human powers without turning, to find a way to get to them in your human condition.__And you already know this is possible because you've done it… haven't you?"_

_Mick took a deep breath and gave a restrained nod.__"I just don't know how.__It just happened and then it was over…"_

"_Yes, because you're not at peace with yourself, Mick," the old vampire knew.__"If you want to pierce through yourself, you must first accept what you are.__You have to get to know and re-evaluate yourself, only then will you begin to understand the relationship between the two and use them.__You have to stop thinking about how great it would be to be a human again - a person__ who cannot harm _her_ and of whom she's will be safe. __Your forgetting that the world in which we live has so many other dangers you can't protect her from anymore when you're human."_

_Mick gritted his teeth.__Gabriel brought the matter to the point, voiced the thoughts that had bothered him since he had been a human and had almost lost Beth.__Humanity meant weakness, meant a lack of power and thus meant a lack of protection.__For Beth, for himself, for all the people that meant something to him._

"_You shouldn't curse or hate the things you cannot change, especially not if they have to do with your own form of existence," Gabriel continued.__"Try to see the advantages and use them.__Your vampire abilities can give you protection and security.__ For __yourself_and_her!__And not just in relation to threats from outside, but also in relation to the demons within your soul.__If you succeed, you won't need to worry anymore in her presence."_

* * *

It was strange how fast and far a small thing like a scar could bring you into your memories and how hard it was to find the way back again to the here and now, when certain words which had been heard seemed to effect even the presence so strongly.

Although Mick became slowly but clearly aware of where he was and what he had wanted to do, he remained standing before the mirror in the bathroom and stared at himself thoughtfully instead of buttoning his shirt further. He had changed over time, looked so different now, so human with his tanned skin, short hair, bearded stubble and scars on his chest. These strange scars…

He raised a hand to the one next to his sternum, touched it like he had done so many times before. It was still palpable and visible, yet already very similar to the bright lines and spots left on Gabriel's skin and he wondered again how this was possible. Well, he himself had been a human at the time of his injury but after that his wounds had closed relatively quickly… and Gabriel was a pure vampire! How could he carry such scars?

Mick had tried during their time together every so often to talk to him about it, but Gabriel had always found a way to distract him or evade the issue with some vague reply, like, 'the emotional pain is sometimes stronger than the physical damage and obstructs the complete healing until you find the strength and a way to combat it' or 'If the memories are too heavy to be borne by the soul, the body eases that burden on it sometimes'.

He gave very philosophical, very poetic statements but little help in answering his actual question adequately. However, in one thing, Gabriel was right. His soul had no real memory of the days during his rescue, no memory of how the bullets had penetrated his body and caused the devastating damage. And even the hours afterwards, the desperate struggle of his friends' trying to save his life consisted of only a few scraps of images, blurred and changed by the anesthetic and the silver in his blood. Beth's face he could remember… her fingers that caressed his cheek, and her soothing voice a little drowned in the loud engine noise of a helicopter… and then the melody of an old lullaby… Those were the longest fragments of his memories. Again and again her face, her voice and Josef… Josef next to his bed with tears in his eyes and this despair in his voice… then the painful awakening, the panic… the taste of Beth's blood…

Mick took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly to once again evoke the stoic silence and coldness in his heart, which was able to subdue any turmoil inside him within seconds, at least when the vampire in him remained in a tranquil condition. He knew that he shouldn't do it too often because he would then need to draw on more energy and had to be careful that his vampire side didn't awaken but he had vowed he would never again plague his friends with his impetuous behavior, his unpleasant emotional outbursts. They were all under stress because of the meeting. And for him it was good to stay, at least for a while, more relaxed.

He heard a noise behind him and opened his eyes again quickly. In the mirror he could see that Beth had entered this really spacious bathroom, immediately giving him a loving smile. But he also saw slight concern in her eyes, knew that she still hadn't gotten over their little dispute completely or at least was concerned that the new information alarmed him more than he would admit.

"Hey," she said softly, and approached him, pushed her arms from behind around his waist, snuggled into him and looked past his shoulder into the mirror. "You all right?"

His eyes closed automatically because immediately a pleasant feeling of warmth flowed through him. This warm, intimate physical contact with her took all the tension from his body and let him inhale deeply. It amazed him again and again how much this feeling of security, which he had felt from the beginning in her presence, had grown since their time together in Mexico. Every minute without any contact with her was actually an empty, wasted minute. And her body was so soft, felt so well against his back… too well as he noticed when the warm waves began to gather in his lower region and caused more activity down there than was reasonable at the moment.

His eyelids flew open again. So much for relaxation. He had forgotten that this incredibly attractive woman behind him, at the moment, had a quite upsetting effect on his very human condition, especially since his shirt was still unbuttoned and her fingers rested for a most part on the skin of his lower abdomen - much too close to the part of his body which currently shouted the loudest for intimate contact and a re-union with her body.

"How do you feel?" she asked cautiously, but her eyes wandered treacherously over the naked chest of his mirrored image and provided for a new boost of heat shooting through his pelvis.

"Good, really," he brought out a little hoarsely. She moved a little more to the side to look searchingly into his face and Mick gritted his teeth firmly. Yes, that was all too clearly her soft breasts that slid along his back and caused, along with her now moving fingers on his belly, a blatantly obvious pulling between his legs. His pants started to become tighter quite quickly. Damn testosterone...!

A closing of his eyes, a deep breath… The worried lines on Beth's forehead had deepened, as he looked again into the mirror. It seemed she had interpreted this wrong. So he grabbed her hands, broke them from his body and turned to her.

"Beth, if you go on like this I'm really going to have a problem," he said as gently as possible. "And I'll immediately have to take another shower, this time ice cold!"

The understanding appeared quickly in her eyes, brought this lovely flush to her cheeks and Mick's eyes fixed on her lips involuntarily, which then moved into a bashful smile. Such wonderful seductive lips, which were now moving because she said something to him. What exactly he didn't know because the urge to feel them on his gained the upper hand. He leaned forward, just _had_ to capture those lips, hold them with his for a short moment… so soft…

Beth made a sound that resonated more enjoyment than protest and returned the kiss almost immediately, pressed her lips against his and moaned softly when he sucked at her lower lip. However, only seconds later her hands braced against his chest and pushed him far enough away that he had to abandon her lips.

She breathed a little heavier and looked at him reproachfully. She apparently had no idea how sexy she looked right now. He would have loved to grab her once again and…

"Didn't… didn't you just tell me you don't want to take a cold shower?" she brought out a little amused and could scarcely conceal how difficult it was for her to stay away from him.

He nodded and shook his head at the same time while Beth let out a soft laugh that made his no longer so small problem in his pants even bigger. There it was already, this inopportune throbbing…

She wanted to take a step toward him, but this time he raised his hand quickly and backed away from her.

"That's not such a good idea at the moment," he warned her and she indeed stayed where she was at his deep relief.

She laughed again and nodded then also a bit wistfully. "I… I'd better go back then to the others," she uttered quietly, turned quickly and left the bathroom.

Mick let out the halted air from his lungs, shaking his head at himself. This impulsiveness that always attacked him as a human was not very much better than his vampiric thirst for blood. He trotted over to the toilet, shut down the lid and sat down on it clumsily. So… and now he had to think of the most disgusting things he could imagine – there was probably no better way to solve his problem in a hurry.

His imagination was able to produce such disgusting things that Mick could leave the bathroom only a few minutes later - with a buttoned shirt and again comfortable-fitting pants. All the others had long since settled in the sofa-landscape of the apartment and were engaged in more or less animated conversations.

Of course this knowing look appeared on Josef's face once again, and he gave Mick a shameless grin when he turned his gaze to him.

"And?" he whispered to him from the side when Mick sat down next to him deliberately far away from Beth who was talking excitedly with Seth, but now and then secretly looked over to them. "Operation successful - patient dead?"

Mick gave his friend a warning glance but could not prevent that one corner of his mouth twitched a little upward. Unfortunately, the 'patient' was not nearly as 'dead' as Mick would have liked. He knew that it needed only a little more contact with Beth to bring him back to life within a few seconds. To reduce this sexual tension between them for a longer period of time, it was going to take something more substantial than deterrent images. And 'longer period of time' was at the moment an ambiguous term.

"Well," Josef said a little louder now, thus bringing the others to focus their attention on him. "The meeting will begin in two hours - we better start now…"

"Thomas was here before and said that he will probably ask me to present to the others what I was able to figure out with the help of Ritchcroft's files," Logan rose to speak immediately and could not conceal how little enthusiasm he had with this idea. He looked almost frightened. Logan, _the Man…_

Mick smiled as he leaned back on the sofa, putting one arm on the backrest. "Oh, isn't this _the_ chance for you to show the whole vampire community what you're capable of?"

The young vampire threw him a dark look. "As if I really need that… It's just that I don't know most of them and besides, I don't know how much I'm _allowed_ to tell them!"

"Tell them everything what we've found out about the Legion but nothing precise about our actions or our strategies," Josef explained, as cool as a cucumber. "The more vampires are hunting the members of the Legion, the better…"

The discomfort in Logan's eyes grew visibly. "I… I'm to just step in front all these people… and just… jaw?"

"Perhaps Beth will agree to help you out," Mick grinned. "She's actually used to speaking in front of a large audience."

Silence. All pairs of eyes now rested on him, amazed, incredulous, and surprised. Mick raised an eyebrow questioningly, looked from one to the other. Had he used an inappropriate word? Twisted the sentence?

"Um…" Josef closed his eyes briefly, shook his head very lightly and then looked at him with a frown. "You want Beth to participate in the meeting?"

Ah, that was it… Of course - they had not been there when he had spoken with Gabriel about it.

"_Want_ isn't the right term here," he admitted, looking over to Beth, the only person whose astonishment was of a more delighted nature. "It's the best that way."

Silence. There it was again and this time Mick understood it. His words had to appear quite strange to the others considering what a fuss he had made concerning her participation in Mexico.

"Where… where does this change of heart come from?" Josef broke the silence again. It was written all over his face that he could not get used to the idea so easily. "I mean there are going to be even more vampires here now than there were back in Mexico…"

"I know," Mick replied with a heavy heart and felt his own concerns regarding this matter rise again and began to give him an upset stomach. "But that's the point."

"You _want_ all these hungry vampire, especially after their long journey, to see Beth and above all smell her?" Logan asked doubtfully and strangely a little anger resonated in his voice.

"Yes. But that wasn't _my_ idea, Logan," Mick now responded somewhat irritated.

"Gabriel wants it?" Josef raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Mick took a deep breath. "He thinks that such a meeting offers the opportunity to show the rest of the vampire society that Beth isn't just a Freshie, but…" He hesitated, looked at Beth a little unsure. Actually, these were much too private thoughts to talk about in front of others. But she gave him such a loving smile that he just had to go on. "… the woman who stands equally by my side. And that she plays an important role in our resistance and therefore is untouchable to any other vampire. Gabriel said he worked out a plan how to make this very clear to all the others."

"Which would be?" Josef probed suspiciously.

Mick shrugged. "He didn't want to tell me. But I trust him…"

"That… that makes perfect sense," Seth raised his voice and nodded agreeing. "I mean it's only either – or…"

Logan looked at his friend in confusion. "What? Is there more to come?"

"Well, _either_ Beth helps us _or_ she has to stay out of this completely and hide somewhere until it's all over…"

"That's something I won't do in any case!" she added vehemently and immediately called back a smile on Mick's lips.

"And 'help' means inevitably meeting many others, perhaps some not so nice vampires," Seth continued quite unimpressed. "In this case it would be advisable to clarify once and for all that she's not a Freshie and is under the personal protection of the Elders. If that's clear to everyone they will accept her and leave her alone. I mean, who wants to mess with _Him_?"

Josef nodded understandingly. "He just needs to show them exactly how serious he is about this…"

Even Mick nodded. A dull feeling inside told him that Gabriel's appearance today would certainly turn out different than it had in the desert of Mexico. The old vampire had already expressed to him that every now and then he had to ensure that his reputation and the myths surrounding him remained intact. Mick was sure that the meeting and his will to protect Beth were an appropriate cause for doing exactly that. Also the announcement that he was going to be a little late reeked of a grand appearance.

Again, each of them dwelled for a few heartbeats on their own thoughts, until Josef felt compelled to move on with the talks.

"Seth, what has evolved in relation to Talbot?"

"Oh, yeah," Seth immediately got to the matter. "He does in fact carry the stick Beth handed him at all times. So I'm assuming that he knows that there's a transmitter in it and that he wants us to be able to locate him…" He looked over at Mick. "He seems to be very interested in meeting with you, Mick. Otherwise I can't explain it. In addition, he has told us that he has new information for us…"

"He has _told_ you?" Mick asked frowning slightly and bent forward towards him "How so?"

"Tchahaha," Logan grinned broadly. "Once you have a genius like me at your side, nothing is impossible…"

"Meaning?" Mick probed slightly impatient.

"He got a hint through the stick and we now communicate with each other through _my_ world…"

"_Your_ world?"

Mick noticed Beth's eyebrows fly upwards. "He plays _World of Warcraft_?" she asked incredulously.

"He does now," Seth grinned.

"Talbot has indeed an alert mind - you have to give him this due," Logan added appreciatively. "And his code words are really smart and can be wonderfully embedded into the game…"

"Yes, quite wonderful," Josef interrupted now impatiently. "And what kind of information does he have for us now?"

"He doesn't want to say. At least not before…" Logan's eyes went back to Mick.

"He has always been pretty stubborn," Mick stated and leaned back. It was probably about time to make friends with the idea of meeting with the DA soon - even if it was going to be very stressful and certainly unsafe for all of them. Mick's eyes went to Josef and his expression said the same thing. They would have to think about this meeting soon.

"We'll take care of this after the meeting," Josef said for all. He paused a moment and then looked at Mick in such a strange way that he automatically furrowed his brows.

"There's something else that we absolutely need to talk about now, Mick," Josef added, by his standards very timidly and Mick's stomach made a small twist. That didn't sound good…

Josef took a deep breath. "Coraline is looking for you…"

Mick froze for a moment, having to take in the meaning of these words while the immense pressure in his stomach grew steadily. "How… how do you know?"

"I talked to someone she gave orders to, to find you," Josef explained and his gaze now wandered over to Beth who just let out the air that she had been holding with this news.

Mick looked down, trying to arrange his thoughts, to explain to himself what this could be about. "She probably just wants to know what happened to me…" he tried to convince himself and the others whose gazes told him immediately that his explanation was miles away from theirs.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that…" his friend replied with that know-it-all manner Mick really hated. There it was, the anger that crept up inside him.

"Coraline may have her dark sides and sometimes doesn't have her wits about her," he said very clearly, "but she would never cooperate with such an organization!"

"Everyone makes mistakes…" Josef replied still far too big brother-like. "And Coraline's life story is full of them…"

Mick didn't know exactly why this upset him so much, but he couldn't remain sitting, stood up and walked away a few steps from Josef. "You don't know her as well as I…"

Josef in fact dared to utter a small laugh. "You must be kidding!"

"I lived with her over several years, Josef! You can hardly claim this as well! And she also had her moments when she opened herself up to me, in which she told me things that nobody else knows! She would _never_ deliver herself to such an organization! _Never_! At least not voluntary!"

"Okay - okay!" Josef raised his hand defensively. "Well, let's assume that she doesn't have anything to do with the Legion which I don't believe - but let's just assume this… She's definitely looking for you and that's a fact. So what are you going to do about that?"

Mick took a deep breath, lowered his eyes again and tried to collect himself, reached for the cool hand of the vampire in his heart and let his peace and calmness flow into his body with each steady breath. The beating of his heart slowed down and the pressure in his stomach dissolved.

"I'll talk with her and listen to what she has to say," he gave back calmly and raised his eyes again, just in time to see the effect his words had on Beth. She had grown considerably paler and seemed to struggle internally with a lot of feelings. 'Agitated' was probably the right word to describe the play of emotions in her eyes. Yet the discomfort inside him grew again… why did everything always have to be so complicated?

"If you say so…" Josef returned in a tone that told him clearly how much he disliked the idea. He had certainly made other plans long time ago, which he had kept to himself and would present them to the table when he felt he could enforce them. However, it was already one step forward that his friend had even told him this at all, no longer thinking he needed to spare him with such news. That was the only reason Mick said nothing else and looked back at Beth who immediately turned her head away from him, preferring to look at the expensive carpet beneath her feet. She was angry, he could feel that even without looking into her eyes, and she had every right to be. Coraline was a red flag for her. Her traumatic experiences from her childhood were too closely linked with this woman's face and now that they were indeed together and trying to develop a real relationship despite the adverse circumstances, it was probably even harder for her to endure when he reacted so emotionally to things connected with Coraline. He urgently had to stop this habit in her presence! Even though it was difficult for him. The very mention of her name still struck a raw nerve within him - even after their fleeting reconciliation a year ago and the sacrifice Coraline had made for him.

The ringing of a mobile phone ripped Mick out of his thoughts. Josef flinched a little scared but then quickly reached inside the inside pocket of his jacket and brought the mobile phone to his ear.

"Yeah," he answered a little unfriendly but then made a rather puzzled face, when, for Mick clearly audible, a woman's voice was heard at the other end of the line. Simone.

Almost at the same time there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get the door," Seth said immediately, for whom the tension between Beth and Mick was probably too much, and walked to the door, while Mick still stood around undecided not knowing exactly how he should approach Beth. Beth, who still couldn't look at him, had stopped viewing her environment and stared at her hands instead.

"What do you mean you'll be in Omaha by tomorrow afternoon?" Josef exclaimed a bit indignantly and Mick looked at him in amazement. "You should drive to Alejandro's!"

Seth came back from the door now in the company of Thomas who greeted them all with a benevolent nod.

"We should start leaving," he said. "Elizabeth and I think it wouldn't hurt to be a little earlier there than the others. And we still have a long way to drive …"

"The meeting isn't here?" Mick probed surprised while his gaze followed Josef who had long since stood up and now walked around the room like he always did when something upset him.

"No, we'll only meet here with our closer confidants," Thomas said somewhat absently because his eyes now followed Josef's path through the room as well.

"I don't care, Simone," they could hear him growl now and Mick felt almost tempted to switch on his vampire hearing to find out what the young lawyer had to say to his best friend. It was good that there was someone in his friend's life again who caused him become so emotional so quickly.

"What? You…" Josef was at a loss for words for a moment. "No way!"

He stopped short, took the phone from his ear, stared at it in disbelief and shook his head. Then he turned to Mick stunned. "She hung up," was the only thing he brought out stunned and Mick had to struggle not to grin.

"She said she'll be here by tomorrow and hung up!" Josef looked as if he couldn't believe it himself.

"Then call her back," Mick suggested easily, although he knew that Josef was too proud to do that. He was used to people running after _him_ and not the other way around.

"I'd rather stake myself," Josef growled bad-tempered and put his phone back in the inside pocket of his jacket with such force that a fine rasping noise was heard. He shook his head again. "I tell you what… not even wars or environmental disasters will exterminate us in the end. The emancipation, _this_ will ultimately have our heads. You'll see! They'll overrun, emasculate and eradicate us and will seize world domination!"

Beth uttered an indignant sound, but said nothing and left it at only giving Josef an angry glance. Basically, she knew, just as well as Mick that it was just Josef Kostan's way of dealing with problems that seemed to be beyond him. And women who knew what they wanted clearly belonged to this type of problem - not just for Josef. Mick's heart immediately began to stumble at this thought again. He knew that there would still be turbulent days ahead.


	14. Distrust

_I'm back from Poland again and have a new chapter in my pocket. Here it is and I want to thank Jo again for beta reading this really long chapter! Great work! Thanks also to my dear review-writers who always raise my spirits each time I can read a few sentences. Don't be shy! I love all of your reviews, no matter how short or long they are. Of course I love the long ones even more but I also appreciate the shorter ones. This is my only reward – so don't hold back! I'll be back at Sunday again with the next chapter. Wish you a great time until then! Best wishes, Jenna_

_Translated by: Lilith_

_Beta read by: Jo1027_

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**D****istrust**

* * *

"_To whom you wish evil you're inclined to regard as an enemy, and if someone like that gives us a rose, we believe him to give it to us not for its scent, but for its thorns." _

_Georg Moritz Ebers, (1837 - 1898) _

* * *

Sometimes it is even difficult for a vampire of my age to keep his nerves and to stay calm and relaxed. To participate in such a large gathering of vampires such as this was also a challenge for me as I was tormented by the knowledge that I was one of the people who would attract the attention of most of these vampires. This idea alone was enough to cause a queasy feeling in my stomach and to cause all the muscles of my body to tense up. But I had felt really bad only after I had become aware that we were about to take two humans to the meeting of bloodsuckers and that this held a certain risk but not only for them. This had only occurred to me because while driving to the meeting point Mick's stomach had suddenly started to rumble to such an extent that I thought for a moment we had a wild animal in the car. The others had laughed and Thomas had even stopped at a roadside diner and had permitted Mick to buy something to eat for him and Beth. I, however, had remained quite silent and thoughtful. Until now I had only been worried about Beth concerning this meeting. That Mick was currently noticeably a human and also smelled like one to every vampire and that I could hear the enticing pounding of his pulse all too clearly when I listened more closely, only crossed my mind when he again got into the car with an overjoyed smile on his face and handed one of the two hot dogs he had bought over to Beth.

Many of the invited vampires had not seen my friend yet nor were they used to the sight of a person who was both vampire and human and would certainly approach him with a mixture of skepticism and curiosity. One could almost rule out the possibility that they would overlook him and leave him alone. They _would_ approach him in one way or another before Gabriel was back with us and that didn't please me. In fact it caused this pressure in my stomach. If I was honest it even made me a little afraid because my newly acquired confidence in Mick was shaken by his last outburst. So it did not help me that Thomas and Elizabeth were at my side as we climbed out of the cars and along with the others headed for the flat factory building where the assembly would take place. I doubted that the two of them would be able to get Mick back under control if he lost his head again. And Beth... perhaps her presence made the whole thing even worse. Mick's previous concerns about his behavior in her vicinity had not been unfounded, as the events in Mexico had shown. Hopefully, Gabriel and Mick really knew what they were doing here.

The vampires had taken great care this time to protect themselves from possible attacks by the Legion. I could discover in my wide panoramic view over the area several hidden and heavily armed guards, cameras and motion sensors that a human eye would detect only with great effort. I also assumed that there was probably satellite surveillance for the airspace. None of the vampires who had survived the inferno in Mexico would be willing to take the chance of that happening again.

I looked searchingly over to Mick and Beth. Beth had just pushed the last bit of her hot dog into her mouth and looked for a moment like a little hamster after a successful foraging. Mick, who seemed to be strained with the same tension as me uttered a little laugh at the sight of her and she smiled slightly shamefacedly, with red cheeks but happily sparkling eyes.

"I wash shimply hungry," she brought out inarticulately and shrugged her shoulders helplessly causing Mick to laugh even more. His gaze became very warm and soft and one could tell that he would have loved nothing better than to kiss her right now. Cloud nine seemed to be very close again, despite the stress - time to push this cheesy, pink thing at times a little out of my field of vision!

"You're probably not alone," I added and raised my eyebrows slightly in my best friend's direction. "His hot dog was gone before his ass touched the back seat."

Mick's next laugh was a bit indignant. "That's not true!" he returned. "Not even I can eat that fast."

"You don't _eat_," I said with an amiable smile, "you literally suck the food in!" To tease Mick was indeed a good way to divert attention from my own fears.

"Well," my friend finally acknowledged defeat and now also shrugged his shoulders, "my body is in a very confused state. Chewing, sucking... you can indeed confuse it at times."

My grin became even a bit broader and Beth let out a soft, incredibly girlish laugh that bribed Mick to give her another affectionate glance. I was almost tempted to roll my eyes. Teenagers in love behaved no less sentimentally. It didn't really bother me at the moment, but there was already a small, well-known sting in my chest area and beyond it the deeper need to once again spend a little time with Mick alone, to have fun with him, to feel his affection without Beth distracting him.

We had now reached the large steel door of the factory where two security guards were standing. They immediately stepped aside willingly as Elizabeth gave them a sign. My tension reached a new climax when Thomas opened the door and we entered.

The warehouse of the factory area was apparently still used for it was well filled with containers, large wooden boxes, barrels and all other sorts of things one needed for the transport of goods. In the middle of the hall someone had set up a long table with many chairs in which some of the invited guests had already settled down. But most of the attendants were still on their feet and deep in conversations and lively discussions. With this amount of people it was hard to believe that the meeting was actually supposed to take place in half an hour.

"I can't believe it," I could hear Guillermo, who had been in the second car with Logan and Seth, mutter behind me. "Why did they arrive so early?"

"That shows clearly how much we trust each other," I added sarcastically. "What a sworn community! Well, that makes me feel warm all over!"

Elizabeth, who walked ahead of me, cast a warning glance at me over her shoulder. For her sake I spared further comments regarding our vampire community and instead gave Mick, who had become noticeably more nervous, an encouraging smile. It didn't surprise me though. Even though most of those present acted as if their conversations were much more interesting than our arrival their eyes roamed treacherously again and again to my best friend, suspicious, curious, in some cases, even aggressive. The smell of humans could hardly stay hidden to a vampire in such an environment.

There were some vampires present I knew already, including, unfortunately, Lance and a few other members of his 'noble' family who met us with the deepest contempt in their eyes. But there were also others I had only seen occasionally or never before. They could barely conceal how great their need was to approach Mick, to come closer in order to inspect him, but none of them dared to make a move toward us.

A strong, slightly smaller man now turned to us, immediately lifted his arms and beamed at me with overstated happiness. "Giuseppe, my friend," he laughed as he quickly came up to me and enclosed me, stiff as I was, immediately in his arms with a powerful patting on the back. "It's great that you have made it in time!" His eyes turned to Mick although he spoke with me, not noticing that his rude treatment of me again forced me to straighten my jacket.

"Will you now introduce me in a proper way to your friend," he grinned. "The last time we met, we had no real time for that."

I nodded and tried at least for a halfway warm smile. "Tony, this is my best friend Mick St. John in the company of our lovely Miss Turner whom you already know. Mick, that's Anthony Gambino, one of the sliest vampires and toughest business partners I've ever met in my long life." I ran a hand over my neck because I felt a strange tingling there and rubbed a few times over the sensitive skin.

Mick took the hand offered by Tony and smiled although the sound of the name immediately created this thoughtful furrow between his brows. "Gambino?" he repeated and it occurred to me that this name would indeed tell him something for he had grown up at the time of the _War of Castellammare_ and certainly in the 50's had followed the news about the Mafia problems in the States.

"Like... Carlo Gambino?" he added, interested. His nervousness had settled. Even his heart rate had an acceptable rhythm now. Amazing.

Tony grinned and his eyes sparkled with amusement. "My cousin," he admitted, and now Beth also raised her brows in surprise.

"Carlo Gambino… wasn't the biography of that man the template for Coppola's '_The Godfather_'?"

Tony raised his hands, shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't anything to do with that," he said in the most innocent tone. "I've nothing more to do with this whole family."

I doubtfully raised an eyebrow and a little smile appeared on Tony's lips. He added nothing more although one could tell my two friends didn't believe a word.

"Have we already reached the introduction of participants," a snotty voice with a distinct French accent mingled in our conversation as one of Lance's 'relatives' came up to us. His light brown eyes roamed with barely disguised disgust over Mick's shape and the haggard man's thin lips twisted into a false smile. Once again, I realized that arrogance didn't suit everybody. It made some people even uglier than they really were.

"Étienne de la Morelle," he introduced himself coolly and offered Mick his hand, which my friend took only very reluctantly.

"Mick St. John," he said quietly while my stomach made a small twist because I noticed that the other vampires no longer pretended to talk, but used Étienne's courage to step closer themselves with great interest.

"Mick?" the genteel nobleman repeated with arrogantly raised eyebrows and out of his mouth the name sounded almost like an insult. "A short form of Michael?"

My friend surprised me with his modest nod for I was accustomed to hearing him say the sentence, "Just Mick". The fact that he adhered to his birth name and so admitted the proximity to his human past and especially to his father was new.

His words were followed by a further comment from his opponent. "It's hard to believe that there's still a vampire inside you," Etienne smiled coolly. "You smell like a human, you sound like a human," his eyes went to Beth with a disapproving frown, "you waste your time with humans," his gaze scanned the parts of her body where a Freshie usually had these treacherous dot-shaped scars, surprisingly, finding none of them there, "without feeding on them. One might think you were only pretending to be one of us."

He could not stop himself from uttering a slightly scornful laugh, but it remained stuck in his throat as Mick's eyes became almost white within a few seconds. He showed his sharp fangs with a short smile then transformed back almost faster into a human. Mick's smell and heartbeat had not changed one bit and even I stood there for a moment with an open mouth.

"There're really no flies on you," Mick interrupted the suddenly arisen unbelieving silence around him and smiled at Étienne provocatively, as his little show had just now proved exactly the opposite.

Étienne's chest expanded as he took a deep, uncontrolled breath in order to collect himself again. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"The question is then probably only if you prefer to be a _human_ or a _vampire_ with special abilities," another cool and for me unpleasant voice said and now Lance had to step so close that I could not help looking in his black eye. The man urgently needed a little styling and image consulting!

"That's really not relevant!" Guillermo complained and glared angrily at the old vampire.

"Oh, I think it is," he replied smiling. "It would show to whom he feels more connected."

"Since when are we on a crusade against the entire human race, Lance?" I smiled at him kindly. "Seems that someone didn't pay attention…"

How beautifully his dead eyes could light up. Never let it be said that I could not touch other people internally.

"And since when do _you_ sympathize with the humans, Josef?" he asked back equally lovably. "Have you gone soft in your old age?"

"Oh!" I clasped my heart and put on wonderfully exaggerated puppy dog eyes. "I'm touched! Are you worried about_ me_?"

Of course, Lance did not respond to this, trying instead to smile artificially.

"Josef's right!" It was Elizabeth, who probably had no desire to stand silently by and to endure any more of Lance's insults. She stepped firmly between us and glared at him angrily. "We don't wage war against all humans, only against the Legion! And because of that we can use _any_ help that is offered to us, whether it comes from other humans or vampires!"

Lance made a disgusted face. Apparently he had found a new victim for his scorn and contempt. "God, Elizabeth, can't you ever stay objective? This morbid cohesion of Sire and Fledgling above all reason is really pathetic! We're out of the age in which we celebrate this connection to such a degree!"

Here was the anger that I had really wanted to hold back, but it rose to a boiling point rather quickly due to this crude violation of vampire etiquette. In our society one remained guarded over who was whose Sire and what kind of relationship was between the older vampires. This diminished the risk that others could take advantage of this close connection for their own malicious purposes and prevented anyone from being vulnerable and susceptible to blackmail. The fact that Lance had laid open Elizabeth's and my relationship in front of everyone was an outrage that actually required a direct response, although I knew that not one of us could afford to give in to his rage and start an open fight. Such an act would break the whole assembly and further fuel the discord and distrust among the vampires. And Lance also knew that and was giving us both, the inwardly seething Elizabeth and me, a contented smile. Only Malik's stern voice could sweep this joyful smile off his face.

"I suggest we all sit down together now and try to increase our discussion to a level that's worthy of such a meeting," he said in the purest English as he pointed with a decisive gesture in the direction of the table. His anger about the hostile atmosphere between us was also written clearly on his face and none of the other vampires really wanted to pick a fight with him. His words put the limbs of all present in motion and I used the distraction to breathe in deeply and slowly to grab my anger and stuff it back into the darkest corner of my mind where it had crawled out from. I felt Mick and Beth look at me and almost had the feeling as if I had one person with two heads but the same thoughts in front of me.

"He will be sorry for that," Elizabeth whispered to me softly before she strutted over to the table with this stunning smile on her lips behind which she could hide any emotion.

Mick stepped closer to me. "_She_'s your Sire?" he whispered incredulously. "Elizabeth Bathory? What is with this story about…"

"Mick," I choked him off and made even Beth close her mouth before a word had slipped from her lips at all. "_Now_ is really not the right time to discuss this." With that I just pushed past them and headed for the table to settle on the first available chair. This could become quite a beautiful night still! Beth and Mick bombarding me with questions I did not want to answer. There was hardly anything I was less keen on.

To distract myself from this mental picture I looked over to Logan who had walked along with Thomas toward the head of the table to prepare everything for his presentation immediately after our arrival. 'Everything' meant a laptop with a projector he had simply insisted on and several notes he desperately clung to now, able to suppress the tremor of his hands only with difficulty. Time and again his eyes darted across the many alien faces and he did not seem to perceive how uninteresting he was to everyone else. Most vampires were still eyeing up Mick and Beth who had settled next to me and apparently still had problems accepting that the two belonged to the resistance movement of the vampires. Malik seemed to have noticed this as well for he cleared his throat noisily and made sure that the others looked at him again.

"Before we start with the actual meeting, we should perhaps clarify a few important questions," he said gravely. "A few, not all!"

He looked at Mick who was now sitting beside me with a calmness even I could not afford and that really beat me. How had he managed to get rid of his initial nervousness and tension in spite of the stress?

"The most important will be the following," Malik continued. "What exactly happened to Mick St. John? What is he now?"

I could see some other vampires nod but most of them looked intently at my friend.

"A hybrid," echoed a voice from the door and only now I noticed that another vampire had entered the hall. Tall, dark-haired, with a stern face and goatee. August. I clenched my teeth firmly and quickly turned my gaze away from him. His betrayal of me still ate at my nerves though he was probably fairly loyal to Gabriel and continued to be on our side.

"One half human, one half vampire," he explained further and I could hear him coming rapidly closer. "I would have never thought that before, but it's indeed possible."

Loud, incredulous murmurs arose at the table and I asked myself inwardly why this was happening. At least a major number of the ones who were present had heard those words before out of my mouth. Vampires were sometimes such busybodies!

"But how... how can that be?" an Asian-looking man asked. He was one of the few who was not well informed about all these things.

"The answer to that would go beyond our current time frame, John," Thomas explained softly while August settled at one of the few remaining places at the table. "This is very, very complicated. The most important thing is that Mick is well so far, that he can live with his new state and has regained control over his body. He's no danger to any one of us."

"You mean to tell us that the beast inside him which we have experienced in Mexico a few weeks ago has disappeared completely?" Lance asked with this mild smile that let his doubts shine through only too clearly. Too bad that my legs were not long enough to kick him directly between his. He was simply too far away!

"I'm sorry I scared you _so_ much, Lance, but I'm no more a beast than you are," Mick raised his voice now and gave him such a look of pity that I had to hold my hand inconspicuously in front of my mouth not to laugh out loud.

"At least I've never wiped out an entire village with over one hundred people in one night," my friend went on calmly and Lance features derailed. He sucked air into his nose loudly and stared at my friend with large, unbelieving eyes.

"Or cut open the bellies of some humans to warm my feet in their guts." His eyes were now on Etienne who forgot for a few seconds to breathe. I soon knew who had given this personal information to Mick probably in order to silence the vampires who were hostile to him as quickly as possible. A really smart move. Atrocities against vulnerable ones were in our community not regarded particularly well and the most insanely sadistic vampires carved out a miserable existence in solitude and loneliness, which amounted to banishment.

"What exactly has the Legion done to you?" unfortunately the Asian asked after a long moment of silence. I thought by now I recognized John Wu, one of the most influential vampires in Asia and a member of the _Grand Council_.

Now, a light flickering was to be seen in Mick's eyes and I prayed inwardly that it would remain that way and not much more emotion would be added to it. Currently, the other vampires were so wonderfully impressed.

"Even that would go beyond the scope of this meeting," he evaded the question skillfully.

"Is the Legion still after you?" The next awkward question came this time from Patricia who commanded the squad of the Cleaners. "I have heard something about that."

"It would be stupid if they did _not_ do it," Thomas said instead of my friend. "But that's not the reason why they hunt us all if that's what you want to know. I know that there is this rumor, but it's not true. Most of you should actually remember that the first list appeared before Mick's abduction and already at this early stage they had started with the first attacks on vampires. It was rather the splitting of the Legion and other incidents that led them to declare war on us and now act more radically toward us than they have in a long time."

"Other incidents of what kind?" John Wu asked with a thoughtful frown.

"Certain activities of some vampires led them to believe we were preparing for a war against the Legion and would try to exterminate them for once and for all."

"Do you mean that there's a traitor in our own ranks who's to blame for the Legion attacking us again?" Étienne asked with a sharp voice and leaned slightly forward to draw the attention of all the others.

"We suspect it at least," said Elizabeth calmer than she actually was inside. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"I understand." Étienne nodded sarcastically. "So the old Luis-story has to pay again for explaining the sick, power-hungry behavior of these people. Humans are always _so_ innocent!"

"No one claimed that Etienne," Thomas said unusually vigorously. "Of course, something within the Legion has changed! Of course, there are a lot of fanatical, sick people who currently appear to be running amok, but with the information we have collected in recent months and weeks, we cannot pretend that we're free of any guilt. Our community has changed as well, has drifted apart and has built up walls, which shouldn't be there, are _not supposed_ to be there! And we now know with certainty that there's a small group that is dedicated to Luis' old ideals, who are of the opinion that the role of our species is to preside over this world and to suppress the human kind!"

"This is still better than to kiss these feeble creature's feet and be restricted by them, to let them ride us," Étienne growled and in doing so he did not look at Thomas but at Beth and the hatred in his eyes was now shown so clearly that I was tempted to jump up, grab him by the collar and throw him across the hall. Staking was also not a bad idea and then burning him... or beheading him.

"A vampire is not created for degenerating to a lapdog for a human!"

There he was indeed right. And unfortunately many of the other vampires also agreed with him for the faint murmur that followed his words was more of a consenting nature.

"It depends on the vampire," I intervened with a friendly smile and quickly eyed him up. "_You_ would indeed make a very cute lapdog with a glitter collar and a matching leash."

Étienne's eyes flashed brightly and he in fact dared to bare his teeth and hiss at me.

"See, he can still bark!" I stated now more than pleased and turned to Beth, who looked at me with wide, disbelieving eyes and did not seem to share my enthusiasm. "Cute, isn't he?"

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Étienne jumped up and I tensed my body, reckoning any moment an attack would come, but it did not get that far. Lance grabbed his friend and pulled him back down on his chair giving me a very angry glance.

"I'd rather chop off my arms than work with humans!" Étienne clamored clearly fighting against Lance's firm grip, but my smile became even gentler and I only leaned back in my chair with feigned calmness. But Guillermo could not hold back his anger as well as I could. These words caused him to boil over and he jumped up furiously.

"You're talking here of the living beings that keep you alive, Étienne!"

"They're my food, that's true," he snapped back angrily. "But nothing more than that! They're weak in body and spirit! You cannot trust them! How often did they hunt us down, torture and kill us! They don't want to make peace with us! And I don't understand how you can work with them! They will betray us, once the time has come! They will always stick with their own kind!"

"Not the humans who are on our side in this fight," growled Guillermo. "Do you know at all how many of our human friends have donated blood in order to enable us to bridge the time of the war with their own blood? Have you even realized how often this woman…," he pointed to Beth, "… risked her life to help us? So much selflessness I could not find with any vampire at this table… except for Mick."

"She didn't do it for us but for him!" Étienne made a face as if he wanted to spit up immediately in front of Beth and I gritted my teeth again but now so firmly that a slight crunch was heard. I had to avert my gaze from that face so that I would not smash it in the next second. My eyes got stuck on Mick's hands on the table as he clenched them into fists with such force that his knuckles turned white under the skin. As calm as he seemed to be from the outside, inside he no longer was. Probably this tense energetic tingling near me that spread so intensively to my own body came not only from Elizabeth but also from him.

"Basically she only hopes that he becomes a whole human again at some point and then you will wonder how quickly the two change sides!"

I could hear Mick draw a deep breath through his nose and his eyes began to sparkle more aggressively, became brighter and more dangerous than before. "You call us traitors?" he asked softly, and the tension of his body was now also becoming visible to the outside. However, I was probably the only one who noticed that under the table Beth laid a hand on his thigh to calm him and make sure that he remained sitting at least.

A provocative smile crossed Étienne's face. "Not yet."

I expected that Mick would transform, leap over the table and wring Étienne's scrawny neck, because I myself longed so much to do this that I could hardly contain myself. But that did not happen. Instead, Mick suddenly froze and closed his eyes briefly until a small, knowing smile moved on his lips. And then it began.

It crackled in the atmosphere, the tingling on my neck grew stronger, and Étienne's false smile croaked instantly. Slowly he turned his face to the door and silence sank down on the great hall. We could all feel it now, this concentrated energy, this force, this crackling in the air that was approaching us at breakneck speed. Seconds later the door to the hall flew open and _He _stormed in, tall, dark, with glowing eyes and a long flowing coat. He moved so quickly that my own movements seemed unbelievably delayed to me and my mind was not capable of setting the images my eyes perceived into thoughts in time. I registered just one sweeping motion as he reached the long table, then something heavy and round flew through the air and landed with a dull whang right in the middle of the table. Horrified gasps and screams followed this action. Some of the others even jumped up so frantically that their chairs went crashing to the floor. I only raised an eyebrow, tilted my head a little and looked with confusion into the dead eyes of the vampire who had disrupted our meeting so 'head over heels' and now came to rest on the table. I was no less shocked than the others but I still had, surprisingly, enough control over my body to not show it outwardly.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Étienne?" Gabriel's deep rumbling voice echoed through the room and his white-red eyes bored into the addressee's who all of a sudden didn't look so arrogantly hostile but had turned to a pillar of salt out of fear, his eyes open wide and directed at the disembodied head. He had been one of the few who had leapt from their seats and now backed away even further, with a pale face and the fear of death in his eyes.

"This… this is a misunderstanding, mon Maître," he stammered. He didn't get any further, however. A shadow flew past me taking the direct route across the table; then something silvery whirled through the air. There was an ugly, dull chopping sound and Étienne slumped down as headless as his disembodied friend. It rumbled shortly as his limp body hit the floor along with his detached skull. Gabriel's broad shoulders rose and fell under the deep breath he took before he jumped down from the table with the lissomness of a feline predator and then turned back to all of us, now standing at the other end of the table and turning his back to Logan who had shrunk back to the wall in fright.

It had again become quiet in the hall, so quiet that you could hear the different, incredibly fast heart sounds of all those present all too clearly, at least if you were a vampire. I looked to the side and noticed that Beth had become white as chalk, was clutching her hands on Mick's arm and trembling slightly. She watched with alarm as Gabriel transformed back, calmly placed his samurai sword only slightly wet with blood before him on the table and then nodded to someone.

That someone was Malik I noticed when he rose, grabbed the head which still lay before me on the table by the hair and took it out of sight. It only left behind a dark red mark and a few blood spatters which had scattered on the table in a star pattern. Almost a work of art.

Gabriel had put on a cool smile, took a seat on one of the chairs at the head of the table, interlaced his fingers and let his penetrating gaze slide across the many frightened faces which had turned toward him. The cold and danger which he radiated even began to intimidate me a bit. His face was a mask, expressionless, as if there was nothing in this world that could shake this vampire.

"I think today's meeting is now officially opened," he said loudly and clearly and it seemed his attitude, the dark, menacing look in his bright eyes and that power emanating from every single pore of his body left no room for questioning his authority in the slightest. Here before us was not just some old vampire. In front of us was sitting the most powerful among us, the legend, the mystery, the Untouchable. And everyone had to submit to his will. Without exception, everyone!

"Is there anyone here who also has his doubts about what we are doing here and how we do it?" Gabriel asked with this threat lurking in his voice after a few seconds of silence that had seemed endless to us and my respect and admiration for the ancient vampire grew from second to second. It was one thing to fight his enemies, quite another to have the power to act against his own family with such vehemence and intransigence.

"And with that I won't talk about that ridiculous little conspiracy behind my back that Clement, Étienne and Emile instigated. Someone is already dealing with that."

He paused to give the others the opportunity to say something but no one dared to even move.

"Something you'd better understand," Gabriel went on after a few breaths. "We're in a state of war and thus in an exceptional situation that can only be mastered by the vampires who _I_ consider to be capable of it. Whoever is not satisfied with my choices is allowed to go without harm coming to him. But he should be aware that there's no turning back. From that very moment he's on his own and won't get any help during the rest of this war, no matter how much trouble the Legion brings him! Should he try to act on his own against the Legion, I will come and judge him. Should he try to transact business with the Legion to save his own skin, I will come and judge him. Should he try to take revenge on my wards or only bring them trouble in any way…," his eyes remained remarkably long on Beth and when he turned again to the others his eyes had once again become frighteningly bright, "… I will come and judge him!"

The last two words were once again spoken so loudly that his voice echoed menacingly in the hall, as though the world around us wanted to emphasize once more the finality of his words. Only a few minutes before it had become quite clear to every one of us what it meant to be 'judged' by Gabriel.

"I demand absolute loyalty from all those who choose to stay with us," he continued. "Obedience, trust, exact cooperation. No one will do anything without having previously discussed it with me or my staff! No one will approach the humans who work with us in any unpleasant way! They have chosen to help us and we can use_ all_ help offered to us! We work together as _one_ coherent team so that the Legion will not succeed this time in making us work against each other. I want you to forget where you come from and what conflicts were previously between you. From today on we all form a unit no matter from which country we come or what kind we are!"

Again this ominous pause in which no one dared to stir even a little.

"I see that we agree," Gabriel smiled and leaned back in his chair. He turned slightly and looked over to Logan who was still stuck to the wall as if he was held there by an invisible magnet and had not yet overcome his shock.

"If I remember correctly, you are to present the information about what we've been able to find out about the Legion and its activities," the old vampire said softly, surprising me again with his overly current knowledge. "And how our situation has developed in general."

Logan, who was intimidated, nodded reluctantly, detached from the wall and went back to the table which induced the other vampires who had been frozen in their state of shock to again take their seats.

The young man had to swallow hard to even get out a tone. "Shall…" He noticed just in time that his voice sounded a little too high and too delicate and cleared his throat quickly. "Shall I do this now?" he asked finally, and to my relief a whole lot deeper and harder. Everyone knew that he belonged to my team and any embarrassment for him automatically fell back on me. I really did not want to have to throw him from the roof of the factory later. Everything else here was already difficult enough.

"Sure," Gabriel smiled and confirmed his statement in addition with a requesting nod.

Another deep breath and Logan stepped up to the table and switched on his laptop. Gabriel used the time while the device booted to once again glance at each one of us at the table. Besides Malik and me Mick was the only one who dared to hold his gaze, but that didn't surprise me much. Much more interesting was the fact that the cold in Gabriel's eyes sank a few degrees during the eye contact with Mick and Beth and I noticed a small twitch around the corners of the old vampire's mouth. But he controlled it immediately as Logan cleared his throat again and projected the first picture onto the white wall behind him. An overview of the U.S. states.

"So… uh…" Our little freak swallowed and then turned to face the wall. "Well, this is a map of the States."

I had a really hard time avoiding an exasperated groan and a roll of my eyes. Instead, I firmly pressed my lips together, arms entwined across my chest and breathed deeply through my nose. Mick looked at me from the side and could not hide his little smirk. It was quite clear to me that Logan wasn't the reason for his 'fun', and somehow it vexed me a little.

"Kurt and I have tried to mark all actions of the Legion in the past few weeks with different colors." Logan typed something on with the keyboard and some red, yellow and blue dots appeared on the map. "The blue dots are actions against their own people, the yellow ones are for vampires who have disappeared and the red ones show battles with casualties on both sides."

Fortunately, there were not as many as I remembered and because of that there was not that much turmoil at the table. The other vampires seemed more interested than scared and that was a good sign. Perhaps they were also still too afraid of Gabriel to also be afraid of the Legion.

"As you can see, the actions have generally subsided somewhat," said Logan, now much more confident, thus saving himself only just from his free-flight from the roof of the factory. "What this means... we can only speculate about."

"They are preparing for something," Lance dared to raise his voice as the first one of the other vampires. The man really loved to hear himself talk, for his knowledge was not_ that_ amazing or so worth mentioning. Certainly the same thought had hit a lot of other vampires here without them feeling the need to verbalize it instantly.

"Something bigger," he added even _more_ 'imaginative' and pompously looked around our illustrious gathering. "I know this behavior only too well."

Jesus! What a warrior!

"The Legion has definitely not given up. They are only collecting information and waiting for an opportunity to strike again."

"Yes, they are," Logan surprisingly took the reins of the conversation back and a satisfied grin pushed itself onto my lips. That was almost worth a place in one of the cars.

"And I also know what opportunity they are waiting for." His fingers were flying over the keyboard and on the wall behind him shown a warrant of an unknown woman. "Some of the files that we received were coded although not hard to crack, but more important is that I have been looking for this special code on the net and found some sites and information with that code. I am sure that there are covered searches by the Legion and if I'm right they are looking for other people who at first glance seem to be totally uninvolved and normal."

"At first glance?" John Wu repeated and his eyebrows contracted thoughtfully. "What does that mean?"

"I cannot say for sure, but it's very likely that these people also belong to the Legion and are to be killed. Or at least they play a significant role in this war and are urgently needed by them, whatever…"

"What's about this woman?" Patricia asked interested.

Logan glanced behind him and then uttered a small sigh. "She's dead, so I think that she definitely belonged to the Legion."

"In other words, they have still not reconciled and continue to fight each other," concluded another vampire who was unknown to me.

Baby Ringlet nodded hesitantly, but stopped when Lance let out a chuckle.

"I've heard something very different," he said with an arrogance that was almost enviable.

"And that would be?" Mick asked him straightaway, smiling kindly.

Lance eyes were glued to his face with clear distaste as his lips curled up into a fake smile. "Well, there are rumors which say that the old leadership of the Legion has been activated and wants to try to bring unity and order into the organization again to then be able to strike a devastating blow at us!"

It was palpable again, that slight uneasiness and fear that had turned us against each other at the beginning. Vampires were not only busybodies but also in many situations quite cowardly and thus not so dissimilar to the humans despised by so many vampires.

"You know how it is with rumors," Gabriel chimed in immediately. "People blow the things up into such enormities that even some fairy tales fade away in comparison to them."

Lance turned to the old vampire slightly irked. "You mean we should not take it seriously?" he asked sharply.

"I mean, it should not make us afraid," Gabriel replied calmly. "We have resources to counter these possible efforts."

"Such as?"

I frowned. Lance behaved too boldly in my opinion and I was surprised that the old vampire put up with it. It was worth at least a reduction in the number of Lance's fingers.

But Gabriel seemed to see this differently because he actually tried to answer that impertinent question. "Distrust, betrayal, the dispersion of rumors. Nothing pushes people further apart than the feeling of being betrayed by people from their own ranks. Chain reactions resulting from mistrust are the most effective weapon against such an organization as the Legion. They are like dangerous viruses that can destroy one giant organism step by step."

"But they know this themselves," Lance objected almost defiantly and I was on the verge of blinking, confused… or better yet vociferously demanding the amputation of his arm. "They will fight it."

"But it's a lost battle, my friend," Gabriel replied relaxed. "The Legion has never relied on camaraderie, trust and loyalty, but always on pressure, fear and fanaticism. That worked as long as all have been fighting for the same goals and beliefs. But that has now changed. There are two different, equally strong parties fighting for the upper hand and that means that in this situation one or two old vets cannot achieve anything. They are fighting a losing battle if they have not already taken sides and it only seems to everyone else as if they want to settle their differences."

His words confirmed my own thinking as to why Gabriel had sent us a few weeks ago via the Internet the order to make a part of our search for people from the Legion public, to show some of Ritchcroft's files on the Internet. He must have been informed very early about what was happening within the Legion and once again I wondered how he got such secret information so quickly and why he still did not let us in on some things that were happening around him.

"That means one of our tasks will be to continue to fuel confusion and dissension in the ranks of the Legion?" this time Patricia asked and Gabriel nodded promptly.

"Among other things."

"We are also looking for the people of the Legion we have some information about," added Logan. "And we'll also find the Doc somehow."

"The… _Doc_?" repeated Lance with a mocking smile. "Are you talking about this professor? Frank Peterson? But he's where he belongs."

"You think so?" Mick probed calmly and his smile had reached a degree of falsehood that could equal quite well the one of his enemy.

"Don't you?" came the counter question and again my eyes wandered to Gabriel, confused that he approved of this little confrontation. Not only that, but he even gave the impression that he was waiting curiously to see what happened. And wasn't there even a small smile hiding in the corner of his mouth?

"Does that mean it's in _your_ interest that the Legion has again got the man in its hands who were the only one who was able to bring forth their whole research?" Mick asked hypocritically and Lance smile became suddenly clearly cramped. "Or that they might be able to force him by torture to betray everything he could have found out about us?"

"They certainly don't need torture for that," Lance gave back contemptuously. "This man has without fail and with pleasure immediately blurted out everything he knows!"

Now I too could not stay out of this any longer. "I understand," I smiled and folded my hands in front of me on the table. "Everyone's a traitor - except mommy."

'Glowering' wasn't the right word anymore for the glance that followed my words. 'Hate-filled' was the more appropriate word.

"If Frank Peterson is a traitor he has fairly well camouflaged this," Gabriel added, before Lance or anyone else could say anything more. "He has done some things that suggest that he wanted to help Mick at least. Anyway, the fact is that this man is of inestimable value concerning the research on vampires and the cure even to us. We should definitely compare our knowledge to that of the Legion, to be able to respond if they want to use this knowledge against us. And they will. I am absolutely sure about this. So we _need_ to find Frank Peterson and free him! What we do in the end with him, we can decide later, but his liberation is high on our priority list!"

"How many points does this list have?" asked another, very dark-skinned vampire, with African-American impact that I still could not identify.

"To be precise - four," Gabriel explained. "The incitement and underpinning of the fraction within the Legion by new rumors and falsehoods, the locating of the rest of the labs and the professor, the building up of our own large, well-equipped fighting force, and what is ultimately the most important point, bringing such pressure on the Legion that it is forced at some point to contact us and sit down at the negotiating table. And we can only manage that if every single one of you tries to collect as much information as possible about the structures and the various important people in this organization. To reveal their identities is one of the most important keywords in our battle. We can only defeat these people if we know who they are and what drives their actions."

"What does this mean concretely?" a dark-haired woman, Bridget Bishop if I wasn't wrong, asked. That had been quite an interesting affair back then.

"Logan will send you all the files and images of men and women we were able to uncover so far," Thomas now explained. "If you find them, catch them, but don't kill them. One of us older vampires will deal with them and try to get any information from them that they have."

"That means we should look for these people but do nothing to them," Bridget probed frowning. "Is that all?"

"No, but concrete actions will not be announced until shortly before they start," Thomas replied. "Only then can we be sure that none of the planned actions have been revealed."

"And who develops these actions?" asked John.

"My staff and I," Gabriel responded again with a small smile.

"And who exactly is part of this senior staff?" another man with a French accent dared to ask. It did not surprise me that he sat near Lance. How many family members did he bring along for support?

"All those who were actually trying in recent weeks to push forward the resistance against the Legion and that being the case I know I can rely on them. And some delegates from other countries." Gabriel knitted his brows a bit and seemed to think. "It's good that you ask this, Francois, because even if we all work hand in hand we cannot, as Thomas has said, inform anyone about everything. That would be too risky if one of us should fall into the hands of the Legion."

"And what does that mean exactly?"

"It means that we're going to make use of a little of the system used by our enemy. Everyone here will be assigned to one of the vampires on the staff and will be supplied by him with the information he needs to take action. Everything else remains classified and will be discussed only within the staff meetings. Just as we're going to do it today."

"Does that mean some of us have to go now?"

Gabriel shook his head and smiled coolly. "No, you are _supposed_ to stay. A few of you will come with me in a moment. Malik, Elizabeth, Thomas, Grigori, John, Lance, and of course, Josef with the rest of his team." The glance at Mick and Beth was so obvious that it could escape no one and made once again clear to all the others how important the two were to him. "They will come back later and report to you as much as they are allowed to. However, we will stick strictly to one thing: Concrete actions will be announced only shortly before they start and not everyone will be involved."

His words were followed by a low murmur but no one dared to express criticism or to bare their dissatisfaction in any other way.

Gabriel looked up with a friendly smile to Logan. "Is there anything else all the others should know?"

Logan's eyebrows wandered towards each other, a sign that he was thinking hard. But only when he looked again at Gabriel's urgent eyes did realization flash through him.

"Oh, yeah!" he said a bit too enthusiastically for my taste and almost seemed to appear awkward as he typed more commands into his laptop. Immediately several pictures of guns and ammunition appeared on the wall. "This is actually very important!"

He cleared his throat a bit pompously. "August was so nice to put together a team of friendly doctors to study the new weapons and, above all, the new ammunition of our Legionnaires." He cast a courageous glance at Lance. "This team even includes some _humans_!" he added very clearly and caused a further hint of anger in Lance's eyes. Then he looked over to August. "Do you want to say anything about this?"

The doctor took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. "Yes." He lowered his gaze briefly to gather his thoughts but soon looked up again. "I don't know how much you know about these silver bullets but that they're very dangerous which I probably don't need to say. They melt in heat and not only lead to paralysis of the entire body but also with enough silver in the body without fail to the death of a vampire. Thanks to the work of my team we have been able to produce a compound that inhibits the distribution of silver in the bloodstream and makes it even possible for the body to fight it independently and wash it ultimately out of the blood."

I saw that Thomas, as if on cue, reached down and picked up a suitcase from the floor. He set it on the table before him and opened it immediately. I was not really surprised when he reached in and brought out a handful of smaller syringes that were filled with a pinkish liquid which he also spread on the table. The eyes of the others got wider and wider and again a slight anxiety build up among them. I could see in their eyes the urge to reach out for the saving meds.

"Each one of you is going to get some of those syringes and can later fetch some more if needed," Thomas explained while my eyes rested once again on Gabriel's face. The satisfied expression in his eyes confirmed what I had suspected. The whole small insertion _had_ been arranged, except for the matter of the executions, perhaps, for they had also shocked Thomas and Elizabeth.

"If you're hit by the silver bullets you must immediately inject yourself with the compound," August enlightened the others further while I was fighting to not let my appreciative smile show. The old 'carrot and stick' trick always worked even in contexts such as this.

"But don't forget to remove the bullets as quickly as possible," the doctor went on. "Too much silver may still cancel the effect of the injection."

"It would be even better, of course, if you don't get shot at all," the Vampire Eldest added with a small smile. "Wear bulletproof vests and don't always look for the direct route. Flight is a strategically valuable method and not cowardice when faced with a superior force. You're of no use to anybody dead."

At his words Thomas and Elizabeth began to issue the syringes among the attendants and I raised my eyebrows a little surprised when I noticed that they left out not only Beth but also Mick. My friend looked at me and almost imperceptibly shook his head to me to indicate that I should keep my observation to myself. A little question mark appeared on Beth's face which she quickly tried to hide.

"I don't know how long it will take the Legion to find out that we've found a defense against their ammunition," Gabriel continued, "but I'm sure that they've some other bad things that they can draw upon. Don't feel too secure! Be careful! And adhere closely to what we tell you! That's the only way most of us will be able to survive this."

That Gabriel spoke from experience he hardly needed to point out once more. Everyone here knew how old he was and how many wars with the Legion he had been through. His experience with a situation such as this was of inestimable value for each one of us and I was able to see in most faces at this table that finally they had remembered exactly that. In the near future they certainly would not attempt to go their own way and instead work together with us as we wanted them to do.

There were only three vampires who still had a pretty grim expression: Lance and two other men who were sitting very close to him also gave the impression that they fancied themselves to be something very special. They were good actors but could not fool a vampire like me. There was a minimal amount of aggressive sparkle in their eyes, a touch of contempt and rage that was not harmless. We had to remain vigilant of our allies also. Anxiety and doubt were in crisis situations easy to restore, you just had to find a suitable occasion. And Lance was a specialist at doing this.

From the moment that the 'cure' against the silver bullets had been distributed the meeting was more smooth, peaceful and more relaxed than before. Gabriel had once again proved how well he knew the vampires in our community and how skillfully he could deal with means such as pressure and tempting offers. He had shown to the others what destructive force lived within him and to make clear to them that the same force also promised protection and support if you gave enough of yourself to it, gave in to his will and cooperated with him. They all had become quite tame and were suddenly cooperative as never before and no longer questioned any syllable that came from our lips. So they accepted it without a murmur when Gabriel's chosen 'staff' withdrew for its important meeting and left them alone for a long while. And that was a good thing, because the conversation in this smaller circle was difficult enough.

There were two important points that were discussed further: the capturing of Matthew Perrington and the related new information about Jason's and Cynthia's deal with the cure. The topic 'Matthew' was treated quickly. The man was now with his family somewhere in Alejandro's custody and was providing us with all the information he possessed. After an intense conversation with Alejandro about the machinations of the Legion he had become incredibly cooperative and had indeed helped us quite a bit by giving us hints concerning some other hidden labs spread across the country. Unfortunately, two of them had been already destroyed by the Legion and two had a difficult access because they were beneath other strictly monitored buildings. Therefore, we hadn't been able to inspect them more closely. Tony was content to go on trying to get to the bottom of it for he had already been involved in the actions around Matthew.

The deal with the Cure, however, saw for greater turmoil. It was hard for some of the vampires to understand that other vampires despite our critical situation apparently did business with the enemy which could harm our community. The atmosphere quickly became charged to such an extent that I had the feeling that the others would have liked to immediately go to Jason's room and lynch him personally. I could understand it, but since I knew how important it was that this man stayed alive for now, I found it not very difficult to keep his whereabouts known only to me. A positive effect of the boiling anger of the other vampires was that several of them instantly agreed to establish teams that would look for Cynthia and Henry. We avoided mentioning Coraline's participation in this without having coordinated it previously with each other. Not only because we did not want to upset Mick further but also because she belonged to Gabriel's and Lance's family and would only cause new distrust toward the French vampires that we did not want at the moment. The other vampires were already excited enough as Gabriel presented to them the Cure and the questions that followed immediately were enough to require a high degree of sensitivity to avoid causing new conflicts. Of course, the others wanted to know where the Cure came from, who had invented it and why. These questions also interested me immensely as all my previous sources had encountered problems in finding clear answers.

Gabriel was probably one of the few who knew the history of this compound quite well, but I immediately realized that he did not share his complete knowledge with us, but only give us a reasonably satisfying insight into this small miracle packaged in cans. Nevertheless, I was surprised with some of his statements. The remedy had not been developed by Luis and his family as we had originally thought due to Coraline's false statement, but had been refined by them. A group of other, much older vampires had invented the Cure, but for lack of sustained and constant effort had not researched it any further but had just hidden it somewhere. The story of how Luis had heard about the Cure and stolen it Gabriel kept from us. Instead he approached the subject of 'treason' and its causes.

"Even though we sometimes believe ourselves to be superior beings who live beyond the norm and have their own laws and rules, our history has shown yet again that our transformation into a vampire doesn't free us from our all too human weaknesses and selfish needs," he had explained when asked how the Legion had been able to hear of the Cure. "In our heart of hearts we all remain the person our previous human lives have made us. Nothing is more difficult to change than the character structures that have developed over the course of our lives and have become so deeply ingrained in our souls. And even if we have the desire to be different, if we really have the will to change, we will again and again be tempted to fall back into old patterns of behavior, to react to certain things, to be seduced by them although we really don't want that to happen. Someone who has never been able to cope with certain pressures and betrayed other people out of fear for his own welfare will not act differently as a vampire under the same circumstances. Someone who has learned to gain an advantage for himself due to the fact that he trims his sails to the wind will not be a reliable fellow campaigner as a vampire. Betrayal has many faces and I've met them all before. What we must learn is to not let it worry us, but to fight it or in the best case use it to our own advantage."

At this point Tony had once again mingled into the conversation and said that one could make very good spies out of traitors for your own cause if you were careful and did not show the traitors up in public. It didn't surprise me that he had such ideas for he came from a 'family' which had been able to protect its own position of power successfully through such strategies over a long period of time. Only I knew immediately that Jason was no longer a suitable candidate as a spy because after Mick's actions the Legion were most likely aware that Jason had been busted. As far as Cynthia and Henry were concerned, there was certainly still a chance to apply this not so harmless strategy and I knew I was not the only one who had this idea.

The rest of the meeting we spent to distribute tasks and divide the areas of action among us. The fact that my team was entrusted with the task of continuing to search for Peterson was no surprise, but one look into Gabriel's eyes was enough for me to know that this was not all. We would certainly have another conversation in an even smaller circle about the various ideas, behind the backs of the others who at the end of the meeting gave a very contented impression, and with their new information and orders returned a little pompously to the others.

It was not long until the meeting was dissolved completely and we were able to leave the factory building, and above all, the nerve-wracking excitement of the day finally behind us.

Of course there were still many things to clarify within our own team and I understood that this could not necessarily be delayed on a long term basis but that the clarifying conversations and the corresponding necessary Smalltalk had to take place in our apartment without first having the opportunity to at least have a little break - which didn't appeal to me. Nevertheless, I made the best of it as I stood in the living room, a glass 0 negative in my hand, and tried to follow Tony's whining about betrayal and ambush within family groups. I was tired and overwrought and actually needed peace urgently, just like my currently all too human best friend who hung rather than sat between the cushions of the couch and did not even notice that his eyelids sometimes closed for too long to pass for a blink. I wondered how long Elizabeth would bear his shammed interest in their conversation. At least Beth, who sat between the two, looked so attentive that I did not need to feel ashamed for Mick's behavior. Elizabeth had at least one listener. Speaking of listener…

"… I wouldn't have done otherwise," I got the end of Tony's long sentence just in time to nod my approval.

"We currently don't use schemers," he went on immediately, but something in his eyes told me that he was not comfortable with his statement. "Although Étienne did, in fact, enjoy a high reputation in France… just like Clement."

I knitted my brows unintentionally as I tried to understand what the man was talking about and at the same not let him notice this. Unfortunately, neither of these tries worked so well.

"Clement?" Tony raised his eyebrows quizzically, searched in my eyes for a realization I was currently not capable of. "His skull was lying on the table before us…"

I nodded almost imperceptibly. "You mean his name should mean something to me," I concluded witty.

"He was one of the few 'family members' who resettled to America and represented from time to time the interests of the Europeans here…"

"At the meetings of _the Council_?" I was in fact slightly confused. I dimly remembered that there had been a Frenchman in our midst. But he actually had only sat there silently and had taken notes of the meeting rather than to take an active part in it. But the meetings had been held so infrequently that I just could not remember what this vampire had looked like or what his name had been.

"Yeah." Tony looked at me a bit critically, but then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, he never had been particularly noticeable… always rather a bit…" he searched for the right word, "… strange. I would really like to know what exactly happened there especially because of his drastic punishment."

There it was again, the discomfort in his eyes. However, in his case it referred to Clement's execution and not to the lack of information about the small conspiracy in our own ranks, which worried me much more. Unfortunately I could not do anything about this feeling, because Gabriel had once again disappeared and had stated in advance that he would probably come back to us the next day to then clear away the remaining ambiguities.

"One thing has become clear in any case," added Tony, while I noticed from the corner of my eye that Elizabeth had gotten up off the couch and approached us. "In no case would I make Gabriel an enemy."

"At least that would be not a state that lasts long," I said back with a small smile.

Tony would probably not share my sense of humor in this respect, because I already saw a little bit of indignation flashing up in his brown eyes. Vampires were always _so_ sensitive when it came to their own kind.

"Your friend is really a phenomenon," Elizabeth freed me from the slight anxiety between us by simply stepping up to us and nodded smiling towards the couch on which Mick now had indeed managed to fall asleep in a sitting position. "First he gives the impression that he possesses an energy he could uproot trees with, and now he falls asleep from one moment to the next one and just looks so human that one can hardly believe that there's a very powerful vampire inside him."

"Which anecdote did you tell?" I replied with a grin as my eyes rested on Beth, who appeared to be completely absorbed in watching her sleeping boyfriend affectionately. "Maybe it's more due to your story than to his state."

Now I looked at her again for I could not miss out on this aggressively amused twinkle in her green eyes which were so wonderfully familiar to me. "Maybe we should test in what kind of state I can get _you_," she replied with a clearly lascivious undertone which immediately caused slight goose bumps on my arms.

"Do you really still need tests for that?" I countered as disreputable as she. She just smiled and Tony tried to catch our attention with a slightly embarrassed cough.

"I... I'm going to hit the road now," he said, trying to bring his usual self-confident smile back to his face. "My plane takes off in two hours and you know… the traffic."

I nodded and let him pat my back one more time that day. Elizabeth, however, was awarded a tender kiss on the hand before Tony turned away from us to then depart from the others. Not that I wanted to feel his lips even somewhere on my body, but at least Elizabeth clothes remained where they belonged in greetings and farewells. Unless she had other plans. Images flashed in my mind's eye. Clothing torn from bodies… sweaty bodies which were intertwined… moaning and panting… brown hair falling onto my face, tickling my skin… blue eyes. I was startled. That was _not_ Elizabeth! My goodness, was I starting to unintentionally become monogamous?

I tried to hide my horror while Elizabeth looked toward Beth and then searched my eyes.

"There's still one thing that we absolutely have to clarify," she said now more quietly.

"Coraline," I tried a shot in the dark.

She nodded and waved quickly to someone behind me. When I turned, I noticed Max, who had only a few minutes ago entered the apartment, coming up to us. Until now he had only talked with Elizabeth and Thomas.

"It looks as if Dexter may help us to find her," Elizabeth explained.

"Oh! Just say he could suddenly remember that there is a way to contact her," I turned to Max and his lips lifted into a much too rarely seen smile.

"His memory is probably slowly recovering from the shock of our sudden appearance," he replied. "The only question is what kind of message we want to send her and how far Mick should be involved in the matter."

I looked over to the couch and noticed with discomfort that Beth's attention no longer rested on Mick as she watched us with a frown on her face. "I'm not sure," I had to admit, and that was the truth. On the one hand, I knew that Coraline was still a sensitive subject for him and Beth but on the other hand I was also aware that I would provoke enormous anger if I acted behind his back and he eventually found out, and he definitely would. Mick and Beth were, in relation to detection work, a really dangerous team.

Beth stood up now to approach us. But luckily she did not get far, because suddenly Thomas stepped in her way and involved her in a conversation. The man had some really incredible timing!

"We could well use him, in any case, as a decoy," said Max and Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Coraline is a sneaky beast," she said with such a strong aversion that I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "and she certainly knows that we're after her. She will be careful and if she doesn't see or feel Mick, she will quickly take flight. We need him to catch her."

I knew she was right. Coraline was an intelligent woman who had been through some bad things, things that had taught her to be careful. However, she had one big weakness… and that was Mick. Even if she would never admit it, it was simply a fact that over the years she had developed an obsession for him that made her forget all reason sometimes. It was quite possible that she would take the risk of getting caught when she saw him in person and really saw the opportunity to speak with him.

I felt compelled to nod and looked over at Beth who was approaching us in spite of her conversation with Thomas. She would likely have far more problems with our idea than even Mick and I could understand that. The idea of being involved with Coraline for a while, if only for just a few days, didn't even please _me_ and_ my_ shared past with Coraline was far less traumatic than Beth's was. However, I knew it was important and right to take this unpleasant step and not to struggle against my friends' ideas.

"Dexter should send her a message that he has new information and knows Mick's next destination," I addressed Max so quietly now that Beth certainly could not hear it. "I'll sit down with Mick tomorrow and inform him that we're going to set a trap for Coraline."

"Do you think he'll take part in it?" Max asked with mild concern in his voice. For one heartbeat I thought about this and then nodded.

"I can definitely persuade him," I added, looking over to the couch where Mick had slumped down quite a bit more. If someone didn't wake him up soon he would later be sore all over. His posture looked not quite healthy.

I heard the door of the apartment open behind me and when I turned around Guillermo came in with such a beaming smile on his face that I had the feeling that the sun would rise again. He had gone outside after a phone call and had stayed away an amazingly long time. Apparently something had happened which was this time very good news and as he walked to me first, I was probably the first one to be told.

However, the young Mexican first decided to communicate in a nonverbal way and only held one of these code cards that opened our apartment up in front of my nose. I raised my eyebrows a little bewildered.

"Another key?" I just guessed and asked myself why this was cause for such rejoicing. It could hardly be a new achievement for his code-cards-scrapbook.

Guillermo grinned broadly. "'Another' is right, but the last word you need to change."

"Another apartment?" I could hear a disbelieving voice behind me ask before I could put my own brilliant idea into words. Always these cheeky women!

Guillermo nodded enthusiastically in Beth's direction as she now appeared beside me. "The guy next door has just moved out. He actually wanted to fly tomorrow, but some of his appointments have been delayed and I asked him to call me in that case"

There they were my selfish urges and needs, crying out loudly to me 'Grab the card and run away with it!' But because firstly such action seemed to me too childish and immature, and secondly there were two other people who needed quiet more urgently than me along with a space for themselves for peace and rest I didn't do anything. One of them was standing right beside me and staring at the card in Guillermo's hand with such wide, longing eyes, as if it was the last pair of Manolo Blahniks in a special sale. Who could lift their elbow and push her out of the way at this sight?

Guillermo seemed to think so too, because his look became totally soft and sweet-tempered and the card had already moved to the young woman before I could answer his silent question with a nod.

"Guillermo, do you actually know how much I love you for this?" Beth uttered with a deeply grateful smile, which was immediately reflected in the Mexican's face. The fact that she leaned forward and pressed a kiss on his cheek caused his smile to become even brighter. He said nothing more to this, but nodded in the direction of the couch where Mick flinched and now raised his head slightly confused, trying to blink away the fatigue that still held him in its claws.

"Well, come on, get him up and get him into the apartment before he starts to please us all with his loud snoring," I whispered to Beth with a grin. "Otherwise,_ he_ will soon be the one that I won't take along to any more meetings."

She gave a little laugh, but then looked at me quizzically. "Does that mean there will be no other important discussions today?"

"Nothing I couldn't tell you and Mick tomorrow," I replied and meant my words quite seriously.

She looked at me for another moment and then inhaled deeply, finally letting go of her last remaining tension. She walked over to Mick happily holding up the card. It was amazing how much more awakened he looked all of a sudden as he received the good news and a small smile appeared on my face. Fatigue is a strong force, but there are forces that are even stronger.


	15. Dreams

_It's Sunday and as I promised I'm back with a new chapter. It's an NC-17 again. You will see why… *grins*. So loved your reviews. Thank you so much and feel hugged! And now enjoy the next chapter. I'll be back at Thursday again and hope to hear from you until then. Best wishes, Lilith_

_Translated by: Lilith_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**D****reams**

* * *

"_The most delicate vibration of the soul is the dream. It is as if a tired butterfly grazes with its wings strings of nerves."_

_Carl Ludwig Schleich (1859 - 1922)_

* * *

The corridor was dark and cool, so cool, that the heated air that flowed from the bathroom formed unique flowing figures out of the fog; moist, ever-changing beings reaching out their dissolving fingers for her, leaving behind a warm tingling on her skin.

Beth knew he was there, that the lukewarm water pattered down on his skin to chase the heat of their passionate love-making so far out of his body that he could come back to her bed again, without risking a transformation. She could smell him, feel his energy, feel herself the tension vanishing from his limbs under the gentle pressure of the water, as if she was actually with him, still connected to him in body and mind. Her need to really be that close to him again grew with every step she took towards the bathroom, with each of her again quickening breaths.

Even in the bathroom it was dark. The moon alone lit up the room, throwing its cool rays through the small window, so that she could make out his dark shape behind the foggy glass of the shower. A little smile crept onto her lips and her excitement, her need to step to him into the shower, no matter how icy the water was, was growing rapidly. He would warm her up, would set her body again into this overheated state...

She reached out a hand for the door of the shower, pushed it open and... froze. It was a woman's face she looked into - a beautiful woman with big brown eyes, alabaster skin and full red lips, twisting into a challenging smile.

"You stupid child," she brought out in a slightly bored tone. "Do you really think you can compete with me?"

Then suddenly her eyes became white and the sharp fangs of a predator hurtled towards Beth's neck.

Beth jerked awake terrified and suddenly sat bolt upright in her bed, pressing both hands to her wildly beating heart and was barely able to breathe. Like so often in recent weeks, she wasn't sure where she was and whether she had actually dreamed it, but that she was sitting in a bed and the window in this room was much larger than the one in her dream, calmed her a bit. No bathroom, no Coraline, no vampire who sought to kill her. Her eyes slid beside her, across the outline of the tall, strong man who had watched over her for a lifetime, who had protected her from the dangers of this unstable world, and her pulse became immediately slower, her breathing quieter and deeper.

Mick was lying on his side facing her, breathing deeply and evenly - so he had noticed nothing of her nightmare or the subsequent startling jolt. On one hand, she longed to throw herself immediately into his arms and be comforted by him, but on the other, she was also glad she hadn't woken him unintentionally. He was so often haunted himself by nightmares and would then be awake half the night – so there was no need to deprive him of even more of his so precious sleep.

A slight shiver went through her body and when she looked down at herself she noticed that it was not only due to the echo of her nightmare, but also the fact that she was completely naked and the fresh night air blowing freely through the open window. She slid cautiously towards the edge of the bed, careful not to pull the thin blanket that covered her legs from Mick's body and awaken him in doing so. Then she leaned forward a little, groped for the clothes that lay beside the bed, and grabbed the first piece of material that her fingers could catch. She was lucky it was a shirt. Mick's shirt, she noticed with satisfaction as she slipped into it, pleasantly closing her eyes. It smelled so wonderfully of him and somehow she had the feeling of being wrapped in his arms and not just in a piece of cloth. She wrapped her own arms around her now slightly warmer body and cast another glance at his shape bathed in the moonlight.

There was hardly a more beautiful sight than that of a peacefully sleeping Mick at her side, whom the blanket had now slipped down to his narrow hips and who was totally unaware of his nakedness and thus his masculine beauty. The hard training with Gabriel had transformed his body into one of those Greek statues, these beautiful naked athletes you never got tired of looking at, that made it hard to suppress the urge to not only let your eyes but also your fingers slide down these wonderful works of art. And in this pale moonlight, in this play of light and shadow on his so velvety appearing skin, the aesthetically appealing contours of his well defined muscles, the fine, dark hair on his chest and belly, he really did look like a young god, who only waited for some willing mortal woman to awaken him from his gentle slumber and give him her love.

There it was, the old familiar warmth between her thighs, that slight fluttering in her belly, which made itself instantly felt with such thoughts, and she could only shake her head. Slowly but surely this was not healthy anymore!

They had been so exhausted and tired when they had first entered the apartment hours ago, and yet, instead of simply resting or going to bed, they had not been able to keep their hands off each other. Mick had completely switched off his fear of physical contact with her, his punishing concerns about his existence as a hybrid and their difficult relationship, and had almost been more impatient than she had been. They had made love, passionately, longingly, extensively. And one thing had become exceedingly clear to Beth: to sleep with Mick would probably be something that would never become ordinary to her, it would always have this magic, this excitement, this enormous intensity, no matter how well they came to know each other and how often they would fall upon each other. She hoped that at least, for these few moments, each one in itself, had been so unique, so memorable... so intoxicating. It made her feel addicted, addicted to experiencing him again and again in this way, to feel him, to enjoy him. Mick... her Mick.

The need to touch him, to let her fingers skim over his slightly parted lips, his chin and let them finally slide down his chest was growing by the minute and made her fingertips tingle.

'Let him sleep. He needs it so much,' her voice of reason demanded and she dropped her shoulders in resignation. Mick would certainly think differently about this if he were awakened. She had already experienced how he reacted when she'd awakened him this way once before.

'Yes, because he's a man and on top of that, at the moment, his urges are not really under control,' her reasoning side knew, and Beth inhaled deeply and a bit melancholy. She knew she had cooled down enough, partly because of her dream, to be able to counter this side of herself. In addition, she was also tormented by a tremendous thirst that now needed to be satisfied. Maybe Mick would wake up when he felt she was no longer there, as had happened so many times in the past...

Beth scolded herself a bit for those evil thoughts, but climbed out of bed to walk to the kitchen. She left the lights switched off and found her way in the dark without any problems. That she still felt a little uncomfortable was probably more due to the memory of her dream, which now brought up a few more concerns that she really didn't want to deal with yet, but were here now and hadn't wanted to disappear again so quickly.

Coraline DuVall. Mick's ex-wife and the person who was to blame for her own trauma and the cause of many nightmares that still haunted her occasionally. The woman she had once staked by her own hand - not only out of revenge, but also in some part out of jealousy. Of course, the need for revenge had been disproportionately large, had made her forget the kind of person she really was, the standards and values she believed in, but to see Mick in this state, with his shirt open, soaked, embarrassed, caught... and then _her_, coming down the stairs, only wearing one of _his_ shirts on her still wet body - had simply been too much, had maddened her, had made her lose her mind.

It still shook Beth inwardly to remember what she had done back then, how it had felt when the wooden stake had entered Coraline's body, the pained sound from her throat, her distorted face and Mick's horror…

Beth ran one hand over her face and shook her head as she ran tap water into a glass. 'Just don't think about it… just put it out of your mind…' And yet she couldn't help it because the threat was coming and there was nothing she could do about it.

She had hidden it, but had overheard Josef talking with the other vampires about Coraline, that they were planning to set a trap for her by using Mick as a decoy. She knew this woman had to have played a somewhat bigger role in this whole story of betrayal and that it would be necessary for them to find out what she knew in detail. And even with everything inside her struggling to accept it, it was clear to her that Josef's plan would probably work. Coraline had even transformed back into a human to get close to Mick again, to win him back. She certainly wouldn't flinch at the chance to reach out her greedy fingers for him again, even if it meant falling into the hands of vampires who would be hostile towards her. They would indeed catch this woman this way. Just the thought of seeing her again, of watching the intimate interaction between her and Mick, of knowing that he didn't hate her as much as Beth wished, even showing his sympathy for her, was hard to endure.

Of course, this was a different situation than before, for Beth now knew that Mick loved and desired her. Yet she couldn't help feeling that this woman was still a threat. There were still too many open questions, too many events to process. _If_ he had slept with her back then, why had he done it? Was it because he had not been able to resist her, was still her sexual slave or was it because he indeed still loved her? Love was probably the worse of the two, but the sexual attraction, however small, was still not acceptable to Beth. She couldn't bear it, she knew this already. She didn't want Mick to lust after any woman other than herself anymore, wanted him to see only her and to be blind to the charms of other women, above all, Coraline's. She knew this was unrealistic, but wanted so much for him to simply give this woman the cold shoulder...

Beth set the glass of water to her lips and drank it down in a few quick gulps. Her thoughts went back again to the memories of the last few hours, around what happened between her and Mick as they made love, this never before experienced intensity of the physical joining of two people that could hardly be put into words. Had he experienced this with Coraline as well? Had it felt for him with Coraline the way it felt with her? He had once asked her if she had ever in her life had an intense affair, if she had ever felt this consuming fire burn inside that made you forget the rest of the world. Back then she had not known what he was talking about, but now she was slowly beginning to understand, for inside her a sexual lust had awakened for this man that she had never experienced before in her life.

In the past, concerning men and relationships, she had actually never been the type of a woman for whom sex had been one of the most important factors. Therefore, she had never really understood women who threw themselves, out of sexual hunger, hastily into an affair or became really edgy when they went without a boyfriend and thus no sex for an extend period of time. Of course she had always seen sex as a key component in a relationship and had always enjoyed it, but to her there had formerly been much more important things in life, her career for example, or her goal of never having to be dependent on others. She had quickly learned that relationships were very labor intensive and sometimes even restrictive, that they could cost a lot of energy and nerves, and could very well stunt her own development. There had been only a few men who had actually succeeded in stepping into her life, in winning her heart and getting her involved in a serious relationship. Not because there hadn't been enough interested men, there had certainly been no shortage in that department, but because it had been anything but easy to prove to Beth Turner that it was worth it for her to invest her time and passion in such a relationship.

Beth was a rational person and a champion when it came to switching off her feelings and letting her mind make the most important decisions in her life.

The first real boyfriend she had had, in contrast to most of her friends, at seventeen. And 'real' meant that she had actually been together with this man for more than six months and had had her first sexual experiences. All that had gone on with boys before, she had dismissed as adolescent games, which, although they had been important for her development, could be safely forgotten.

George had been a student of physics and four years older than her. They had met at a party and then dated a long time before _it_ had happened. As with many other women, it had been rather disappointing and had only gotten better and more interesting over time. It hadn't taken Beth long to realize that George was a man with rather conservative ideas, who wanted marriage and children and a housewife who would pamper him when he came home from his professorship in physics. The split up had followed immediately after the proposal.

Beth had spent the following summer with an aunt in Italy, where she had met Mario - he had been one of the two men she had opened herself to and to this very day was grateful to fate for allowing this encounter. It had been a very romantic and exciting, but short-lived summer fling, they had both, from the beginning, seen as nothing more. After that, Beth had gained some experience and decided to put a bit more emphasize on passion when it came to her choice of partners.

Seven years later - after a few short, but not very significant affairs - she had met Josh and had fallen in love with him. She had liked him from the beginning, his gentle manner, his intelligence, and his ambition. They had not only harmonized in dealing with each other, but also in bed. Sex with Josh had been wonderful, soft, tender, deeply felt, nothing extraordinary, but something that had made her happy and satisfied. It hadn't been that they had pounced on each other every day. Often it had been enough to just cuddle with him, to simply enjoy the feeling of not being alone anymore. Back then Beth hadn't really understood all the hysteria surrounding sex, which often affected many of her friends when they would start a new relationship, this excitement, this greed, this unrest. She had felt that her relationship with Josh was so good, that she had sometimes secretly sneered at her friends inwardly. They could all shout how intoxicating they were and how many times a day they had to have_ it_… Beth had known that she, in her stable, secure relationship, ultimately felt the best. Until the day Mick had stepped into her life and had turned her world upside down - externally and internally.

Beth had never before in her life felt so attracted to a man as she did with him. He had stirred something in her that she had never, to this extent, felt before and no matter how hard she had tried, she had not been able to dispel this sexual tension between them away, let alone fight it. She had suddenly started to question her relationship with Josh, to see many things in their common, yet still separate lives, more critically and to face the issues she had avoided for so long: If her relationship with Josh was so wonderful, was so perfect, why had she not really let him into her life, why hadn't they move in together, why had she never thought of marrying him? And why was she capable of lusting after another man in a way that could hardly be classified as harmless anymore?

At first, she had thought it was all quite normal. Her relationship with Josh had been becoming more serious. This had frightened her and so she had sought out another man, who she could adore, just to prove to herself that she still had other options. But it soon had become evident that her fast-developing relationship with Mick was becoming surprisingly deep, and a tension had built-up between them, which went far beyond any sexual attraction that she had ever felt with Josh. She had started to need Mick - not just physically but also mentally. It had been destiny, fate… of that she was now convinced. Just as it was clear to her now that her own arrogance, the harsh judgments she had made concerning the emotional weaknesses of her friends, was atoned, especially in these days, in these hours. She had not only become a slave of her own needs, but her desire also seemed to be insatiable. Mick only needed to look at her or touch her lightly, and she was immediately ready to abandon herself to him or even spur him on to become active in a sexual way.

And now this jealousy, this burning jealousy and the fear that Mick might actually still have feelings for his ex-wife, that he could even still be in love with her was eating her up inside. This thought alone made the blood rise to her cheeks and her heart rate sped up, while at the same time a thick lump rose up in her throat and the air all at once became too thick. She had to get out of here, into the fresh air…

Beth hurried over to the glass doors leading out to the balcony, opened one side and went out quickly. The fresh air felt good, penetrated the thin shirt and made her shiver a little, sending goose bumps at once across her arms that crept quickly over the rest of her body. But it slowly brought her pulse back down and a little clarity back to her mind. There was no use worrying about things that were still caught in the fog of uncertainty. Coraline was still far away and Mick himself had once said that it was over between them, that his relationship with this woman was never meant to be. And he was now with her, had said and proven to her so many times how much he loved her. Was it not just stupid to make him and her crazy with these things? Would it not strain their developing relationship and put it to the test?

Beth sucked the night air deeply into her lungs and closed her eyes. 'Shake it off! Just shake it off,' she said to herself. There was still so much she had to take care of, had to fight, so many obstacles to overcome… Compared to this, Coraline was just a stumbling block, one she had to take a small step over.

Beth loosened her shoulders, tried to relax by concentrating on the soothing sounds of the night, hoping it would help her step out of the shadow of her dark thoughts. Far below her every now and then a car would drive past and the light wind, which had picked up, caused a low whistle as it blew a little stronger around the big house. And from somewhere, not far away, she heard a faint voice… a man, if she wasn't mistaken… He was really quite close… somewhere… beneath her?

She listened more closely now and suddenly got the feeling she had heard this voice before… She could be wrong but it seemed to be coming from the balcony of one of the other apartments diagonally below her, the apartment of a certain very unpleasant vampire. It was more of a reflex than an actual choice that she approached the railing, as quietly as possible, and concentrated even more on the voice. Yes, now she could even make out words, whole sentences.

"... I don't think so. I think I was very convincing. I would be very surprised if even one of them became suspicious…"

Beth held her breath and stood stock-still. She had not expected to immediately hear such sensitive information and didn't know exactly what to do next. Stay and keep on eavesdropping…

"Of course, such things… … I've been alive too long to be careless now. Trust me. They won't notice…"

… or go back inside the apartment and maybe wake Mick up? He had better hearing than she did and wouldn't need to get as close and risk being detected, because for a human it was always extremely dangerous to try and sneak up on a vampire. She unfortunately discovered that from experience.

The silence that prevailed beneath her now, ripped her abruptly from her thoughts and made her already much too rapidly beating heart stumble. Had she already been noticed? She was sure that the vampire, who was sitting on the balcony beneath her, was this Lance - an old, experienced vampire, who could probably smell a human ten miles up wind. She wondered why he would have even make his phone call right under her nose anyway, for surely he must have heard her come out on the balcony…

"You know what _I_ think about all this," she could hear him go on and shook her head in disbelief. Did the man indeed not perceive her? Or did he want her to overhear him? That was even more strange.

"Yes, of course, but it carries a huge risk…" Again he seemed to be listening to what the person on the end of the line had to say. Too bad she couldn't understand this one as well. The whole thing would become even more interesting.

"Jerome has said, it's already in the air and should arrive in the States tomorrow morning, but are you really sure you want to do that?"

Again silence. Beth closed her eyes and tried to completely block out all other sounds around her. Yes… there was another voice, distorted and muffled by the satellite transmission of the phone, but she couldn't tell if it was male or female, let alone understand a single word or even sentences.

"I'm only saying that if it gets into the wrong hands… … Yes, I will of course… … Yes, just exactly as we planned it. You know you can depend on me…" She heard a soft laugh. "Certainly not… You know: Dum spiro spero. I firmly believe in that until this whole thing is over… … Yes, I'll see you then…"

There was a faint sound, as if he had folded up his cell phone and Beth held her breath again, ducking slightly behind the railing, because she suddenly got the feeling that he was looking up at her. Oh God please, not another vampire who had caught her eavesdropping and would now want to prey upon her. She had seen the kind of leaps Mick could perform and was sure that the distance between the two balconies was for Lance not that a serious an obstacle. If he wanted to, he could be beside her within seconds and finish her off. A slight tremor went through her body and her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she thought even a mortal could hear it. Why did she always have to do such things? Why could she never stay out of these dangerous situations?

She was even more surprised when she clearly heard the balcony door close beneath her and thought that Lance had probably disappeared inside his apartment. Or was it just a trick? On the other hand the feeling of being watched was gone all of a sudden. She was almost certain she was alone again. Carefully, she sat up a little and listened. No, there was nothing. No steps, no breathing, no rustling of clothes. She summoned all her courage, stood up to her full height and leaned forward, peering over the railing to the balcony below. There was in fact no one there anymore.

Beth frowned confused. She had been so sure that he had noticed her, had looked up at her. Did he really not care that she was eavesdropping? He had virtually exposed himself as a traitor right in front of her. She had clearly heard him and his friend planning something behind the backs of all the others and he was now just going to let her get away with this information? Even after Gabriel had threatened to kill anyone who didn't abide by the agreements?

She took a few hesitant steps back towards the balcony door and looked into the dark apartment. What if he just came to their door, if he was just acting as if he had gone back inside and was now on his way up to her? Her heart began to beat faster again and she ran into the apartment, with an urgent need to rush into the bedroom and wake Mick up. But then she stopped in the middle of the room. That was absolutely ridiculous! If Lance had wanted to kill her, he would certainly have come over the balcony – that would have been the easiest way. The fact that he hadn't could only mean one thing: He really wasn't aware that she had overheard him and what a threat it would be. He had probably assumed she couldn't hear him from her position, for he had certainly perceived her. Or were there vampires with mild sensory disorders? Perhaps he had also spoken in this tone that only vampires could perceive... What nonsense, she herself would definitely not have understood him if this were true! In any case, he must not have seen her as a threat and would most likely not appear here. Good for her, bad for him, for she would certainly not keep the information to herself...

Beth indeed felt a little better after sorting her thoughts, but couldn't keep herself from walking to the front door before she could return to bed, to Mick. She pressed an ear to the smooth, slightly cool wood, closed her eyes and listened. Silence. Peaceful, completely norma… Pain shot through her body violently ... a crying child ... people in white coats ... Water, water everywhere... rising unstoppable…

Beth moved away from the door panting, clutching at her chest and neck and staggered a few steps backward. Only then did she hear the panting, the panicked, muffled sounds from the bedroom... Mick! All of a sudden everything she had just been through and thought was forgotten as she ran as fast as her feet could carry her back to Mick.

* * *

They were no longer there. Had already been gone for quite a while, to allow him time to recover from the ordeal of the last few days. They had neglected to strap him down, not believing he would be able to get to his feet again so quickly. How mistaken they were...

He sat up slowly, concentrating on every little movement, had to tell every muscle in his body what it had to do, but he managed it. He could still move, still had enough strength. His head was spinning and he paused a moment, trying to breathe deeply and calmly. His eyes caught sight of his legs. One of his feet was still black and blue and a little swollen, but he could still move it, which told him that the bones and tendons had probably healed well enough for him to walk, especially since the other leg seemed to be completely intact. His weary eyes wandered over the deep, already well-healed wounds of his lower and upper arm, and he finally lifted his shoulder. Something crunched a little, but even there, the restricted movement had abated. He felt no pain. The dose of morphine Frank had given him would have been enough to put an elephant to sleep. But Mick was grateful to him for that. Only in that way would he have a small chance of putting their so carefully planned escape into practice.

Mick slid forward a little on his day bed and set his feet cautiously on the floor. He needed a moment, holding onto the bed until his legs were able to carry his full body weight alone and took his first hesitant step. The pain came as a surprise and was the only reason Mick jerked a bit, but it was actually not that bad. That he even _felt_ it at all alarmed him though. It was coming from his hip, without a doubt. Hipbones apparently didn't mend as quickly - too bad none of the doctors were around to write this down...

Now there was also a sting coming from his foot as Mick staggered to the door gritting his teeth. If he really wanted to get out of here, he would need to be faster and steadier, no matter how strong the pain became. At the door he stopped, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 'You can make it... you can make it... Think about her... You want to see her again, at least one last time...'

He pressed cautiously against the door and stopped in disbelief when it gave way. Frank had really done it! There was no turning back now. Once again Mick gritted his teeth firmly... and was at once in one of the examination rooms. On the table lay another vampire, writhing with spasms. Bent over him were a few doctors who watched in fascination, taking notes. They hadn't noticed Mick, who pushed horrified along the wall with his back and more fell into the next door than opened it. Behind it lay a long tiled corridor, with many closed doors. The light on the ceiling flickered strangely. He moved forward with a wildly beating heart, constantly supporting himself on one of the walls because the pain was becoming stronger and his muscles weaker.

'Don't give up – don't you dare to give up!'

Her face, her beautiful blue eyes, looking at him so lovingly, her gentle smile... her hands reaching out for him, touching him gently, pulling him forward, towards freedom.

A loud bang beside him caused him to flinch violently. Through the glass window in one of the doors he could see a little boy who was desperately beating at the door. God, a child! They had locked up a child! Mick grabbed the handle of the door and pulled on it with all the strength he had left. He couldn't leave the child here, couldn't abandon him to this terrible fate! But the door wouldn't budge, didn't move at all. Mick beat against the glass. Once, twice... but it didn't break, remained as it was and still showed the desperate face of the little boy who now cried aloud, and also began to beat against the window. Mick realized there were words coming from his mouth, not just screams. He was calling to him, rattling the door and pointed behind him. Mick turned and froze. He was no longer in the corridor. He was again standing in his small narrow, windowless cell and behind him in rows, four men in white, with pale expressionless faces, like ghosts from a horror movie. Mick backed away from the door, but they didn't move, only stared at him fixedly, with their dead, emotionless eyes. And it was only at this point that Mick noticed he was standing knee-deep in water. Water that was entering the cell through a huge pipe. He turned and began again to rattle the door as panicked as the boy on the other side, the side that led to freedom. Mick could see fields and trees, a mountain range on the horizon and the sun, calling to him with its bright rays. But he couldn't get there, couldn't get out, couldn't grab the boy's hand that was pressed so firmly against the window as if in doing so he could somehow shatter the glass. The boy's hazel eyes had filled with tears and Mick knew he was sobbing aloud, without actually hearing it. Why didn't he just run away and bring help? Why was he so immobile? Why couldn't he just let go and walk away?

Mick inhaled panic-stricken as the water swashed over his face, over his mouth and nose. He wanted to swim, rise to the surface, but his legs heavy as lead held him down. The pressure on his lungs became as unbearable as the pain, the terrible pain... He couldn't stand it anymore... couldn't go on any longer... The water filled his nose and mouth as he took a breath and then he let go, left his dying body, left it all behind, dissolved... into thin air ... air... but he _wanted_ to live, _had_ to live... A stifled scream struggled free from his throat...

Mick sat up in a panic, gasping for air, looking around terrified, but everything around him seemed so alien and so confused, mingled with the terrible images of his dream... His whole body was shaking and trembling uncontrollably and his mind was not capable of thinking straight. He was totally disoriented, could still hear the gurgling of the water and his own cries echoing in his head, accompanied by the sound of his franticly hammering heart. And the pictures... the pictures just wouldn't go away, no matter how tightly he pressed his fingers to his temples, his body rocking back and forth... They wouldn't go away, didn't want to... instead the feeling of being pushed out of his aching body, dissolving and disappearing, persisted. Everything was so numb, so dull, so far away, even the voice that was calling his name that tried to get through to him to calm him down.

There were hands reaching for him... He winced, saw through the darkness this worried gentle face before him, framed by bright curls, felt her warm fingers on his skin, her arms pushing around his neck, her slender body reassuringly pressing against his. Warm... soft... yes, at least he could feel _her_. His own quivering arms wrapped around her waist on their own, made her straddle his lap and pressed her tightly to him. That felt good... so good ... he was still there, could at least feel her closeness, could feel her and began to feel himself again through the contact with her body...

"I'm here, Mick," she whispered into his ear, holding his face in her hands, kissing his cheeks, his lips, and his chin... beginning to also touch him inside. "It's okay. You're with me, you're safe... It was just a dream..."

Her hands skimmed over his hair and he buried his face in the hollow between her neck and shoulder, sucked the scent of her skin deeply into his nose. Yes, she was there, was here... He was not alone, was still alive, could still return, was with her... He just needed more... more of her, more of her body, her skin... soft and warm under his groping fingers, pushing beneath her shirt... he had to taste her... to feel her... His own lips pressed to her neck, his tongue followed them, slid across her warm, soft skin... Her flavor was intense, so intense that it slowly began to displace the numbness in his body... she smelled and tasted of sex, of him and so much of his Beth, that he couldn't get enough of it. The feelings came back, the tingling of his skin, the hot burning sensation in his groin, the pulsing and throbbing, which made sure that his masculinity became erect quickly, pressing hard and hot against her warm, so seductively soft center. He wanted to get closer, closer to the warm life inside her, calling to him... his fingers dug into the fabric of her shirt, pulling it from this beautiful, so sensually female body… then both arms slid up her back pressing her more tightly to himself.

Beth was still caressing him, again and again kissing his face and neck, but she had stopped speaking, was breathing rapidly, faltering. She was aroused, that he could now feel as well, felt the hardening of her nipples as they rubbed against his heated skin. His arms grasped her more tightly, pressed her even closer to his body. Her breasts felt so good, how they rubbed against his skin with every deep breath she took. This contrast of silky, sumptuous softness and exciting hardness was simply breathtaking, made his blood boil, and drove the last remnants of his nightmare from his mind. The pleasure brought him back to reality, began to fill him, brought him back to life... His desire to join with Beth again grew rapidly... His mouth found hers, his tongue drove between her lips, urging, sliding into this alluring humid heat, only to push provocatively against her tongue, challenging it, wanting to feel it... Beth uttered a deep moan. Her fingers were no longer on his face, instead dug into his back and caused further waves of lust to pulse through his body. His own hands wandered down her back almost roughly, grasped her seductively curved bottom and pushed her tighter into his lap, pushed her hot, wet center against his erection. She groaned a second time into his mouth and he released her, pressed his lips, his tongue onto her neck again sucking at her hot flesh there, while at the same time lifting her to bury his now almost painfully throbbing manhood inside her.

Beth came to meet him, rose a little, let him pull her over his member and finally sank down on him, taking him in deeply. Mick held his breath, gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. She was so tight and hot, so wet and soft, despite the strong muscles, which pulsed around him now, contracting and then letting go... again and again as he automatically moved his pelvis, voluptuously thrusting into her, groaning deeply, and repeatedly sucking much-needed air into his lungs, gasping. Beth clung to him tighter, began to perform small circles with her hips, raising them slightly, only to sink down on him seconds later, letting him feel the change of softness and hardness in her interior so clearly that he believed he would explode internally at any minute... and he wanted to, really wanted to, wanted to feel how much life was still within him.

He grabbed her again more firmly, turned with her in his arms, brought them down on the bed and slid more deeply into her, allowing her to take him in completely, only to then withdraw and again take possession of her. Her delicate body was quivering beneath him, trembled and writhed in pure ecstasy, rose eagerly to meet each of his fierce thrusts. She moaned and gasped, struggling for breath and this alone was enough to bring his excitement to a level that was quite close to the limits of his endurance. The touches of her fingers became more roughly, digging into his muscles, pressing him closer to her, her legs wrapping tightly around his waist, slipping over his butt and in doing so driving him even deeper into her - all this made him almost insane, made him thrust even more vigorously, faster. He propped himself up with his hands besides her shoulders and took her even deeper, harder, more urgently. Two, three demanding thrusts…

Her climax came so quickly that it surprised even him when her innermost walls contracted around him with such force that it drove him also mercilessly across the edge. The groan that came from his throat as he poured himself into her was so deep and hoarse, it sounded almost inhuman. Flashes of light passed before his eyes and the delicate humming in his ears could barely keep up with the echo of his frantic heartbeat. The contractions of his abdomen brought a weakness along that made his arms tremble and caused him to collapse onto the panting, beautiful woman beneath him for a moment. She automatically wrapped her arms around his sweaty body, held him tight until his senses had recovered somewhat and he was again able to carry a part of his body weight with one arm, at least until he was able to pull himself from her cumbersomely and to slide beside her hot, now incredibly relaxed appearing body.

She didn't let go of him completely. One hand was still resting on his neck and one of her legs pushed between his, showing him how much she still needed physical contact with him. Her closeness was doing him good, helped to keep the warm feeling inside him, his need for caring and love, he so rarely dared to give in to. He felt relaxed and tired but couldn't close his eyes yet, still needed the contact with her eyes that showed him so much tenderness and love... had to memorize her sweet face, every freckle, every charming wrinkle, each centimeter of this delicate skin... in case it happened again, that he was caught, locked up again... She had been his medicine, the hope he had clung to in his darkest hours, that had kept him standing and had allowed him to survive.

He raised a hand and stroked a stray strand of hair from her forehead, letting his fingers glide very tenderly over her soft, moist skin, along her temple to her cheek...

"I could see you," it slipped barely audible from his lips without him being able to do something about it. "I was… so afraid of loosing this picture, that the memories would fade, but… it never happened… I could always see you…"

His fingers were now at her lips and he could feel that she froze, almost forgot to breathe. There was amazement in her eyes, but above all, relief, joy and great compassion. So much compassion…

"Frank told me to try to remember the good things in my life, something that gives me hope and strength," he whispered on, not understanding why he did it. "That was you… and the thought of seeing you again, at least once… just to see your face one last time, to hear your voice…"

She dared to breathe again, a little heavier than before, and her fingers moved, gently stroking his neck, while looking deeply into his eyes, just listening to him and being there for him.

"And now you're here," he whispered softly and a small smile crept on his lips. "And I only want this 'last time' to continue for eternity…"

"It will," she promised softly, moved up a little on him to kiss him gently. "It will for sure…"

He wanted to believe her so much, _so_ much. But this fear deep inside him, these apprehensions and concerns were so huge and strong that he didn't really dare to do so. There were so many threats that hung so ominously over them, so much that could, in a split second, take everything away from him that made his life worth living…

"Be careful what you say," he still uttered softly but with a barely audible chuckle. "I'll take you up on that yet…"

She smiled, in this gentle, tender way that each time sent a shiver of the most pleasant kind down his spine. "You should. As I said before - you won't be able to get rid of me anymore," she retorted, and his laugh was this time even a little louder. Only this small feeling of happiness did not last long. Memories of the past sometimes also brought back pictures and other thoughts that were not quite so pleasant in nature. In this case it was the sudden yearning for a little more normalcy, for a way to return to his old life. He had told himself so often, that this probably was no longer possible that he was no longer the man he had once been. The well-repressed fear of an uncertain future began to glow again, hostile, in a hidden corner of his being.

Beth seemed to feel that somehow, because her look became more intense, the caresses of her fingers firmer.

"It will all work out," she whispered, gently stroking his cheek. "I know it… deep down inside, I know it will…"

This time he was the one who bent slightly forward and kissed her. His arms slid around her warm body and he drew her close to him again, pressed his nose into her hair and closed his eyes. "I love you," he mumbled somewhat inarticulately, but he knew that she understood him, that she also knew that only her nearness allowed him to truly believe in her words, at least for this small moment. And he hoped so much that his coming dreams were of a different nature, that they made it possible to dive into this beautiful utopia he so longed for, a world with Beth and his best friends at his side - without this emotional and physical pain. A world in which once again everything was all right and where they could live together forever as happily as in a fairy tale. He hoped so dearly that this dream would come true someday…


	16. Morning Anxiety

_Hello again! Thanks for your last reviews. They were so beautiful and I loved them. They always fill me with joy and it's so sad that there are so many people who read this story and are too shy to write a few words for I appreciate every word that's written to me. But maybe someday… Here's the new chapter. It's a longer one again and I hope you like it as well. Would be great to read a few new reviews until Sunday again. Best wishes, Jenna_

_Translated by: Draco_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

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M****orning Anxiety**

Sleep. Every living being needs it. Some more, some less, but no one can cope without it, for it is needed in the regeneration and recovery process of a living being. We vampires were indeed able to recover and regain our strength even while awake because of our well-chilled state of rest, but to entirely go without sleep, even we could not function - especially if we were, for prolonged periods of time, under tension and stress and could not really depend on a well-functioning freezer.

Unlike Mexico, I was now in possession of such a device, but still could not give in to my now again rather great need for rest. Something had awakened me in the early morning hours that had energized my body so much that I could no longer remain lying down, instead I traded my chilled sleeping place with Logan for a place on the couch in front of the TV.

Two packs of wonderful AB-negative and the monotonous drone and flickering of images on the screen in front of me, had finally allowed me to doze off again for a while. But now that the sun had risen and the unmistakable noise of the slowly awakening city came through the open balcony door to my sensitive ears, I was forced to raise my lids and prepare myself for the next exhausting day in my, for the time being, undesirably complicated life.

There were three things that were still likely to happen and they'd probably develop into anything but easy: we had to talk with Gabriel about our exact approach concerning Peterson's rescue and the search for Coraline, had to organize our departure and prevent Simone from sticking her stubborn nose into things that didn't concern her. Well, as far as this last part was concerned, it was more my problem, but _was_ still a problem none the less! That was what I got for not sticking to my principles and not resisting the temptation of two long legs and a very tasty blood type. As soon as you let her into your life, she wiggles her way in your mind without asking, and - if that's not bad enough –in your heart as well.

Three wonderfully important laws and I had simply discarded. Don't mix business with private pleasures. Keep your hands off Freshies who have charm, intelligence and their own head and never fall in love with a human...

As always, when I thought about these things, a strange lump would form in my chest and I would suddenly begin to feel terribly uncomfortable in my own skin. Not only because I wondered just how deep my feelings for Simone ran, but also because a little voice inside me called me a traitor and a hypocrite and drove my thoughts back to the only woman in my life I had ever loved more than my life - and if I was really being honest, was still in love with. Even if the hope that one day she would awaken was negligible – it was still there, heightened because of Mick's incomprehensible rescue. I myself had experienced that there were still wonders in this world, that sometimes even the impossible was in fact possible.

I had allowed Sarah to be relocated a few months ago, to a place no one knew about, except for me and the nurse who was at her side, and was sure that nothing would happen to her, even if the fight with the _Legion_ continued for some time. But when it came to an end...

In Mick's four-week absence, I had had too much time to think, had spent too much time with my human lover and had allowed too many memories of the other, so deeply sleeping woman in my life. The thoughts had come totally on their own, had grown into an idea that wasn't healthy for me, wasn't good for my relationship with Simone, but one I nevertheless couldn't help, and now one thing, one goal in my personal battle against the _Legion_ had become particularly important to me: I _had to_ find and rescue Frank Peterson! If there was anyone who could help ill vampires, who could perform miracles, it was him. He _had to_ survive this war!

I closed my eyes for a second and tried to breathe in deeply and calmly. As always, these thoughts upset me far too much, as I was well aware what drama, what unpleasant consequences these thoughts could result in. I had to dispel them as quickly as possible, hide them from the others as well as myself, as I did most of the time. Only it wasn't that easy, especially since Simone had announced she would be here today. It was really scary how much she could stir up my innards with one silly phone call.

I urgently needed a distraction, something to do, anything to occupy my mind... Mick was usually able to do this so wonderfully – it didn't matter if he was in a good mood or bad. I glanced at the clock on the wall and found it wasn't that early anymore. Half past six - you could actually get up at that time and by the time I took a shower and changed, it would certainly be half past seven by then, that's when I would wake my dear friend, or maybe even shoo him away from Beth again.

A nasty little grin crept onto my lips when I got up and strolled over to the bathroom. Mick would certainly have already had enough time to give himself and Beth a little long-lasting soreness and if not... Oh well, that was life. He would just need to learn from his mistakes. And maybe I would even get another look at a half-naked, embarrassed Beth, as she ran squealing into the bathroom...

My insidious thoughts gave me wings and excited me enough to even neglect my choice of clothing and hair styling. I was done with everything in a record-breaking half-hour and just measured with an expert eye the distance between our balconies and the necessary effort it would take to overcome it when there was a knock at the door of my apartment. I frowned slightly irritated. If that was Mick and Beth, they probably wanted to spoil my day. But when I went back inside the apartment, I had perceived a different smell, very familiar and also incredibly pleasant to me. It was embarrassing, but my heart did beat a bit faster - still much too calm for a human, but too fast for a vampire whose energy levels were usually on a back burner.

It was precisely for this reason that I put on a cool expression and a half-smile in Mick-style, when I pressed down the gilded handle and opened the door. My vampire senses had not deceived me. I looked at Simone's delicate, beautiful face, whose look was a little punishing with slightly raised eyebrows, but she still couldn't conceal how glad she was to see me. Her eyes sparkled and her mouth twitched into a tiny smile. My coolness slipped through my fingers, while my gaze roamed automatically over her body, her soft neck with its seductively throbbing artery under the bright skin, down to the plunging neckline of her tight-fitting blouse, over her breasts, that had clearly become apparent through the material, the narrow hips, long slender legs, which were now emphasized by the elegant skirt that ended just above her knees.

"And I really thought you were living in some cheap flophouse," she brought out in a slightly reproachful tone that forced me to look her in the eyes again. "That you wanted to spare me of _that_."

She didn't even wait for me to ask her in, just pushed past me, torturing me not only with this short physical contact but with her intoxicating fragrance as well. The lack of fresh blood and sex was instantly apparent, especially since my blood had also migrated surprisingly fast to the southern regions of my body. I closed the door absentmindedly and followed her mesmerized into the living room, my eyes fixed on her softly swaying hips. Her whole body allured me with the pleasures it had given me so many times before, and my memories of them were at once quite clear.

'You should be furious!' hammered a little voice in my head. 'She wasn't even supposed to be here. Has not kept to the agreements...'

But somehow anger didn't really want to flare up; it was dominated by all the other turbulent emotions inside me - mostly my ever growing desire for her sweet blood.

Simone threw the large bag she carried onto the couch and turned back to me. "I see you've already had breakfast," she smiled coquettishly and pointed with a slight nod to the empty bags of blood that were still on the coffee table.

"Oh, that's from yesterday," I gave back much too quickly and stopped only a hand's breadth away from her. The warmth she exuded was intoxicating. Just like her fast beating pulse and the rise and fall of her bosom that now caught my eye once again. How dare she wear such an outrageously low-cut blouse.

I felt her finger under my chin and let her lift my head slightly. "Are you getting sloppy, my dear?" she teased me, but today I had no patience to respond. Instead, my fingers closed around her small hand, which had moved to my cheek and pulled it to my lips. I felt her hold her breath, as my mouth pressed to her palm and slowly roamed over to her wrist. I knew exactly how much I was arousing her and so I even let my tongue glide over the tender skin directly over her violently throbbing pulse. Simone inhaled audibly aroused and yet she still eluded my grasp even before I had the chance to torment her even more. She had turned and within a few steps put some distance between us again.

"Weren't you supposed to be angry with me?" she asked softly over her shoulder and moved past the couch, while her hand glided over the bright leather, as if she was tenderly caressing my skin. I became hot and cold at the same time, and my sexual desire began to prevail over my blood thirst, made the heat in my pelvic region grow steadily and my pants become much tighter. I despised myself, but I couldn't help it. I _had_ to follow, to approach her again. However, the biting no longer took priority. I could also satisfy my needs during sex. This thought alone sent a violent shudder down my back.

She gave me one of her seductive glances over her shoulder. "That's what it sounded like on the phone." She added a teasing smile to her statement.

"Do you _want_ me to be angry with you?" I asked back in a tone that made my own lust all too obvious and she stopped and turned to look at me again.

"There's only _one_ thing I want," she replied with a smoky voice that provided wonderful goose bumps on my arms and this well-known pull between my loins. Again there was only a small distance between us. We were so close that the heat of her body began to envelop me and I could feel her breath on my lips. Oh, yes, I also wanted only _one_ thing...

"To be involved in all the important meetings and activities here and not to be continually excluded..." I blinked, confused. This wasn't the ideas or images that came to mind when I thought of this _one _thing...

I raised my head a little annoyed - I hadn't realized that I had lowered it to approach her lips - and frowned.

"This… this isn't your war, Simone," I brought out a little hoarsely. Why could women never just do what God had created them for? Shut up and provide the men of this world with everything they have to offer.

"Well, in some ways I think it already is," she replied softly and her hand was already on my chest roaming provocatively dangerous down the placket of my shirt and rapidly approaching one of the few areas of my body that wasn't covered. She was not only bold but also fought unfair. "After all, I'm wanted by the Legion too and don't have my job, nor a steady life..."

Now I was the one holding my breath and could barely resist the urge to grab her and throw her on the couch to give my impulsive side what it yearned for so impatiently. Her fingers were far too warm on my cool skin, the touch too intense and I wanted to feel her everywhere on my body. She was slowly bringing my body to a boil - quite contrary to the instructions of my outraged mind that had to gasp in disbelief at her words a few times.

"And it's all because I have contact with you and have helped you a few times," she added softly, as her fingers slowly walked up the back of my neck very lightly. "I do believe you owe me this little favor - quite apart from the fact that you're not going to stop me, let alone keep me away…"

Her lips stroked my chin, before gently touching mine. I immediately wanted to return the kiss passionately, but she avoided me, uttered a barely audible laugh. "Are we in agreement, Josef?"

I couldn't reply. There were no words in my head to draw upon. I simply grabbed her, pulled her close and pressed my lips hungrily to hers, getting the intimate, deep kiss she owed me. God, how delicious she tasted and her soft, warm body promised me so much, pressing so aggravating close to mine, making me completely forget where I was. My hand clutched at her blouse and pulled it out of the waistband of her skirt impatiently. I felt a slight resistance, but still pressed my lips to her neck, sucking on her skin, while my fingers tried to pave their way under her blouse. But the moment I felt her velvety soft skin, her hands pressed against my chest with all her strength and forced me to desist from her.

"I want an answer, Josef," she gasped out of breath and that look at my lips betrayed her own difficulty in controlling herself. In recent months these intimate moments had simply been too rare.

"We'll… talk about it," I finally brought out with great difficulty. For more, I wasn't willing. But neither was she, because she freed herself now completely from my embrace and took a big step back.

"Good, then let's talk," she said firmly and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Right now?" I stared at her in disbelief. For good reason, I obviously wasn't in a talking mood at the moment. And the almost painful throbbing between my legs wasn't going away.

"Yes, now," she replied with a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I certainly didn't come here just to satisfy your needs and then disappear again!"

I pressed my lips together before the words that slowly formed in my angry mind could leave. They would hurt Simone and for some reason I really didn't want to do that. I was no longer ignorant of her feelings and also knew she was right in what she'd said. Our relationship had changed. I saw her not just as a someone who should satisfy my physical needs - even though I'd like to make myself believe that - but as someone who had become important to me, whose thoughts and feelings mattered to me. That she had stayed by my side during those difficult times without Mick and still was, putting her own life in danger, had somehow changed everything.

"What exactly do you want, Simone?" I asked, much cooler than I had intended. "You're not a vampire. You can't really help us with the upcoming missions. That's why I wanted to send you to Alejandro and his family..."

"But I want to be here with you and the others," she replied immediately. "And Beth is also a human…"

"Yes, but Beth has a special role here! Mick needs her!"

A slightly wounded expression was evident in her eyes. "Does that mean… you don't need me?"

I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath. When I looked at her again, the sad expression in her eyes had intensified and I felt a slightly uncomfortable sting in my chest area. "You've seen for yourself how much Mick still struggles with himself," I tried to evade her question. "His nerves are not the best and he needs someone to look after his emotional side…"

"And you don't?" Her question didn't surprise me much. Actually, I had even expected it. Yet I said nothing, just gave the beautiful young woman before me a serious look.

She lowered her eyes and shook her head. Her lips twisted into a small, ironic smile. "Of course not. Josef Kostan doesn't need anyone. He can bear everything alone…"

"This is about your safety, Simone," I replied, now slightly upset and the last remnant of my arousal evaporated within seconds. "I've never completely excluded you, and I will not do so in the future! You're free to participate in the actions I think will be safe for a human - but when I say you need to stay with Alejandro for a while, then that's what I expect you to do! Without protest, and actions like today! Otherwise I'll see to it that someone brings you to a safe place and locks you up there until this is all over!"

The features of hurt around her eyes and lips had disappeared and had given way to an outraged disbelief. "I don't know what annoys me more, the fact that you're actually capable of carrying out such an excessive act or that you would have probably slept with me, enjoyed my blood, and afterwards send me away like one of your other Freshies…"

I too crossed my arms over my chest and tried not to show how much she had seen through me. Unfortunately, I lacked the words to say something clever.

Simone tried to collect herself, to become calmer and more composed. "Actually I hadn't intended to ask you this question. I thought it wouldn't be necessary that it would be enough to define our relationship once all this stress is over… but somehow…" She closed her eyes briefly, shook her head and then looked back at me. Oh, please not that question!

"What exactly am I to you Josef? Which category do you put me in when you think about me? Good friend with whom you have sex and drink her blood? Special Freshie? Lover? Do you even _think_ about me, about us?"

"Simone, this is not really... "

"What? The right time to talk about our relationship?" she interrupted me with that sarcastic tone in her voice. "Yeah, right…" She let out a noise that could barely pass for a laugh. "Then when would it be?"

Yet another question to which I had no answer. Slowly I began to sweat, not only because of her questions, but also because the more spirited side of me began to slowly but surely foam with rage and was on the verge of packing up the delicate woman before me and throwing her right out of this apartment. How dare she speak to me like that, to put me in a situation such as this, under such pressure?

Fate, however, held me in its good graces today, because at that very moment, I felt a familiar tingling in my body and soon after there was a knock at the door. God had sent me one of his angels to bail me out.

I turned around and simply left Simone standing without saying a word, hurried with flying steps to the door and opened it while thinking she would probably be so angry about this behavior that she would disappear on her own. Two bright, sparkling eyes looked at me amused and made me smile a little, in spite of the stress I was under. As dark and menacing as Gabriel had appeared in the Assembly, he now seemed to be as friendly and reassuring, despite the aura of strength and power that constantly surrounded him. And as always, I felt slightly insecure in his presence.

"I know we're a little early…," Gabriel's words made me realize he wasn't alone, August was standing just behind him and he didn't have the guts to look at me, "...but there are some very important things we urgently need to clarify before too many of the other vampires show up and I don't really want to talk to them about these things."

I nodded and stepped aside mutely to let the two enter, but not without first throwing August a disapproving glance as he passed by me, still avoiding any direct eye contact with me.

To my displeasure Simone had settled on one of the armchairs and gave the impression she wasn't going to leave us alone.

"What a pleasant surprise," Gabriel even greeted her with a charming smile, and she immediately got up to shake hands. Anger welled up in me, as Gabriel in ancient fashion took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips, which she acknowledged with a silly smile and slightly blushing cheeks. Well, great, now I was even getting jealous. Where would this lead to?

"How long will you be honoring us with your company this time?" the old vampire inquired giving her a look that could be classified as something almost explicit, and her hand was much too slowly slipping from his. My inner indignation had me almost stumbling over the edge of the carpet on my way over to them.

Simone's eyes wandered over to me clearly provocative. "Well, for as long as I am needed here," she replied.

"Be careful with your choice of words, my dear," said Gabriel, smiling, "otherwise you'll have to stay here longer than you might want to."

"I hope so," Simone replied softly and sat back down on the chair, while Gabriel turned to me a little.

He took a deep breath, giving me a very businesslike and serious impression again. "We can't afford to lose any more time. Some things require us to act quickly." He nodded at August, who immediately put the bag he was carrying with him on the coffee table and took out a vessel with a reddish paste. The Cure, which we had taken from Jason. I immediately stepped closer to August, forgetting for a moment that I had still wanted to avoid contact with him.

"We've investigated this and it's not the same cure they've used in the past," said the doctor.

"It's not as efficient as the others," Gabriel added. "To be precise: a normal vampire wouldn't turn back into a human with that."

I looked at him in surprise. Not only because I asked on whom they had tested the drug but also because it raised new questions regarding Cynthia's deal with the Legion.

"Does this mean Cynthia was trying to cheat the Legion?" I asked doubtfully.

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. But maybe she just ran out of the original compound and had to use a diluted mixture. But even if this were the case, you have to ask yourself: Did she do it out of desperation or did she deliberately want to deceive the Legion?"

"Despair?" I asked. "That would mean that the Legion is putting some kind of pressure on her…"

"Just as Jason has maintained," Gabriel added.

"But with what?"

"That's what we need to find out and fast." Gabriel confused me with a thoughtful glance towards the door, but then continued: "But even if she's not being blackmailed and is messing with the Legion for some reason, it's important we find out why."

A familiar, but very unpleasant smell rose to my nose, just before there was again a knock at the door and Gabriel moved there immediately with a few quick steps to let in one of my worst enemies. Everything in me tensed as Lance's tall, dark figure appeared in the doorway, giving me and the others such an arrogant smile as his welcome that I would have loved nothing better than to grab him by the neck and throw him in a high arc from the balcony.

Gabriel gave the impression that he had asked him here himself, for he immediately addressed him with an order, getting another vessel of the 'counterfeit' cure from the inside pocket of his coat.

"I want this to somehow fall into the hands of the Legion," he said emphatically.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I hadn't expected that, especially since the meaning of this order had somehow eluded me.

"Are you able to do that?"

Lance didn't look too happy with these instructions. His cheek muscles twitched a little, but then he nodded and took the vessel from Gabriel.

"And I need Cynthia," the old vampire added. "As fast and alive as possible."

Again, a nod, and Gabriel looked all at once a whole lot happier, while in my head one new question after another formed. The two exchanged a glance that I couldn't quite define, then Lance turned without a word of farewell and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

Gabriel didn't immediately return to us, but stayed to my further amazement at the door, leaning even a few inches further outside and said "Good morning!"

I couldn't seem to lose that frown today so I decided to put an end to my darkness and also moved over to the door. It was Beth, who appeared at that moment in the doorway. A visibly agitated, rather wrinkled by sleep Beth, whose hair stood in all directions.

"Is… is Mick with you," she stammered and looked into our apartment past Gabriel and me, probably in the hopes of discovering Mick there. Her concern was immediately transferred to me.

"Why? Isn't he with you?" I asked back alarmed and she shook her head and bit her lower lip in tension.

"I woke up and he was gone!" She looked like she was going to burst into tears any moment and Gabriel put his hand on her shoulder to try to calm her.

"Easy," he said. "I'm sure nothings happened. He probably just needed to take a little bit of time for himself… or he's bringing you breakfast."

Beth looked over to the elevator and nervously stroked her hair out of her face. "I… I need to go look for him," she stammered, and tried to turn around, but Gabriel grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"You don't," he said softly, but with a determination that offered little room for objection.

Beth opened her mouth only to shut it again immediately, as Gabriel raised a warning finger and shook his head. Maybe he could do that during my next discussion with Simone as well?

"Believe me, Mick's going to show up here any moment," the old vampire added and couldn't resist a small smile.

As if on cue there was a sudden 'ping' heard and the elevator behind Beth opened. I breathed a sigh of relief when in fact our problem child, loaded with well-filled paper bags, stepped out of the elevator along with Guillermo, chit chatting happily, not even remotely aware of the terror he had caused Beth with his sudden disappearance. Her chest expanded with the deep breath she took, and she even closed her eyes briefly, so that Mick was not really able to complete the smile he had started. Instead, he frowned slightly confused, while his eyes darted over our faces. It seemed he hadn't counted on such an array so early in the morning.

"You… you can't just simply disappear like this," Beth uttered with a slightly trembling voice, and took yet another deep breath to calm down again.

He took a step towards her.

"I didn't want to wake you. It was still so early," he said, still not quite understanding what this was all about. "Have you been worried about me?"

What a bright boy!

She avoided his gaze and looked instead to the ground, as if she was ashamed of her own behavior. Mick's face became very soft and remorseful and instead of continuing to verbally confront her, he easily overcame the distance between them with one more big step and pulled her with his free arm to his body. Beth didn't resist. Quite the contrary, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest, closed her eyes again and inhaled deeply.

"Next time I'll leave you a message, I promise," he murmured into her hair, and I had to avert my gaze from these two quickly as an unintentional longing for the same physical closeness to a person nearby crept into my chest. I tried to distract myself by smiling kindly at Guillermo, who, a little hesitantly, had come to a halt in front of me and Gabriel, but couldn't avert his gaze from our two favorite 'humans'.

"And?" I asked him and he winked at me in surprise. "Got _our_ breakfast, as well?"

That was actually meant as a joke, but a joyful expression immediately slipped over the Mexican's face and he raised the hand in which he held a slightly smaller cooler. It wasn't hard to guess what was in it.

"My goodness,_ this_ supermarket I just have to see!" I exclaimed slightly amused and Gabriel let out a chuckle.

"Actually, _I_'m to blame for this," the Mexican confessed a bit ashamed. "I told Mick the meeting would start soon and proposed that we pick up breakfast. As previous reinforcement…"

"I just overreacted, Guillermo," Beth waved away his excuse, after she had released her 'cuddle pillow' with great difficulty and now approached us together with it. "I just didn't get enough sleep…"

The words were out before she even realized how someone might interpret them and I saw how Mick briefly closed his eyes well aware of the great material she had just provided me with. Something, despite my stress, I simply couldn't miss.

"_That_ I can imagine," I grinned broadly, rejoicing the dark red, which spread over her cheeks at once.

"Well, I've always had difficulty sleeping in foreign beds," she added quickly, as Gabriel and Guillermo couldn't resist smiling knowingly as well.

"Yeah, right," I said sympathetically, "not all beds are equally resilient. This can cause such tension sometimes."

"Josef!" Mick gave me a warning glance, and I bit back any more comments in this direction, but couldn't stop my grin so fast.

Gabriel took pity on the two. "How about we all go inside?" he said in a welcoming gesture and stepped to the side. "There's nothing against continuing our discussion with everyone concerned and a nice breakfast…"

I followed his example and Beth hurried still slightly red-faced as quickly as possible past me and Gabriel, followed by Mick and Guillermo. The joyful sound of surprise she let out a moment later when she discovered Simone, didn't surprise me in the least, for the two had by now become good friends. This was also shown in the very warm embrace which followed immediately afterwards. However, Simone couldn't resist sending a significant look over Beth's shoulder in my direction, as if to say 'You see how much I'm needed here' and so immediately dampened my just slightly lifted spirits. I clenched my teeth so tightly that a slight crunch could be heard and decided to just follow my best friend and Gabriel into the kitchen area. I now absolutely needed a little distraction. While the old vampire quickly took out a couple of glasses from one of the cupboards and was then on his way to the sofa area, Mick had slightly more to organize and I took the opportunity to give Simone, at least for a few minutes, the cold shoulder.

Mick's brows drew together confused when I showed up beside him and peered seemingly interested into the paper bag. Toast, cold cuts, fruit…

When I looked at him again one of his eyebrows had risen questioningly. "Inspection complete?"

"Doesn't really look like organic products," I noted playfully critical.

Mick nodded, opened the cabinet above us and immediately found what he was looking for. "And _you_ don't really look like a homemaker, either…," to my surprise he grabbed my hand and pressed three small plates in it, "...and yet you're here willing to be available for breakfast preparations."

I blinked at him slightly confused and the next moment had three butter knifes in the other hand.

"Um…," was my ingenious reply, when Mick finally piled up the cold cuts on top of the plates. It was slowly really getting heavy.

"Well, go!" He nodded encouragingly in the direction of the seating area, but I didn't move from the spot. Of course now followed a repeated contraction of his eyebrows and then this knowing, almost nasty smile.

"You can't hideout in here forever," he said in such a quiet tone, that Simone, engrossed in her excited conversation with Beth, couldn't hear.

"I… I'm not hiding," I lied and Mick's eyebrows performed this zestful move upwards, that was so typical of him.

"No? What then?"

"As you so kindly observed …," my eyes moved flamboyantly to the small tower of breakfast utensils in my hands, "... I just wanted to help out a bit…" I could see how difficult it was for Mick to suppress his laughter and added, with arrogantly raised eyebrows: "That's what friends are for…"

Mick looked at me for a moment in silent speechlessness.

"God, that's so beautiful," he mocked and finally wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. "I'm touched. May I write that down and frame it?"

"And then hang it in the gallery in your hallway with the other Josef Kostan wisdoms?" I replied with a small grin. "I insist on it!"

There was the laugh he had struggled with so hard. He shook his head with a smile and put a few apples and the toast into a smaller basket.

"How long has she been here?" he asked at last, without really looking at me.

I sighed wearily. "Not long enough to have enjoyed the possible benefits of her unwanted appearance and too long to still be able to speak of stable nerves…"

The look Mick gave me was really pitiful and he put his comforting hand on my shoulder. "Just grit your teeth and bear it," he whispered to me. "And once she's eaten something, she'll be in a better mood and ready for negotiations. Trust me!"

"… said the devil to Dr. Faustus - and we know what happened then!" I gave him a meaningful look and then turned away to join the others.

My 'Gretchen' had long since settled again - this time next to Beth on one of the sofas - ignoring me just as I had done to her. My anger returned quickly. Did she really think she could compete in stubbornness with Josef Kostan?

I put the things I had carried in the middle of the table and then settled down in one of the armchairs, while Mick dared to join the two women on the sofa. I was really grateful to Guillermo when he handed me a well-filled glass of blood so I could at least wash some part of my swelling anger down with this delicious juice. The energy of the other part I used to ask Gabriel one of many unpleasant questions, which had been bottled up in me since Lance had appeared.

"What exactly was it that you gave Lance? I can't imagine it was for a fact the attenuated cure. Because even that would be too dangerous…"

Mick, who had been just about to make himself a sandwich, froze at the mention of that name in the middle of his movement and looked inquiringly from me to Gabriel, while the old vampire gave me an appreciative smile.

"It's indeed completely useless for the research work of the _Legion_," he admitted immediately. "But what's important, isn't what's inside the glass vile, but what's in the lid."

"A locator?" Mick asked before I could and Gabriel nodded.

"I thought we'd leave no stone unturned when it came to knowing Peterson's possible whereabouts," the old vampire explained and leaned back, relaxed on the couch.

"And Lance has contact with the _Legion_?" I asked suspiciously now and stumbled a little bit about Beth's tense posture, and increased attention. The fact that the name Lance caused her such discomfort was new.

"Let's put it this way: he can_ make_ such a connection, without the Legion even noticing with whom they are really dealing. In this way, we have often spread misinformation and created false trails for the Legion and have already suitably confused them …"

"Have you ever wondered how he does it?" I asked, pressing in a certain direction.

Gabriel let out a chuckle. "I _know_ how he does it, Josef, and no I'm not afraid that he might be a traitor."

Well, I probably wasn't being as subtle as I had assumed - or Gabriel just had one helluva fast working mind. Maybe it was both.

"I've known Lance for a long time," the old vampire continued, "and there are many things about him that sometimes annoy me very much, things he did and still does, which I dislike, but I would never doubt his loyalty to me."

"Then you think he has nothing to do with the conspiracy among the vampires?" Mick asked and sawed through the middle of his sandwich with such a swing, that I was afraid he would cut off some of his fingers in the process.

"Not all French people automatically belong to the _Cercle du Sang_," Gabriel replied and not only me, but Beth, Simone and Guillermo listened. August just sat there with an almost uninvolved expression.

"The _Cercle du Sang_ does really exist?" I inquired worried and was probably the only one who had heard the name at least once before and was able to connect it to something. The idea occurred to me shortly after the meeting when I tried to figure out on my own what was up with this conspiracy, and their beliefs. There had been for many years in some circles of the older vampires, a rumor that a group of us believed our kind to be some sort of chosen race that was made for taking control over the world.

"What… what is the _Cercle du Sang_?" Beth asked with a distinct uneasiness in her voice.

Gabriel looked at her thoughtfully, and then took a deep breath. "Maybe you do indeed need to know this…" He sat back a little, collecting himself and then took a breath. "This… union was created in May of 1789 during the launch of the French Revolution and under the leadership of Luis Joseph Xavier, Duke of Burgundy and older brother of Louis XVI, King of France."

"Louis' older brother?" I repeated, though in the back of my mind I could remember Elizabeth telling me recently something like that. I had just been too exhausted to inquire further at that time. "I thought Luis was his cousin?"

"That's what everyone was _supposed_ to think," Gabriel responded, and appeared now clearly more tense. "There were only a few insiders… it's all quite a long complicated story that we unfortunately don't have time to discuss it today in its entirety."

"Coraline told me that she had seven brothers, all turned by the same vampire, a cousin of King Louis," added Mick and Gabriel nodded.

"Not biological brothers. Luis has always longed for a family his whole life, one that would pay him the attention he meant to earn. They looked at him as kind of a higher creation, a demigod. He turned all those who kissed his feed, and worshiped him. They became his 'children', united through his special, royal blood. They built a family, became brothers and sisters through their turning…"

"… the _Cercle du Sang_," Beth concluded, but this time Gabriel shook his head.

"The _Cercle du Sang_ admittedly has something to do with Luis and his family, but its members were not all automatically members of the family. And conversely, there were a few family members who stayed out of the machinations of the Cercle."

"You're talking about Lance and Coraline," Mick stated slightly contrite. He too seemed to be having a hard time believing that Lance wasn't a traitor. But to my disappointment, Gabriel nodded one more time

"What you may not know is that neither of them was turned to a vampire by Luis…"

Beth frowned in confusion, while Mick's face showed he knew what was coming. There was a reason Gabriel's smell had seemed a bit familiar to me from the beginning, I knew this from my last conversation with Elizabeth, for his blood didn't just flow in Elizabeth's and therefore also in my veins, but also in Coraline's and consequently in Mick's. Of course, the smell changed with each entry into a new body, but a slight, related scent was always preserved. You just had to focus on it if you knew what you were looking for.

"_I _am their Sire," Gabriel confessed and now Beth and Simone's eyes became very large.

"But… but then how do they belong to Luis' family?" this time Simone asked confused.

"Because I also turned Luis," was the honest answer and this time it was me who had to breathe deeply a few times to collect myself. Not only because I was surprised by his response, but also because a wave of deep, internal pain shot through Gabriel's eyes, and spilled for a few seconds over my own body.

"He was like a son to me for a long time," he added much more softly. "But this life, his royal birth and his experiences in his childhood had spoiled him. He had been prepared to become king of a mighty empire, and in the end, couldn't be. He never accepted it and his idea of building a new empire with himself as the sovereign became more and more crazy and fanatical the older he became."

"And yet you still turned him?" this time Guillermo asked shocked, as Gabriel's statements had made him totally speechless for the first few minutes.

"I turned him when he was a child," Gabriel replied. "Still in time to try to influence him into another direction… Or so I thought at least."

"He was a vampire child?" Mick inquired bewildered.

"No," Gabriel replied with a shake of his head and let out a small sigh. "You really need to finally stop believing every rumor. Vampirism, in its original form, stops the aging process, the disintegration of the cells, but not the growth…"

"But… but I've seen young vampires who haven't grown and have gone almost mad because of their state," Mick put up some resistance.

"Vampire hormones also mutate over time and can assume pathological forms," Gabriel said in a hurry. "But that doesn't mean it applies to _all _vampires - to most, but not all. And these poor creatures will also eventually evolve, only very, _very_ slow, slower than normal vampires. But that's not what's important now…"

He glanced at the floor to get back to the topic. "Luis tried in 1789 to expand his influence on the vampire society and to convince others of his ideas and thoughts, which he managed to in some part. He found many followers especially among younger vampires. The older ones however, were not very impressed by his lust for power and his agitation against humans. We had been able to maintain just a few years of peace with the _Legion_ and knew that this story would lead to an escalation, so I wanted to try to bring Luis to his senses. Only he had already made his brother a vampire by the time I arrived in Versailles…"

Simone gave a startled sound. "The King of France?"

"Exactly. And it was then that I knew for sure war with the _Legion_ would be impossible to prevent once they found out. I had no alternative but to demand my rights as an Elder and take Luis away from his family. I wanted to at least. But these stupid fools stood by him and fled with him from the city. They officially declared war on us and founded along with their new followers the _Cercle du Sang_. Since the _Legion_ had declared war on us as well, we Elders were forced to flee for the time being."

Gabriel paused in his story and took a deep breath. "In the end, the _Cercle_ couldn't stand against the Legion and was smashed. Only a few members survived the entire fiasco. One of them was Nicolas de Chambour - one of the most fanatical followers of Luis, his first 'child'. He was the one who called the _Cercle_ to life again and tried from the underground to gain power and new followers for his movement. We could never get hold of him. He's too smart and not even his closest associates know exactly where he is. And of course he'll use situations like this to cause turmoil and discontent among the vampires and organize conspiracies and assassinations."

For a little while there was pensive silence between us all. We needed to process this information and regroup, to reflect on the questions that formed in our minds.

Beth gently cleared her throat. "This… this… Étienne was he a member of the _Cercle du Sang_?"

Gabriel nodded. "Just as Clement and Emile. There are probably several, smaller sub-groups spread all over the world…"

"My God, so many?" Beth exclaimed, and a slight discomfort also grabbed me.

"Measured against the total number of vampires in the vampire population there aren't that many," Gabriel replied reassuringly, "but enough to be deemed a serious threat - which must be taken care of."

"And what exactly do they want with me?" Mick asked a question that startled me. Mick had been in contact with these men? Had I missed something?

Gabriel looked at him for a long time before answering. "As Coraline has certainly told you, Luis evolved the cure along with his family, improved the recipe so much that it was possible for them to return themselves to humans again at the right moment. He dealt extensively with the emergence of vampires and our ancestors and came to the conclusion that the Nigong had to have been the perfect higher beings. And since he himself aspired to be a godlike-being…" He didn't continue. He didn't need to. We all knew immediately what he was driving at.

"This means his previous research sought the same goal as the Legion does now," Mick noted with a much tighter undertone.

Gabriel thought about that for a moment, and then nodded slowly. "You could put it that way - only the convictions behind it are different. The _Cercle du Sang_ despise humans, while the _Legion_ has the same attitude towards vampires. Both fight the other with their attempts but don't realize that this is indeed the error in their thinking…"

"Has the _Cercle_ ever restarted its research on the cure again?" Simone asked.

"I don't know," Gabriel had to admit. "There are rumors that indicate that. And should Cynthia actually belong to the _Cercle_, as I suspect, there was even a certain exchange of research information between the _Legion_ and that of the _Cercle_ – what would really make this whole situation quite… " Gabriel's brows contracted in the effort, to find the right word, "bizarre."

"That in any case would be playing with fire," I pondered. "Although I can even see a certain logic with this exchange, as long as one is convinced they could keep things firmly in hand and felt they would be able to launch a fatal blow to the other party in this alliance someday - and of course be the first to do so."

I could see that Gabriel harbored similar thoughts in that respect, but he didn't add anything further in that direction.

"The important thing is for us to find out if we're right in this assumption," he said. "And for that we need Cynthia… and Coraline." He then looked at Mick, who visibly tensed immediately.

"You… you mean, she's become a member of the _Cercle_," he uttered worried.

"No, but Cynthia loves her to death and they have a very profound relationship. It's more than likely Coraline knows of some things that may help us. And since she's looking for you Mick, the best thing would probably be to lure her into a meeting with you."

So there had been an exchange with Elizabeth at such an early hour. I had wondered how long that man had already been here in the house with us, without us noticing, and whether the two had in fact only talked about important things or whether Elizabeth had finally succeeded in rekindling her love affair with her Sire. That she had never gotten over the involuntary separation from him for all these years, had not remained hidden from me for long.

Mick was a little perplexed and looked for a moment slightly overwhelmed by Gabriel's words. "Lure her?" he repeated confused. That didn't seem to fit with_ his_ idea of a talk with his ex-wife.

"Something is driving Coraline to seek you out, Mick," I said quietly and avoided looking at Beth, since I truly was a bit afraid that she might jump on me in rage. "And this even though she knows exactly how dangerous it is for her. If she knows she has a chance of meeting you in person and can talk to you, then she'll come. She'll forget her caution and we'll have a chance to catch her."

Mick didn't like my words, I could read it in his eyes. The old feelings of protection concerning his ex-wife were still there, still had an effect, without my friend even being aware of it. "And then?" he asked suspiciously.

"She won't be harmed," Gabriel promised, "as long as she cooperates with us. But I'll be honest with you. I won't tolerate antics, not even by her - not in this situation. If she hampers our activities with her behavior, she will experience the same fate as any other vampire would…"

Mick's eyes went to the ground and then a little timidly over to Beth, who really amazed me with her amazing composure. Not only did she not argue tooth and nail against Mick's playing decoy for Coraline, she now also nodded encouragingly.

"You should do it," she added tense. "If in fact it's that important to have access to her information…" She looked over at Gabriel, who gave her a small, appreciative smile.

"It is," he said again. "Maybe in the end it will help us to find Frank Peterson…"

"… what's our next topic," August reminded all of us that he was present as well. I gave him an arrogant look down my nose, which he ignored this time.

He cleared his throat importantly. "We've once again investigated more thoroughly the locations of the alleged labs Mr. Perrington told us about and have a strong suspicion that we might indeed find one under a private clinic in Los Angeles. We've learned through the plans that there are two basement levels in the hospital, where there is not only enough space for a research lab but the conditions couldn't be more favorable. Free access to medical equipment, medicine, support staff and so on…"

"Who owns the hospital?" I had to ask, even though I could feel how tense Mick was becoming again. He had firmly pressed his lips together and looked far too thoroughly at his hands. Something about this topic was making him more nervous than usual, blocked his thinking.

"A man named William Crane," Gabriel explained. "An old billionaire who founded some social projects and, with its funds at least, is very active in medical research."

"So definitely a good candidate for the _Legion_," I added. But before I could go on, Beth spoke up.

"Did you say_ Crane_?" she asked with a deep frown.

"Do you know that name?" Gabriel replied, surprised.

"I don't know…" She scratched thoughtfully her temple. "I've heard that name before in some context. If I could just remember where…"

"If you remember, I need to know right away," the old vampire ordered her and then turned back to me. "Logan wanted to handle finding out more about this billionaire, but there's no getting around it we going to have to send someone there to look for a hidden laboratory as inconspicuously as possible…"

"I can ask Max if…"

"No, that won't be possible," Gabriel interrupted me at once, lifting a hand defensively. "If this is really one of their last hidden laboratories, they will certainly have installed appropriate thermal imaging cameras to prevent vampires from sneaking in unnoticed. "Humans will have to take care of this. What about this Alejandro?"

This time, I shook my head. "Alejandro is himself on the list and has so many other things to take care of …"

I realized that Mick had pricked up his ears and I tried not to look at him.

"What about his son?" Gabriel inquired.

I hesitated visibly. "He's too young and inexperienced…"

"But we need a human!"

"_I_ can do it." The sound of the voice that spoke up caused me to freeze. Slowly I turned my head to Simone, to give her more than warning glance.

"You can't," I growled softly. But she wouldn't even look at me, just kept her eyes fixed on Gabriel. "I could pretend to be a nurse," she continued unimpressed. "With Logan's help there shouldn't be a problem. And I don't think I'm that much of a wanted person that I would draw their attention."

Gabriel leaned back a little on the couch and looked at Simone thoughtfully for a moment. My intestines cramped slowly but surely. I knew what was coming.

"That's a pretty good idea," were the words that made me close my eyes for a moment in resignation. "But you shouldn't go alone…"

"I'm going, too."

This time there were two heads that flew around to the spokeswoman. But Beth was focused only on Gabriel. "If I'm disguised properly, no one will recognize me, besides, I seriously doubt they would expect one of us there…"

"You… you can_ not_ go there!" Mick now uttered at last, after he had noisily inhaled and exhaled a couple of times.

"Mick, this is important," she instantly replied and looked at him insistently. "And it's certainly not as dangerous as some of the things _you've_ done! We just have to keep our eyes open!"

"Yeah, because you're _so_ great in abiding by agreements!" it slipped from Mick hotheaded and I felt that he was on the verge of angrily jumping out of his seat - a behavior that I could certainly sympathize with.

"If the laboratory is indeed located beneath the hospital, you'll be right in the middle of the lion's den," I interrupted grinding my teeth and couldn't even offer a false smile. How could one be so… thoughtless?

"Yes, but they wouldn't be expecting it," Simone returned. Her provocative smile didn't seem to be that difficult for her at all. "And they certainly wouldn't be expecting that you'd send two human women there…"

"That might work," August added addressed to Gabriel and secured himself once more a few sympathy points on my long list of 'favorite' friends.

"This _will _work," Gabriel replied in a tone that conveyed no further arguments. Only my best friend cared very little about this.

"You… you've got to be kidding!" he uttered in disbelief. "You'd let them go there? They're only humans! If they're caught they'll have no chance of escaping! They could die on this mission!"

"No one's going to simply start a wild shootout in a hospital Mick," Gabriel replied quietly. "And this will indeed _always_ offer the chance to escape…"

"You can't know that for sure!" Mick snapped angrily at him and was now on his feet. Beth almost seemed to regret her proposal, I could see it in the anxious gaze she looked at Mick with. She certainly hadn't wanted to upset him, especially now that they were getting along so well together.

"And you certainly can't promise it!" my friend continued, panting.

"Yes, I can," Gabriel replied, and now rose as well, but far slower and more controlled than Mick. "For I will be close and will intervene if something should go wrong."

Mick didn't seem to be listening to him, just shook his head persistently. "Then… then I'll go with you… they won't detect my vampire side either…"

"No," Gabriel said sternly, and just went on even though Mick heatedly took a breath. "We need you for that thing with Coraline. That's our priority!"

"_Priority_?" Mick repeated a little too loudly and his eyes had become a much lighter color.

"Mick, please!" Beth came up beside him and gently touched his arm, so that he looked at her reluctantly. "We simply _need_ to make progress somehow! You also want to find Frank finally! We need him!"

My friend struggled visibly with his emotions. I could tell that he didn't want to give in to her, didn't want her to put herself in danger, but he knew just as well as I did that she was right. We _had_ to make some kind of progress in our search for Frank. The more time that passed, the more dangerous the situation became for Mick because his medication was slowly but surely come to an end.

"I swear to you that Beth and Simone will leave this hospital without harm," Gabriel added gently. "That's what I guarantee you, with my life!"

Mick took a breath, paused, and let it again escape from his lungs. He repeated this one more time and then shook his head. His gaze dropped, wandered back to Beth, who was still looking at him begging, and gave the impression that she would rather be enfolding him tightly in her arms. That she didn't, was probably due to the fact that he still looked so angry and tense, as if he would go through the roof at any moment. No one dared say a thing. Not even Gabriel, even though he was probably the only one in this room who was not afraid of Mick's temper.

But my friend was probably not planning to let out his rage because he just shook his head once more and then sat back down on the couch, his eyes now obviously avoiding contact with Beth.

"Good," Gabriel said, as he sat down again as well. "We should implement these plans as soon as possible. This means we'll need to travel in groups the missions will be accomplished in." He then looked at the two women. "I will arrange for our trip to Los Angeles, and you two," his eyes went to Mick and myself, "should make arrangements with Elizabeth and Max concerning your journey. We'll meet again in three days. Where, I will let you know the day after tomorrow."

I found it really hard to nod and put on a fairly friendly face. But with some effort, I succeeded at last. Mick's face however, seemed to be frozen. Only his cheek muscles twitched every now and then, while his gaze was fixed on the untouched sandwich before him. There probably wouldn't be a cozy breakfast taking place after all, as the atmosphere between us was now far too tense, as everyone had to struggle too much with his own feelings and fears. I only hoped we would be able to dispel at least_ some_ of this discord before we left, because with these knots in our intestines, it wasn't going to be easy to do our jobs properly. Unfortunately, there was this nasty little devil sitting on my shoulder trying to persuade me that giving into Simone and reconciling with her would be an unforgivable weakness. And as much as I tried to get rid of it, it clung to me tenaciously and I was left only hoping that his strength would soon subside and he would just disappear in time forever.


	17. Traces Of The Past

_Oh, what a ******* weather here in Berlin! It's raining and quite cold – in August! Seems as if summer is over here… sniff… But the positive aspect is that I now have to stay at home and can write and translate. So, here's the new chapter. Hope you like it. And thank you so, so much for the many reviews for the last chapter. Every kind of comment lifts my mood so much and activates my muse. Feel hugged! I'll be back at Thursday again. Until then have a great time. Best wishes, Jenna_

_P.S. The first part of this chapter was written while hearing the great song 'Closer' by the Kings of Leon over and over and over and over again… so inspiring music…_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**T****races of the Past**

* * *

"_**Neither the future nor the present torments us. It is the past of which we must resolve ourselves to escape the torment." **_

___** Benjamin Stramke (* 1984) **_

* * *

_He hadn't wanted to come, had long struggled with himself, had told himself that__ it was stupid and irrational… sick…__ But his emotional side had won out again, had been fueled and strengthened by the desperation in her voice on the phone, her fear and sadness. He could still hear her gasp into the phone, not really able to express herself clearly, so nee__dy… weak…__ She was really in trouble - he had felt it and this was the only reason he had finally jumped into his car and had gone to her house, which now appeared to be lost in total darkness and silence. He hadn't been here in __a long time…__ at least three years. _

_The door was locked and no one answered, even after he rang the bell several times. So he gathered himself again, tried to suppress the burgeoning concern for his wife and set out to walk around the house. There might have been a window open. If need be, he would smash one of the large glass windows with one of the chairs on the terrace. He knew from experience this worked well. But he got lucky. One of the patio doors was wide open, which also meant that anyone else wanting to enter the expensive home could have without any problems. Reckless for a human – interesting for a vampire if he wasn't in the same state of mind Coraline was in at the moment. _

_Mick closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath before he began to move again and stepped into the dark interior of the house. To him it made no real difference whether it was day or night. His vampire senses allowed him to see in the dark just as easily as in broad daylight. Nevertheless, he stopped once inside and looked around in surprise. _

_He was amazed to find that Coraline - quite contrary to her previous habits - had barely made any changes to the interior of the house over the years. She had in fact been in Europe repeatedly for extended periods of time, but that never stopped her in the past from making changes to everything no matter how strongly Mick had objected to it. But everything was still the way it looked the day that he had packed his things and moved to Josef's. Could it be possible that she too had the same difficulties in letting go of their relationship as he had? It hadn't appeared that way last night… _

_Coraline had not only shocked him but Josef as well with her appearance at the opening party of his new club. No one had expected it, for it had been rumored that she had decided to move back to Paris. Mick hated to admit it, but this pull she seemed to have over him in the past had immediately been there again, making it incredibly difficult for him to react cool and aloof towards her, to keep this beautiful, incredibly attractive woman at a distance and to make it clear to her that it was over and done with forever. She had not vied for him, instead, had made it quite clear that she couldn't care less about him and that she was only there to have fun. She had immediately set out to prove it by attracting, within the first few minutes, a stupid boy who had been figuratively hanging at her lips. It still hurt to see her that way - despite their long time apart. But he had remained strong thanks to Josef, who had made it possible for Mick to have an attractive young woman in his arms, who had later also been willing to provide a generous blood donation. Because of this, he hadn't even noticed with whom Coraline had left, and had persuaded himself that he was finally done with this woman._

_Yet here he was and had to berate __himself for falling for it again. Josef would be terribly upset once he learned of this nocturnal action and he had__ every right to feel that way. Coraline tended to play her little games with him, luring him in with her incredibly twisted schemes, to then make him, in any way she could, stay with her once again. She had already been successful in doing this twice before and Mick had vowed each time to never let it happen again - his stupidity, his hope that their love for each other would be strong enough to overcome any obstacles between them had cost him too much pain and suffering each time. _

_Of course he hadn't intended to give in to her games again. He just needed to check out what had happened, if this time she was perhaps really in need, and he would leave immediately if this wasn't the case. He was adamant about this. Not this time… this time there would be no more games played at his expense… _

_He closed his eyes briefly and tried to take in all the suspicious odors in the house. It only took a few seconds to realize there was a man here, a dead man, whose blood had not dried yet. He could also smell her, but something was different, there was a strange smell about her. _

_Mick walked on, following the path his senses pointed him to, towards the room in which the bar and the piano were still. She was there. He felt her even before his eyes caught sight of her, crouched and motionless at the foot of the bar, her dark hair falling tangled over her delicate face, sticking to her moist skin. She was wearing only a thin negligee that barely concealed her slender body. Delicate, shear fabric, with spatters of blood and larger bloodstains. Her arms and legs, barely covered by the silky fabric__, were covered in blood, robbing__ Coraline of her erotic spell. She looked more like a deranged person, who had become a raging beast in her madness. _

_Although she didn't look at him, she had certainly noticed him by now. Her empty gaze rested on the naked, lifeless form before her which emitted such a strong odor of blood and heroin that Mick had to stop for a moment to gather his senses in order to get his vampire appetites under control and keep his mind alert. She had brought a junkie to the house. Well, just wonderful! It was the only way vampires could consume drugs and achieve a somewhat longer lasting effect - something Mick knew about since his last, very unpleasant trip with Coraline. For those few weeks, his hellish life with this woman had become a living nightmare and again Josef had stepped in to finally put an end to it and had kept him from even greater misery. _

_Mick gritted his teeth and stepped closer. Coraline still didn't move. The lower half of her face was bathed in blood and she stared blankly into space, a sinister smile on her lips. He was now no longer so sure she had noticed him, if she noticed __anything_ _at all. His eyes now wandered to the young dead man and Mick almost flinched terrified at the sight of the boy, who was so torn up that it had made him feel weak at the knees. Coraline had not only ripped out his throat, but his thin body was almost completely covered with deep bite marks, especially over his lower pelvic region and his… _

_Mick's stomach gave a nasty turn. He quickly averted his eyes and tried to focus on the woman before __him, whom he suddenly felt such a loathing for, the likes of which he had never felt before. _

"_Coraline," he said, in an unusually cold voice for him, and saw her flinch a little__. However, she still didn't look at him and her strange smile remained. _

"_Shhhh… he sleeps so beautifully…," it slipped very softly, almost lovingly from her lips and a cold shiver ran down Mick's back. "Sooo beautifully..." _

"_He's dead, Coraline," he declared coolly and her smile disappeared. _

"_Yeah..." Her gaze became dark, almost sad. _

"_Did you call the Cleaners?" he tried again to get through to her. No response. Instead, she began to move her upper body, rocking it slightly forward and back again. This was no act, no game. This time she really was on a very bad trip and wasn't able to function on her own. It was indeed a miracle that she had even managed to call him at all. _

_Mick looked around briefly. There had always been a phone here… His eyes quickly went back to Coraline and he stepped closer and sank to his knees beside her._

"_The phone, Coraline…," he addressed her because he had noticed the cord was visible behind her back. She didn't move and he leaned forward to reach around her - actually a totally harmless move, but his wife seemed to see it differently. She winced violently, threw herself to the side and struck him in the face with such force that Mick was thrown back and his head slammed against the base of the bar. For a few seconds stars danced before his eyes and everything became muted and dark around him. Then the pain began, the roaring and whistling in his ears, causing him to screw up his eyes tightly. He noticed something warm and wet running down the side of his forehead, as he tried to bring his swaying body into a slightly more upright position, trying to see clearly again. Trusting in his vampire strength, he felt the wound on his head closing and his vision sharpen with every passing second. Only the pain and throbbing in his head continued not wanting to disappear so quickly. _

_Coraline had shrank back to the opposite wall, sat there now, huddled and extremely tense, staring at him with white glowing eyes. Well, a drugged vampire was not nearly as non-functional as a human in this state and therefore was far more dangerous than any other person. _

_Mick raised one hand in a calming gesture as his other reached for the phone and noticed how Coraline's tension grew. "Easy," he said softly. "I'm only calling the Cleaners so we can have them remove the body, okay?" _

"_They deserve it… they all deserve it," Coraline uttered as her eyes followed every little movement he made. He didn't know what she was talking about, but thought it was wise to let her think he was on her side - at least while he was still alone with her and so unpredictable. Her strength was truly amazing. This wasn't the first time he had been through this with her. _

"_She can't fight them alone," Coraline went on with this strangely soft and detached tone, while Mick dialed a number that had become quite familiar. "She's far too weak… so human…" _

_He wrinkled his forehead confused and kept the receiver to his ear. Coraline relaxed slowly and even began to smile again. "She doesn't realize how dangerous they are…" _

"_Who?" he had to ask, just as he heard the dial tone on the line. _

_Her smile became a little strange. "Men ..." _

_The wrinkle between Mick's eyebrows became even deeper. There wasn't anything else he could do. Finally one of the vampires of the Cleaner team answered his call. He quickly told her what had happened and where they were and then hung up. Coraline's posture had changed again. She had sunk down slightly and now fixed her eyes with an expression of deep shock on the body of the young man. _

"_I… I didn't mean to do it, Mick," it slipped in a whisper from her lips, and it was at that moment he actually felt he had his wife back in front of him again. "I didn't want to kill him…" _

_Mick didn't know what to say. She was probably telling the truth. Even though Coraline liked playing sadistic games with her victims or her familiar Freshies, it had rarely happened in his presence that these games had actually lead to death. And he had never before seen her batter someone as badly as she had this poor boy. _

_Mick took a deep breath and looked at her unsympathetically. "You may want to take a shower and get dressed proper…," he suggested softly. _

_Coraline surprised him by beginning to rock back and forth again. _

"_I'm afraid," she breathed and in her eyes indeed tears were glistening. "It's so dark…" _

"_You're a vampire Coraline, you can see in the dark," he reminded her and was not sure what to make of her strange behavior. Coraline had often behaved strangely, but under the influence of drugs in her blood, the term 'strangely' was far too mild a word. Maybe it would be better to call Josef. He would certainly know how to bring her down from her trip. _

"_Inside me… it's so dark and cold inside of me," she uttered desperately and a soft sob escaped her throat. "The faces… the faces scare me…" _

_He didn't want to feel sympathy for her, really didn't want to. But he couldn't help it. This soft, fragile Coraline was someone he wasn't used to, who touched something deep inside him and caused the wall he had so carefully built up against her to crumble. His protective instincts took over and he slowly moved on all fours to her. _

"_The faces aren't real, Coraline," he said softly. "It's the heroin. It makes you see things that aren't really there, makes you do things you really don't want to do…" _

"_I… I didn't want to do this," she stammered, and now the first tears began to run down her cheeks. "But for some reason I _did_ want to… I really wanted to make him suffer…" _

"_Why?" He stopped just an arm's length away from her because her eyes had started to flicker again so strangely. _

"_Because they deserve it… they all deserve it…" The sudden hatred in her voice shook him, as well as the contempt she showed as she looked down at the dead man. These fluctuations in her feelings, in her behavior, troubled him deeply. "They… they only hurt you… only hurt… just take what they want, when they want, no matter how old you are…" _

_A strange feeling came over Mick suddenly; a mixture of curiosity, uneasiness and foreboding. Coraline had talked so little about her former life, almost never spoke about her time as a human. All that he really knew about his wife's past was what he more or less had heard from Josef. He had been disappointed and shocked to learn that Coraline had been once a mistress of the French royal court and it had only worsened his opinion of her. The torment, now shown in her eyes, the fear and emotional pain the memories brought along, changed his picture of her radically. He hadn't even thought about how or why Coraline had become a mistress, but he now quickly understood in that moment that a horrible story must be hidden behind these few words. _

"_Did this mean the boy had to atone for what other men did to you?" he asked softly, and the rocking back and forth became stronger. _

"_Not to me… not to me…," she whispered, "… Caroline…" _

"_Caroline," he repeated gently. "Was that your name before you became a vampire…"_

_Even though she didn't respond, he knew he was right. Just as he knew today, for the first time since he knew this woman he was actually seeing behind her façade and had the chance to see who she really was. _

"_Did these men you're talking about, lay their hands on her?" _

_There it was - the hint of a nod. _

"_Against her will?"_

"_She wasn't allowed to have a will… Who cares about the will of a twelve year old child of a servant against that of a wealthy nobleman?" _

_Mick's hand went automatically to his mouth. For the second time today in a very short period Mick felt sick to his stomach while at the same time such rage and hatred against these people rose in him making him tremble. His canines came out and he struggled to hold back a menacing growl. To abuse innocent children was one of the worst crimes you could commit. _

"_She accustomed to it," Coraline went on with a somehow firmer voice. "At some point, she knew what her destiny was…" _

"_Her destiny?" Mick repeated, trying not to show his unbridled rage outwardly. _

"_She had to die…" Her voice was barely audible, her gaze far away, and so sad that he could hardly hold back the urge to enfold her in his arms and give her the support she needed so badly. "She was so weak… There was nothing left in her life worth fighting for… The death… it was a relief…" _

"_You can't erase your entire life by simply trying to start a new one, Coraline," he said softly and with compassion. "The memories will always come back…" _

_She wrapped, in a helpless gesture, both her arms tightly around her slender body and shook her head. "I don't want them… don't want them," she uttered barely audible while directing her gaze fixedly on the ground. _

"_But you can't suppress them with drugs," he said cautiously. "And you can't make innocent people suffer for the crimes others did to you…"_

_A quiet, desperate sob came from her throat and that was enough to shake off Mick's doubts, to reach out his hands and simply pull her into his arms. Coraline's resistance only lasted a few seconds, then she let herself fall against his chest helplessly and started to cry unrestrained, let out all the emotions that she would never have otherwise admitted to, gave in to her weakness and the helplessness, clinging to him like a child looking for the hold she had long since believed lost in this world. _

_Mick just held her, caressed her back and swayed her back and forth, while his heart threatened to burst with pity and inner conflict. He knew exactly how dangerous it was for him to become this close to her again, to feel touched by her inside like this, but she needed him, his support and care now. He couldn't deny her. She had no one but him. _

_Her whole body quivered and trembled with the heavy emotions assailing her and the effect of the heroin did the rest. He couldn't expose her to the eyes of the Cleaners like this, so he pushed one of his arms under her, lifted her and stood up. She clung tightly to him and let him take her upstairs into one of the bedrooms without resistance. Coraline was indeed a vampire, but what she needed now, above all, was a little comfort and warmth. So he laid her down gently on the large four-poster bed, detached her arms from his neck and covered her caringly with a blanket. She let it all happen. Her tears ran dry slowly, but she looked incredibly battered and harassed. He sat down on the edge of the bed, leaned forward and skimmed her dark, sticky hair from her delicate face wet with tears. Without intending to, a loving smile appeared on his lips. It was strange, but somehow his wife had never looked more beautiful to him than at this moment. This vulnerability, sensitivity and above all this deep longing for love and security written in her dark eyes, caused a deep burning in his chest and awoke feelings in him that were not good, not healthy for him. Her trembling fingers touched the back of his hand, pushed tentatively between his fingers and held his hand, while the look in her sad eyes began to deeply penetrate his soul and let his own longing for her, his desperate love for this difficult woman flare up inside him again._

"_Stay with me," she whispered in a choked voice, and her other hand lay on his arm. "Don't leave me alone…"_

_He nodded slightly. "I'll reason this out with the Cleaners…"_

_She shook her head and a deep sob escaped her throat. "Stay with me Mick… forever…"_

_His thumb gently stroked her cheek and a hint of sadness mixed in his smile. "I can't…"_

_The pressure of her fingers grew stronger and she sucked air into her lungs trembling, her eyes again filling with tears. "I… I need you, Mick," she whispered and he could feel his heart contract at these words, only to then open up much further. She had never said anything like that before and it sounded so real, so warm, and so honest._

"_I need you so much…," she sobbed, straightened up and threw her arms around his neck, pressed to him. "Everything's so cold without you…"_

_Mick's throat had become so choked that he found it unbelievably difficult to produce anything at all. "This… this is only the effect of the heroin…"_

"_No," she uttered with a suppressed sob. "Without you I'm dead… Without… without you that little humanity that's still left inside me will die… I… I don't want to die, Mick, don't want to die again… I'm so afraid…"_

_Mick's resistance broke down immediately. He closed his eyes briefly pushed his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap, pulled her tightly to his body. "You won't die," he whispered into her hair. "I won't let that happen, Coraline."_

_He felt her moving slightly away from him and looked into her dark, beautiful eyes, which suddenly were so full of hope. "Caroline…," she whispered. "Call me Caroline… just once…"_

_He took her face gently into both his hands, brought it very close to his and gave her a smile that showed all his feelings, his love and hope, reflected his deep longing for her openly._

"_Caroline," he whispered, and the next moment her lips pressed full of devotion __to his._

_Mick's mind no longer existed, had retired, had given in to his dangerous addiction to this woman, giving him foolish hope that she could change, that she _wanted_ to change, so much so that there__ was no strength left in him to elude her pull. He desperately wanted to believe that their relationship would now take another direction with the current situation day, with her opening to him. He just _had_ to believe it, because he knew that it would destroy him if she started once again to play these games with him. It would destroy his faith in love forever… _

* * *

Thinking about his time with Coraline had always been painful, not only because the emotions of that time were still so clearly felt, but also because they made Mick realize his own naiveté, his faults and mistakes, all the things he usually loved to push to the back of his mind. In a situation like this the whole issue got even more problematic traits, because so many things were attached to his shared history with this woman, for she still played a role in his life or at least the consequences of her actions.

It was a strange feeling to actually know that Coraline had made it possible for him to find Beth. First, because she had turned him and then because she had kidnapped Beth and in doing so had made him her rescuer and guardian angel accompanying Beth forever. Coraline had indeed destroyed his faith in love, but not forever, for she had inevitably made sure that a new even more profound, more vital and this time unshakable faith in love had developed inside him, that a connection between him and Beth had emerged, which went deeper than any other relationship he had ever had with a woman. In Beth's vicinity he felt, despite the isolation in which he found himself so often, complete, whole, safe, and when they were separated, like now, he found it really hard to fight against the feeling of falling apart piece by piece. And again it had been Coraline, who had - without even being present - caused him to feel bad again, because he was quite sure she was the real reason why Beth had offered her help in this delicate operation at the hospital. She couldn't bear to see Coraline, to have her in her vicinity. No wonder, after what she had done to her. But it hurt to not have Beth at his side. It hurt and the thought that something could possibly happen to her sickened him.

Everything was due to Coraline... She had brought them together and had separated them again. She was the prime example why good and evil were never far away from each other, fought against each other, but also were mutually dependent and complemented each other.

Coraline... There was so much he needed to ask her, so many things he saw today in a very different light, things he now understood much better but still needed further explanation. It was important to meet with her - even for him. And perhaps it was even better if Beth wasn't going to be there at first. That way he would be able to act more open, be more relaxed, more direct. Of course there was still uneasiness in his chest at the thought of his impending encounter with Coraline. Nobody knew better than he just how dangerous and deceitful this woman could be. Even if she had appeared repentant and unusually contrite at their last meeting, even if she had demonstrated with her concern for him, he at least wasn't indifferent to her, but his unpleasant memories of the harm she had done to him again and again over the years, the cruelties she had inflicted on him had not evaporated. Coraline was not really a mentally stable woman, he had found that out over time, and as such, was always unpredictable. His need to save her, to free her from her demons, had fallen by the wayside at some point and had also taken a large part of his love for her away. It was too late for her regrets and remorse, nothing was going to change that. Of this he was sure, quite apart from the fact that his heart now belonged to Beth - forever. Whether Coraline knew it and could accept it however, was questionable. In this respect, the idea to bait his ex-wife and take her along carried a certain risk especially for Beth. Coraline was capable of anything, especially if she thought she might lose the fight. And Beth was, in spite of her attributes, still only a human and certainly couldn't match the strength and plotting of a Coraline DuVall.

Mick's intestines knotted the more he thought about it and the initial idea that Beth should stay away from Coraline solidified further. Maybe she _would_ be better off in LA under Gabriel's care rather than here with him the moment his extremely jealous ex-wife arrived on the scene. However he wasn't completely happy with the idea just yet. His need to protect Beth always, no matter where, and to have her as close as possible was simply too great at the moment.

He closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply and calmly, even though he knew the inner turmoil, which had attacked him since Beth's departure, would not go away so easily - at least not until he had met with Coraline and until he had Beth safely back in his arms. Why was life sometimes so complicated? This ebb and flow of feelings inside him made the in recent weeks hard-won control over his body sway heavily. The vampire in him cried out for some activity, while his human side just felt like shouting and tearing his hair. He didn't want to give in to either of them in any case.

The creaking of the floorboards outside his room, told him Josef was approaching and only a few seconds later the door opened and his best friend stepped out onto the little balcony of the motel where they had found accommodations only a few hours ago. They had set off with Elizabeth, Malik, and Max and now found themselves in a little place called _New Underwood_, South Dakota – the place they would lure Coraline to. _New Underwood_ was not particularly large and the landscape around them not really worth seeing: fields and meadows as far as the eye could see, every now and then a small, green forest, small lakes and streams. For Josef certainly a nightmare.

Mick didn't turn to his friend, but continued to stare into the sky, overcast with clouds, which seemed reflect his own internal mood. He felt Josef step up next to him, heard him take a deep breath and then gave him a glance from the side. His friend, however, had also directed his gaze at the ever-darkening sky with an unusually thoughtful look. For a while they just stood silently side-by-side and took in the peaceful nature around them.

"This is indeed almost... meditative," Josef couldn't hold back anymore and looked at him with a small smile on his lips. "Terrible..." He shivered slightly.

Mick uttered a small chuckle and turned his eyes to the mountains on the horizon, behind which the sun was trying to hide so slowly. He sighed a bit wearily. "Yeah... one cannot force relaxation..."

"So true," Josef commented with his so typically ironic undertone. "But this insight doesn't seem to discourage you from trying anyway."

"You know me...," Mick gave back with a smile on his lips, "... always banging my head against the wall, no matter how thick it is."

This time it was Josef who uttered the faint laugh. But he quickly became surprisingly serious again... and silent. For Josef this was cause to be alarmed because he usually _always_ had something to say - whether it were insignificant things, cynical or even well meaning comments to things which concerned him, teachings, frustration over events that annoyed him, of people he needed to get rid of and so on. Josef even managed to engage in a conversation with Mick while still talking to another person on the phone! But if he had nothing to say at all, then something probably wasn't right. Perhaps he was sick, in one of his depressed, I'll-sell-everything-and-retire-into-the-wilderness-as-a-hermit periods or was struggling with thoughts and worries that he felt deeply uncomfortable talking about. Since it was extremely difficult for vampires to really get sick and the triggers for Josef's usual depression - boredom and the search for the meaning of life - was not pertinent to the current circumstances, it could only be the latter. This was also indicated by his slightly tense posture and the hesitant glance he gave him now for the umpteenth time. Josef wasn't the type to bring up a conversation about his problems on his own, no matter how much he wanted to. You had to worm everything out of him. In this case, Mick already had an idea of what his problem was, for his own thoughts were not too far away from Josef's. However, this same problem also made it quite difficult for Mick to start the necessary conversation between them. He was even more surprised when Josef turned to him yet again on his own.

"I just called Gabriel," he said in a deliberately casual tone. "It seems they've arrived and will leave for the hospital tomorrow morning. Beth asked in the background, how you're doing…"

Mick pricked up his ears immediately. "And what did you say? Let me guess: that you need to transport me in bottles by now, because I've completely melted with yearning for her?"

Josef looked at him puzzled, and then nodded approvingly. "That's good… unusually creative and a little pompous - but good."

Mick raised his eyebrows and Josef smiled.

"I said you're doing well…"

Mick's eyebrows rose even higher.

"... but she could probably see it for herself in the video diary that you'll so lovingly make for her."

Mick couldn't help but laugh. "And you call _me_ creative..."

"I didn't say you can compete with the _Master_," Josef grinned back.

"And was Logan successful with his research?" Mick came back to the actual topic.

Josef nodded. "He was able to get in touch with two women who were supposed to start their first work day tomorrow and convinced them to look for another job. He seems to have created two remarkable Hospital Id's and Beth and Simone should have no problems getting in and out without any problems. Gabriel has assured me again that the risk of something happening is pretty small…" Josef really tried to look confident, but he couldn't fool Mick. And _his_ concerns and frustration with such a statement had not diminished either.

Josef's gaze thoughtfully wandered once more across the barren landscape around them and he finally let out a deep sigh.

"Women…," he muttered softly, shaking his head.

Mick waited a moment, but more didn't seem to come from him. The silence between them was not so good for Mick. It brought him back too quickly to the one issue that always troubled him so much. But to put his thoughts into words was still better than to be caught in a spiral of thoughts for minutes or even hours. Perhaps Josef could help him out there.

"Have you ever thought from time to time how life sometimes takes some pretty strange turns?" he began somewhat more general and Josef immediately gave him his undivided attention.

"In what way?" he asked a bit suspiciously.

"I don't know… like how things just seem to fit together sometimes… this is so strange…" Mick looked up into the sky, trying to sort his thoughts better. "Sometimes it's just one tiny decision that turns your whole life upside down. You give in to a temptation or a desire… and suddenly everything is different…"

"You mean like one minute you're a single happy-go-lucky guy, and the next you're in a stressful, nerve-wracking relationship that you know will only cause you problems?"

"Yeah… like that…"

"But you're not talking about Beth," Josef concluded instantly right. "It's the old Coraline-story again, isn't it?"

Mick had to nod. "I think the problems _you_ see in relation to Simone, don't really have that much to do with her either…"

Josef avoided his gaze, looked at the insides of his hands and skimmed the non-existent dust from his palms.

"These are the legacies we carry around with us," he said softly. "Those we should actually leave behind…"

"That's just it, I keep thinking about it over and over," Mick replied slightly resigned. "And I don't know whether I'll ever be able to stop one day… it just seems like everything is somehow connected. For instance, if I hadn't fallen in love with Coraline, if I hadn't married her and she hadn't turned me, then… then Beth and I would never have met…"

"Well, she certainly would have found you less attractive at least," Josef threw in with a small grin. "Unless she's into grandfathers…"

"… on the other hand these… these other things wouldn't have happened to me either," Mick went on calmly, "and I would not be who I am today. And the future is now so much in motion, that I really have no idea where it will all lead."

"_Can_ we know it?" Josef asked now seriously. "Life is full of coincidences…"

"Is it?" Mick voiced the thought that had bothered him so often yet. "Sometimes everything is so finely tuned that I find it really hard to believe in coincidences."

"Then you believe in destiny?"

Mick shrugged his shoulders a little undecided. "I don't know, but some things…"

Josef looked thoughtfully at his feet, clothed in a pair of very expensive, but for his standards pretty athletic shoes - to fit the somewhat more casual look of jeans, shirt and leather jacket. Brand quality, of course.

"When I met Sarah for the first time, I actually thought of destiny," he admitted softly and smiled sadly. "And when I got to know her better I was sure that we were made for each other, that there was a greater reason why I had been turned into a vampire…"

Mick nodded and felt at once this painful longing in his chest that assaulted him at regular intervals since Beth had departed with Gabriel and Simone. These were exactly_ his_ thoughts Josef voiced, _his_ feelings when he was with Beth.

"But if this is true… was it also destiny that I lost her again?" Josef went on. "Was it then also destiny that Simone walked into my life? Should I see this as a sign to give up Sarah? But what would be the sense of it all? What is life trying to tell me regarding that?"

Mick uttered a deep sigh. "This is precisely the question I've asked myself over and over again…"

"Only because _you_'re really trying to find an answer to it," Josef added. "_I_'ll reject the whole thing after ten minutes as nonsense."

Mick looked at him and knitted his eyebrows slightly. "You don't," he replied with conviction. "You only think you do."

"But I'm pretty good at that," Josef smiled and Mick's mouth lifted into a warm smile as well. He looked at him for a long moment, at the familiar features of the much older vampire, and noticed, like a couple of times before, that his friend had really changed. There was so much more warmth in his eyes when they talked with each other, more openness in the way they dealt with each other, so much more closeness Josef allowed between them. And it did Mick well to be together with him in such a familiar way.

Josef became noticeably more nervous under his long thoughtful gaze and let his eyes roam again over the countryside, then uttered an exaggerated sigh.

"Why do you always have to ask such questions?"

Mick raised his hands. "Hey, most of them came from _your_ mouth. But one thing would really interest me…"

Josef closed his eyes in foreboding.

"What do you think would be easier for you to accept: the idea that everything is just a coincidence or that what happens to us, no matter if great or terrible things, is destiny?"

For a moment, Mick thought Josef would avoid him, as he had done so often in the past, figured he would come up with some sarcastic remark and then withdraw into the room, but instead he took a deep breath and looked at him seriously.

"I don't think either idea is acceptable because they don't take one very definite factor into consideration…"

"Our own actions, the decisions we make," Mick acknowledged him with a nod.

"I think, the life we lead is determined by so many factors that it's really difficult to ascertain, why certain things happen," Josef went on unusually profound, "whether it's by accident or destiny or errors you commit yourself…" He shrugged his shoulders. "I think it's only important that we not lose perspective with all this chaos around us and not lose track of the things that are really important."

Mick had to nod again. It was hard for him not to show how impressed he was. It was very rare that Josef showed how much wisdom he had accumulated over the centuries and every time he did, Mick felt like he was a little, clueless boy who was looking for his wise grandfather's advice. A picture you could hardly reconcile with the boyish face before him and the role of the cool playboy Josef usually took over.

Another deep sigh followed the silence that had grown between them.

"You know Mick, you've always been afraid of the vampire inside you," said Josef with feigned reproach in his voice, "but the philosopher in you is far more terrifying - he even manages to bring_ me_ down!"

Mick had to laugh, and then comfortingly put one hand on Josef's shoulder. "As you said, after ten minutes it'll be gone."

"That's what I mean," Josef replied in a slightly haughty tone and was already himself again.

"And what do we now do with our 'legacies'?" Mick asked after a further pause.

"Well,_ your_ 'legacy' will be showing up here soon…" The gaze Josef gave him had a kind of examining, slightly worried look. "In the past it would have made me nervous, but since the affair between you and Beth has developed quite splendidly by now…," he could not stop himself from grinning slyly, "… I don't think I need to worry too much. With regard to your relapse tendencies, anyway."

"I'm just worried about Beth," Mick confessed. "Because I don't know how long Coraline will be staying with us, and how the two will react to each other."

Josef shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, well, we'll grill Coraline a bit and then simply chop off her head. Problem solved."

A touch of anger shot burning through Mick's chest. "That's not funny, Josef! Should the other vampires feel she's a traitor, it may well be that they'll indeed come up with that idea."

"If she's _in fact_ a traitor, she deserves it," Josef countered strictly and caused a further contraction of Mick's intestines.

"_If_ anything, _Gabriel_ will decide what will happen to her," Mick growled and looked over to the mountains again - this time to prevent Josef from seeing his anger so clearly. How fast a once so pleasant conversation among men could go down hill…

"So it's still there," Josef stated calmly, forcing Mick with these words to look at him with an angry frown.

"What?"  
"Your protective instinct towards Coraline."

The mountains were indeed a better view - especially with such questions. He was able to hear Josef inhale deeply.

"You better get a handle on this before Beth gets back. Otherwise this could lead to a whole lot of trouble… with reason."

"I realize that," Mick growled. Josef was right of course. In her sensitive state Beth would take any kind of positive attitude towards Coraline the wrong way, but by now such a huge feeling of resentment against Josef had built up inside Mick that it was getting dangerous, and there was only one thing that could help Mick to get a grip on it: exercise.

"I… I better take a little walk again," he brought out with strained composure.

Josef didn't have anything else to add to his words and Mick turned away from his friend, without giving him another look.

"If you meet Coraline, then please invite her nicely to have a coffee with us," Josef called after him, as Mick had long passed the porch and walked across the parking lot. Of course, his friend wasn't serious and the remark only served to blow off steam about Mick's behavior. The fact that Coraline would appear here right now was extremely unlikely, for they all assumed that she was last been seen near San Francisco. From there it was a long way for a vampire who wanted to remain as undetected as possible. And besides that, Mick had no other qualms concerning his walk. The Legion had no idea where they were and humans, no matter how evil they might be, were for him, even as a hybrid, no real danger. He had learned in his extensive training with Gabriel to use the vampire, or just his outstanding strength, extremely effective - as long as he had his emotions under control and was not struck by memories of the time in the laboratories.

Mick had no particular purpose in mind as he ran through the little oasis of civilization dusk settled over, only this need to sort his thoughts and feelings anew and to ensure that Coraline wasn't going to create this unhealthy mess in his interior again. After she had given him the cure and had saved him from Lance he had thought he would be able to put this part of his life, to put _her_ behind him. It had really felt like that then. But after all that's happened, after all the new things he had been told about the cure, about her 'family', this inner peace concerning his ex-wife had disappeared completely. She had again not told him the whole truth, had kept things that could be vitality important to him a secret and he couldn't live with that. He _had_ to learn the full truth. He had to find out if everything, from their first meeting to the taking of the cure and the related abduction, was just a coincidence, based only on wrong decisions and stupid mistakes, or if there was more behind it. The question scared him, but he also knew how important it was to answer it, for his future, for him, for Beth, and perhaps even for the whole vampire society. And he was confident that Coraline could help him with that, that he might get, with her help, to the bottom of things that Gabriel was keeping from him, the things the old vampire always distracted him from again and again.

Something prickled in Mick's neck and he stopped, looked around briefly. He had now reached the little village that lay very close to the motel, but with the exception of a few children playing in one of the gardens, an older man watering the grass and a few women chattering cheerfully with each other at the other roadside, giving him curious glances from time to time, was no one else visible. Mick tried to focus his senses. Normally, only the presence of a vampire caused such a reaction in his body, for their energy field was much more intense and significantly more palpable than that of a human. However, he could not smell, hear or feel something. There was nothing more and the tingling in his neck had gone away.

Mick shook his head slightly and continued on his way. The peaceful atmosphere here among normal mortals, as narrow-minded as they might be, did him good somehow. Everything here seemed so average, so ordinary. The people had to struggle with their everyday problems, such as the cultivation of the garden and the house, their work, their relationships, the education of their children… How he envied them. What he wouldn't give to lead such a normal life himself, even to be bored sometimes. For nearly sixty years his life had been 'special' and there was no end in sight. He was so sick and tired of it. Sometimes he caught himself thinking about simply grabbing Beth and disappearing with her somewhere where no one knew them, where they could hide under false names, could perhaps live like a normal couple for a little while. This dream was disturbed only by the fact that his body was still nowhere near a balanced state, was still dependent of medication and it was questionable whether this would ever be possible one day. Not to mention that he could not really imagine leaving behind all his friends, especially Josef. His best friend, as tactless and arrogant he could be sometimes, had become a major, indispensable part of his life and had always been a great support to him…

There was the tingling again - now much more clearly felt than before. And this time it didn't go away. Mick stopped a second time, but didn't look around; he just closed his eyes and concentrated. It only took a few seconds before he knew which direction this energy boost was coming from. To his right there was a narrow alley, which ran between two of the larger buildings of the village. Mick didn't hesitate. His inner instinct told him that it was important to find out who it was. And he felt strong enough to face the possible attack of a hostile vampire. In fact, he was more than fine with it. It would be an excellent way to reduce his tension.

The tingling grew stronger the deeper he went into the alley. Soon, it seemed to be coming from two different directions and he stopped. Two directions meant at least two vampires - perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to expose himself to this danger alone. But, maybe the other vampire was Josef. Maybe he had followed him. Mick decided not to stay human any longer and allowed the vampire, who had already been stirring anxiously inside him for the last few minutes, to take control of his body. It felt strange as always. His whole body tingled as if millions of ants were crawling under his skin, while his heartbeat became slower, his breathing calmer and his body temperature reduced. At the same time his mind became even more alert and calculating, his senses sharper.

There it was, the smell he had not perceived before, this odor, which he had always thought of as decay until Peterson had set him straight about it. But _this_ smell was special, familiar, a mixture of old blood and orchids. There was only one vampire who smelled like that.

The energy crackling increased. Then he heard the flutter of a coat, and only seconds later, something landed behind him on the sandy, hard ground.

"Mick?"

The sound of the melodic, clear voice sent a shiver down his back and to his chagrin it was not an unpleasant one. He turned slowly toward her, asking himself, how this could be, how she had managed to be here so fast.

She was as beautiful as ever as she stood there before him, with her dark, silky hair framing her delicate, pale face, the longing expression in her large eyes and the red, pouting lips.

"God, Mick, you're really here," she uttered in a husky voice, and before he knew what was happening she briskly walked up to him, threw her arms around him and drew him into a close embrace.

"Oh, Mick… Mick… I'm so sorry…," she whispered in his ear and her lips touched his cheek, although he'd already grabbed her arms and hands, trying to free himself with gentle pressure from her grip.

"Cora…," he began, but didn't get far because suddenly her lips pressed on his mouth, kissed him urgently. Heat rose in Mick, this time out of anger. He grabbed her shoulders more firmly and pushed her away from him with such force that she had to take a few steps back in order not to fall.

"What… what are you doing?" he snarled at her and wiped the lipstick with the back of his hand from his lips. She came closer again and he backed away a bit, in doing so making her stop.

"Listen. I know you're mad at me," she began to explain. "You have every right to be, but please, listen to me for just once…"

"Wait, wait!" He lifted a hand in a braking gesture. "What are you doing here at all… and why should I have the right to be angry with you?"

The confusion was written all too clearly on Coraline's face. "Did… didn't Josef tell you…" She hesitated.

"Tell me _what_?" Mick asked sharply and he hardly noticed that the tingling in his neck was getting stronger again.

She didn't answer, but only came closer to him again. "Mick, you need to trust me! Come with me! I'll tell you everything, everything you want to know, but you _need_ to come with me! Right now!"

She took his hand, but he eluded her once more. "Whereto?" he asked, although he could now even smell the other vampire.

"As far away as possible," she pleaded. "I can hide you, Mick. Trust me! Together we can both survive this... "

"There's no 'together' for us any more, Coraline," he replied with a calmness he actually didn't have any longer. Her words upset him, evoked so many questions inside him. But he knew he had no time to ask them. The other vampires were already too close.

She looked down, shaking her head and as she raised her eyes again, there was not only a strange smile on her lips but her eyes had become ice cold, her face as mask-like as always. She didn't look at him but past him at the vampire, who came up behind him silently. Mick didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Just as he knew who the other dark figure was, who stepped into the alley at a distance behind Coraline.

"Hello, Malik," Coraline brought out still smiling bravely. "Actually, I might have guessed that you wouldn't let your protégé get too far out of sight…"

The Assassin stepped up to Mick and gave Max a sign to join them. Mick's anger was slowly starting to boil inside him. He hated to be shadowed against his will. And hated it even more that he was deprived of the chance to speak undisturbed with Coraline for now.

"That's right," said Malik now. "Just as you can certainly guess that you have absolutely no chance of escaping anymore. So I assume that you'll accompany us without resistance."

Coraline's glance wandered back to Mick. "Do you want me to do this?" she asked softly, and a spark of warmth came back into the deep brown of her beautiful eyes.

He managed a nod and knew that she would accept his decision. However, he felt anything but good about it, as she turned around and began to follow Malik and Max. The image of a sacrificial lamb being led to the slaughter formed in his mind and wouldn't go away.

Josef had been right for a second time: His protective instinct for Coraline was still there. He wasn't going to allow anyone to harm her, even if it meant starting a fight with his friends over it.


	18. Truths

_So, here's the next chapter for all of my readers. Read your reviews full of joy and want to thank you so much. It's always such a motivation. I'm sorry if I shocked or vexed you with Coraline and Mick's possible feelings for her but trust me – I'm one of the biggest Mick/Beth-shippers ever and can't even read fanfictions myself where they end up with other people. There are three reasons why she's in my story. First: I wanted to continue Moonlight and orient myself by the things some of the writers betrayed about the planned second season – they said Coraline would appear again and so she does. Second: Coraline is an important part of the whole story because of her past (the story of the cure was also in the show linked with her and cannot be told without her) and her knowledge about things that will influence Mick's and also Beth's future. Third: She's in fact a mentally ill person and has an evil side but she's also an important part of Mick's past and the show gave me the feeling that Mick hasn't sorted everything out with her. I think he needs to do this to be able to really let go of her and concentrate on his relationship with Beth. I don't doubt this will cause him trouble with Beth but it's absolutely necessary. I'm sorry if some of my readers can't stand this (__**borntobemybaby:**__ I would be quite sad to lose you as a reader but if you can't live with that story line I can do nothing against that, I think) but also Coraline is an important part of the story in my head and I really need her. So I can only hope you'll still stay with me and still enjoy the parts without her. I'll be back again at Sunday with a new chapter. Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: Jo1027_

* * *

**T****ruths**

* * *

"_**It takes courage to seek the truth without knowing if you can bear it." **_

_**Ernst Reinhardt, (1932) **_

* * *

_Doors. Doors are strange objects for they represent so many and sometimes completely opposite things. They could let someone in but also allow him to leave; could conjure up darkness, but couldalso let light fall inside a room; could shut out or lock people in. But basically they serve only one purpose: to delimit things, to shut rooms and lock out freedom. Outside, in nature you don't need any doors because there are no walls, no constraining frontiers. Everything is wide open and free._

_Of course, walls and doors also offer protection, protection from the many dangers in this world, from evil, savagery and the unpredictable. But when the fear becomes too strong, when you no longer take any risks and begin to feel weak and helpless, then these rooms, walls and doors become a prison in time, a prison that sucks the life slowly but surely out of you.__Just as this frail, sick body in which I had lived for some time, had cheated me and left me in the lurch so many times before, especially during the most important moments. It had its ups and downs, good days in which hope grew that maybe I could live with this disease, even grow old, at least older than the doctors had predicted, and bad days when the weakness didn't even allow me to take one safe step and the pressure in my chest, the coughing and painful breathing became such torture that I sometimes eagerly longed for death. These ups and downs, this glimmer of hope from time to time, maybe it was this that made my life often so terribly difficult. Sometimes there were events in my life that made me almost forget the disease, thoughts that stirred me so much that everything else around me didn't matter to me anymore. In this very moment when I stood before this door; this dark, heavy oak door behind which my father's home office laid it didn't say to me 'Come in. You're welcome.' No, it did what my father had done all my life: it locked me out. It said 'This is none of your business regardless of whether the decisions that are made here affect your life as well. What you want doesn't matter. You stay out there... stay out there... stay out...'_

_I took a deep breath which produced a familiar rattling in my lungs and raised my hand for the third time to knock. But this time I hit the wood producing a dull, cautious knock which made even me almost wince. Not because I was afraid of my father but of the consequences I probably would be forced to draw from this talk._

_I held my breath for a moment, listened for several seconds only to the rapid beating of my heart. Then I heard my father's muffled voice asking me to come in._

_My whole body tensed as I pressed the latch down and pushed the oak door open. It almost seemed to me as if it braced against me, not wanting to let me in, because its weight counteracted the pressure of my hand so strongly. But I was determined to speak to my father, to tell him what weighed so heavily on my mind, to learn what I had to urgently know and yet feared so much._

_He sat at this heavy wooden desk with a stack of important papers before him and looked at me questioningly over his glasses. He had, despite the sorrow of the last months which had cost him a few pounds, still a handsome, very elegant appearance. Today he was again wearing an elaborately embroidered waistcoat over a white shirt with lace, and most likely also matching dark knee breeches. His wig he had put on a hat-stand nearby so he probably hadn't expected a visit at this early hour. The blonde, short hair with graying temples was a slightly unusual sight for me, but made him look significantly younger._

"_Please excuse me for this early intrusion father, but I have an urgent issue that brooks no further delay," I managed to say in a surprisingly calm, cool tone. My father frowned and took off his glasses. _

"_Then talk to me," he invited me and leaned back in his chair looking at me in this critical way which was so typical for him._

_I stepped a little closer to him. "I've heard that you plan to leave Passau in a few days," I paused a moment until he nodded. "And I wondered what the reason might be for that."_

_The bright brows of this so noble looking man moved towards each other with mild anger. He was not used to me directly interfering in his affairs. "Do I now have to justify myself in front of you, my son?"_

_I collected myself trying to gather strength for the struggle which would certainly follow my words. "Well, there are a few rumors which have found their way from Linz to this house. Rumors I don't want to believe..."_

"_Which are?" He raised his eyebrows quizzically. He often covered up his anger with restrained arrogance._

"_That you have been often seen on your recent business trips accompanied by a rich widow. Rumor has it that you attended upon the lady and that you are thinking about selling the business and the property here to settle in Linz."_

_To my surprise my father avoided my pressing gaze, looked briefly at his entwined fingers and then looked at me again. He suddenly looked much older, more exhausted and almost resigned and I knew that it meant nothing good. This man so rarely forgot his part as the reserved Goodman._

"_What exactly do you want from me now, Josef?"_

_I took a deep breath and was annoyed at the telltale rattling in my lungs. "The truth," I said composed. __  
__ He nodded silently and for a few seconds he watched me while he seemed to ponder whether he should tell me the whole truth or once again only inaccurate half-truths and fairy tales as he usually did. _

"_Her name is Marie-Adelheid Countess of Steinbach and yes, I am playing with the idea of making her my wife."_

_I was really hard for me not to show him how much he had shocked me with these honest words or how much they had upset me. "Because she's rich?" burst out of me contemptuously after a few seconds and my father gave me a reproachful gaze._

"_It's not that simple, Josef!" he gave back severely. "Life is never simple!"_

"_I know, even better than you," I replied heatedly. "Just as I know that it's not necessary to abandon the business. I was able to almost double the revenue in the period of your week-long absence! And I could do even more if you'd just let me, if you'd only trust me!"_

"_You're ill, Josef," my father replied. It had been so clear that he would use this against me. _

"_I'm fine," I replied coolly and saw the anger grow in his eyes with every second that passed. __  
__ "At the moment, yes. But that can change very quickly! I simply cannot rely on you!"_

_His words struck such a blow to me that I began to waver briefly. "I'm fine!" I repeated once again, only more biting and aggressive._

_My father took such a serious and deep breath that his chest expanded visibly. "For how long, Josef? How long? Autumn is coming and you know how vulnerable you are at this time and how fast it can happen!"_

_He was right, unfortunately, only I did not want to admit it to him, didn't want to admit it to myself. And due to my lack of a witty reply I said nothing, only looked at him angrily with firmly gritted teeth. How immature! How childish!_

"_It's… it's not that it's easy for me to leave everything here behind me," said my father quietly and soothingly. "I have worked so hard, so long so that one day we can enjoy a better life. I've had good times with your mother here, but she's gone now … before her time. You are seriously ill and I am old." He let out a mournful sigh. "It's time perhaps to gather the fruits of my work and enjoy life a little more."_

_It was strange, but somehow a smile grazed my lips. An embittered false smile that sprang from the deep sadness and helplessness in my heart._

"_What do you want to tell me, father?" I managed to say remarkably firmly. "That it's not worth while to continue to invest in the local business because I won't abide among the mortals for a much longer time? Because you have only one son who is not strong and healthy and will probably never marry, never beget an heir?"_

_He did not respond to my questions, just looked at me without a word. But that was enough for me. The laugh I uttered was even more fake then my preceding smile. "Why not just throw me into the nearest river, then you will be rid of your sickly son who has for years been like a millstone hanging around your neck and preventing you from living a happy life?"_

"_Josef!" My father rose indignantly. "Don't you dare to speak to me that way! I have always stood by you and have supplied you with everything you needed, no matter how much I had to pay for it!"_

"_For mother's sake, yes!" I glared at him angrily and knew very well that I had crossed a line. "But now she's dead so you're completely free!"_

_My father inhaled through the nose. "I… I wanted to take you along, offer you a house, a home, for the time you…" He did not say more. Not because the idea of losing me made him so unhappy, but because his anger was too great and he was about to lose his so prized composure. _

_But I had to push it even further. "So, are we already in the past tense," I noted soberly. "Has the gravestone been ordered yet?"_

"_OUT!" His hand cut the air audible as he suddenly pointed to the door and I stayed not a moment longer in this horrible room but rushed out immediately leaving this cold, selfish man not only physically but also mentally behind me. I tried to persuade myself of that at least._

_My insides had become so tense that I had difficulty breathing and everything seemed to ache. Why did this upset me like this? Had his behavior surprised me? No, because I had actually expected it. My father had always been a traitor. Although he had feigned to be wise, compassionate and friendly, he was treacherous, ambitious and had only his own advantage in mind. How often had he posed as a loving husband and father when in truth he had hardly been home and had in the past two years hung around in other cities, countries and beds, while my mother had been confronted, in addition to all her worries about me, with the problems of the local business. I had learned early to relieve her, to divest her of some things and to develop my own strategies with which we got the recurring business problems quickly under control. My father had never said a word about it, had never gotten it straight in his mind to whom he owed his continued wealth. Even after I became sick, my mother and I had been the team who make the cash tills ring and who provided for prosperity in our house. That was the truth that this man simply did not want to recognize. And now that he wanted to sell everything in order to offer himself and his new chosen one a better life, he not only showed once more what a traitor he was, but he also destroyed all I had worked for, everything that had given me the feeling that I was still useful in this world, that I was still able to achieve something. He destroyed my life and the future I had hardly dared to hope to have._

_I walked slightly staggering directly into my mother's small room, stepped up to the desk at which we had so often worked together, and sat down a bit awkwardly on the chair there. For a long moment I closed my eyes and tried to regain control over my pulse and my breathing. Precisely because life had so often put obstacles in my way I had learned to handle it, to be mentally awake and be flexible enough to work out reserve plans for particularly precarious situations. I would certainly not let my father take the option out of my hand to decide freely and autonomously about my life because I knew a way to prevent this._

_I opened my eyes again, took a sheet of paper, pen and ink, and set the words on paper that I knew would change my life forever. No, they would not only change it, they would destroy it and give me the opportunity to rise again, stronger and healthier than ever before. __  
__A little later I found myself in search of Anna, our maid. I found her in the dining room polishing the silver cutlery. Her big blue eyes flashed with pleasure when she noticed that I'd entered the room, but the serious, tense expression on my face prevented her otherwise charming smile from lighting up her face. She knew me too well and immediately noticed that something was wrong._

"_Run up to the guest house at the end of the street," I told her softly as I stepped up to her. "You know where the room of the Countess Nádasdny is?"_

_A troubled flicker was evident in her expressive eyes but she nodded silently._

"_Give her, and only her, this letter," I pressed the envelope into her hand and looked at her intently. "Do you understand?"_

_This time there was no nod. Instead, the girl's eyes began to fill with tears. "Oh, please, Josef, don't do that," she uttered haltingly. "Please!"_

"_Run to the guest house!" I demanded as I fought against the queasy feeling in my stomach that always seemed to creep upon me when I thought of the Countess and our jointly-developed plan._

_Anna shook her head and grabbed my arm, clutching at it as if she would be able to stop me that way. "You're going to sell your soul, Josef," she uttered desperately. "You cannot do that. Oh, please."_

_The first tears were running down her cheeks and a wave of compassion seized me. Without thought my hands suddenly covered her face, my thumbs gently stroking the tears from her cheeks. __  
__ "Oh, Anna," I smiled and my lips touched her forehead in a tender, comforting gesture. "Dear little Anna, everything will be fine. Only this way will everything come out all right."_

_Her delicate fingers closed around mine and a faint sob came from her throat. "She's a demon, sent by the devil. She will bring you nothing but death."_

"_No, Anna," I said softly and let her go. "Death it already living inside me. He has already threatened me and too often reached out his fingers for me. It's time to take him on."_

_She looked at me for a long time, sadly, full of longing and unspoken love. But she understood my words, understood me in a way only a few people could and knew she had to let me go._

_I saw her chest heave with a deep breath and she bravely repressed her tears. Out of an inner urge she gently laid a hand on my cheek. It was a gesture of farewell, a gesture which she found incredibly difficult. But she did it, turned and disappeared quietly from the room. I remained motionless for a moment as I watched the door slowly close behind her. Even the great time with her would soon be over. The small glimmer of light she had been to me had to go out if I was to take this last step._

_I tried to relax and breathe as calmly as was possible. I took stock of myself, once more pondering all the possibilities that were left to me and nodded. It was the right decision, my only chance to grab the wimpy rest of my life that was still left and make something amazing out of it, something big, strong and indestructible. The door to freedom and autonomy was open. I just had to pass through. If I didn't, I would be at the mercy of my father until illness overtook me again and ended my life too early as it had promised to do several times before. __  
__ I let my eyes wander down my body to my hands, lifted my left arm a little and pushed back the lace sleeve. Right under the heel and just above the gently throbbing vein were two small, delicate marks. The marks of the 'demon'. I wore them with fascination combined with the strangest but also most exciting sensual experiences that I had ever had in my life. And I also wore them as a promise. A promise to one day leave the daily struggle with suffering, pain and death behind me. I uttered a little laugh. 'One day'. It sounded so far away but was actually so close. _

* * *

"To see you so deeply lost in thought is really quite new to me."

It was a very familiar female voice that ripped me out of my melancholy memories and reminded me that I had already stood motionless at one of the windows of my motel room for far too long staring out into the dusk. She forced me to at least turn halfway around to her when she laid one arm around my waist from behind and handed me a glass of blood with a small smile.

"What were you thinking about?"

I closed my eyes briefly and shook my head before I took the glass from her hand. "Nothing important," I lied and took a big gulp of blood. It did me good, gave me back a little more power and carried me back from the misery of my humanity into the world in which I was now - the world of vampires.

"Since when does Josef Kostan's mind have room for 'nothing important'?" Elizabeth smiled and a little laugh slipped from my lips. She just knew me too well.

"This is the problem when you select friends who use their heads to think and then even start to philosophize," I sighed with feigned worry. "They make sure that you are soon entangled in these useless thought spirals."

"So, your friend Mick has again turned you inside out?" she asked with this slightly smirking undertone in her voice and I knitted my brows a little annoyed.

"Who's talking about Mick? I had an interesting conversation about God and the world with the nice gentleman at the reception desk."

"The guy who's not even able to detach his gaze from the TV while he's taking and handing over the keys for the rooms?"

"That's him."

"And you even call him a friend?" She was really amused.

"It was only after he was able to show me a new perspective on Nietzsche's 'Genealogy of Morals'," I replied with a slight smile on my lips. It was hard to imagine that this prosimian from the reception area would react to the mention of the name 'Nietzsche' with something other than a low "Bless you!" And even that was quite a claim. Could the poor man articulate himself at all?

Elizabeth rewarded my extremely witty response with bell-like laughter, but then looked at me with that knowing expression.

"What's really depressing you, Josef?" she asked gently.

I avoided her gaze and stared into the darkness. "I wonder sometimes why I do things I used to despise so deeply in the past."

"Like what for instance?"

"Concealing things from someone that he really should know – _has_ to know for they affect his life much more than mine."

I could hear her breathe in. "It's a difficult thing to deal with truths in an adequate way. Sometimes it's important to share them and sometimes it's much wiser to keep them to yourself. A wise man leaves the door open to both options and knows the right moment to use them."

"And if you missed the right moment?" I replied, and the oppressive feeling in my chest that I had carried around for quite some time now became stronger all at once. "What if the truth arrives all by itself and is unstoppable?"

"In the form of Coraline?" Elizabeth asked and her voice suddenly seemed to me much more severe and unapproachable. "What does she know that you've not already told Mick?"

"That she had also been in the labs…"

Elizabeth looked at me unmoved, but I knew that my next words would also be a surprise to her.

"…and that Cynthia betrayed Mick to the Legion, sort of exchanged him for Coraline."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and her mouth opened in silent amazement. She first had to take a couple of quick breaths in order to collect herself again. "Please, _what_?"

"Cynthia knew what they were looking for, what kind of vampire they needed for their research," I explained and with every word I was more aware of how much this whole thing would upset Mick. Not only the fact that I had not told him this before, but the treason itself that had been committed against him would tremendously stir his emotions. It would whip up all of his memories that he had pushed back. This was the only reason why I had withheld this detail for so long.

"She saw it as her only chance to save Coraline," I added.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked the question I would probably hear quite often in the next few hours. Maybe it was time to make friends with it.

"Because it doesn't concern anyone other than Mick, Coraline and Cynthia," I replied and forgot to mention my own need for revenge. "It does not change anything about Cynthia's actual betrayal of the vampire society through her trade with the cure. It would only further fuel the hatred and aggression among us and we really don't need that at the moment."

Between Elizabeth's fine, reddish brows a strong line had formed and I could see how it worked in her pretty head. But eventually she nodded. "You're right. It wouldn't be good to inform the others about that. But you should tell Gabriel. Although for Mick it is indeed too late."

She looked at me with pity and my uneasiness grew again.

"Do you really think that Malik had the right feeling?" I put the little bit of hope I still had into words.

Her lips twisted into this slightly supercilious smile which had previously often given me the feeling of being only a small, silly boy and now still outfaced me a bit. She was, next to Gabriel, the only one who could do this to me.

"Malik is never wrong," she added to her facial expression. "If he feels another vampire, then there is definitely one somewhere in proximity."

Just minutes after Mick had left the porch full of anger, Malik and Max had come out of their rooms and had stated that 'it' was starting. It was absolutely inexplicable to me how Coraline should have caught up with us in this short period of time and I did not really want to believe it, but the two vampires had paid no attention to my objections and had simply set off. They had shouted at me that I was to hold my position in the motel, and thus given me the feeling that I was one of their stupid employees, just as my father had so long ago.

"They'll definitely be here with her soon," Elizabeth's voice again ripped me out of my thoughts. She sighed and in fact looked a bit worried. "This may become very ugly if Mick is really as clueless as you say. I know Coraline, it will be a pleasure for her to drive a wedge between you and your best friend. She will try to win her own advantage from it and intends to present herself as a poor victim of an intrigue."

Elizabeth's voice had become sharper and snider and now in her eyes sparkled this pugnacity that was anything but handy to me. Elizabeth was quite an affable vampire as long as she remained emotionally detached. However, if there were feelings in the game, she could become very unpleasant, almost hysterical. I didn't know when she had changed her mind about Coraline but it was now quite obvious that she herself had long since forgotten her earlier, much friendlier words. Maybe she had talked more generally before than it had seemed to me.

"Can it be that you have a personal problem with this woman?" I asked and tilted my head a bit, studying her facial expressions more closely.

"I just know what this woman is capable of, Josef," she returned almost a little hostile. "I've known her a few years longer than you and I know now what difficulties she had caused Gabriel." She broke off, apparently aware that in her anger things had slipped from her that no one else should know.

"I'm listening." I raised my eyebrows encouragingly. While we were on the subject of 'truths', apparently _He_ had also kept a few secrets from us.

"She's simply in the highest degree selfish and ruthless," Elizabeth eluded me subtly. "She stops at nothing to have her way, to satisfy her needs! And no one can resist her when she plays this little vulnerable and mentally disturbed girl and at the same time smothers every resistance with her naturally erotic…" She wanted to say something more but it seemed her anger made it too difficult to think clearly. She only let her breath in and out several times in place of words.

I put my hand on her shoulder a bit sympathetically. Oh yeah, it really felt good to again be the stronger, the more relaxed one as I looked at her full of understanding.

"You hate her," I explained to her as if she didn't know it herself.

Elizabeth closed her eyes resigned and when she looked at me again she almost seemed to be a little sad. "I wish it were different. For even hate is too much feeling for her, that..." This time her struggle for the right word indeed led to a conclusion: "... bitch!"

Even if I did not want to and the atmosphere was much too gloomy for it, I gave a little laugh… that instantly stuck in my throat.

The energy rush was so strong that I almost had to take a step forward, so strongly it rolled over me. It was not only the different and very old vampires approaching us but also the palpable tension that prevailed among them that had such a strong effect on us, that made us feel them so intensely. I closed my eyes briefly and tried to focus on a very familiar energy field. It really surprised me how quickly I located him, how closely I got to him, even though it was not the first time that I noticed to what an astonishing extent our relationship had intensified.

There it already was, the anger I had been afraid of. So she had already told him something, had already spun the first strings of intrigue.

I opened my eyes again to find that Elizabeth had left my side and approached the front door to open it. She didn't stay there, but once again joined me as if seeking my support. It calmed me somewhat, for it showed me that she urgently wanted to stay strong and calm. After all, it was at least a good intention.

Max was the first one who stepped through the door, as always with a straight face and brisk step. He was followed, as might be expected, by Coraline, beautiful and sexy as ever who was pushed slightly forward by Malik. Her eyes darted immediately to me and Elizabeth and I was able to detect a whiff of uncertainty in them shortly before she let her gaze roam across the room. Mick came in last. His glance grazed me for only one second, but it was enough to tell me that his tension was laced in no small part with great concern and discomfort and less with his already existing anger towards me. But I had no time to think about it, because Coraline caught my attention again.

"Josef," she smiled, and even a little genuine warmth showed in her beautiful eyes as she walked slowly toward me. "It would have surprised me if you hadn't been involved in this action in any way." She looked once more around the poorly furnished small room. "And what burdens you take on…"

I inhaled to reply, but unfortunately Elizabeth was a bit faster.

"We're not here to have a nice small talk with you, Coraline," she growled and immediately stepped up to her. She was slightly smaller than the dark-haired beauty in front of her, but her energetic demeanor made her appear much stronger and more powerful.

Coraline raised an eyebrow visibly confused. "If you take a stake in your hand and attack me, I will begin to really consider whether this irascible behavior towards me maybe goes hand in hand with your name," Coraline uttered in a slightly droning yet melodic voice. Elizabeth looked bewildered but her anger seemed to escalate even more. The noticeable tingling in my neck told me that I was not the only one who felt it, because Malik just stepped between the two women and pushed them apart. That Mick also approached them immediately with obvious concern in his eyes I did not like to see. That was not good. Had Coraline already twisted him around her finger?

"We all should try to stay on a comfortable level for all of us," Malik said firmly. "Maybe we better sit down first." He looked around briefly and found that there were not enough seats in this small room. There was only a bed and two chairs at a small dining table. "Or at least some of us," he added.

"Is this to be a kind of inquisition?" Coraline asked slightly bored and sauntered over to the bed. "Then I'll sit down right here," she stated and sat down on the much too soft mattress with a graceful movement. "On the silver platter," she added, smiling as she slid one of her long, slender legs lasciviously over the other. It was probably good luck for us, at least all of us males, that she wore elegant trousers rather than a short skirt.

"But I must just say that there are a few questions I will answer only to one person," she went on at once.

"You mean to _Him_," Elizabeth concluded grudgingly and the corners of Coraline's mouth lifted even a little more. She added nothing to this but she did not need to.

"Do you truly think you're in a position where you can make this claim?" Elizabeth replied coolly, but to my relief Malik shook his head and in doing so intervened a second time.

"Basically, there are only a few things that currently really matter," he said, "and we'll see how you can help us with them."

"I'm all ears," Coraline responded calmly, leaning back a little, supporting herself with both hands on the bed and letting her full, dark hair with a slight movement of her head fall back off her neck and onto her back. Who this seductive gesture was aimed at was quite clear to me and I cast one more worried glance at my best friend who stood only two feet away from me. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was holding onto himself with sheer tension. His heart was beating quickly and his eyes were glued to Coraline's shape. However, he seemed to be a bit absent, as if he did not hear what she said, did not perceive how she behaved. I knew that look. It revealed that his own thoughts had long since gone into business for themselves, that he was already struggling with problems the others did not even see coming. Only it was currently difficult for me to assess what it was exactly and that made me a bit nervous, especially because Mick's tension grew so quickly.

"Where's Cynthia?" Malik asked very directly and Coraline's smile died down. She avoided his gaze and at once looked far less composed as she sat up. Apparently she had not calculated on this question - or at least not this early.

"That… I don't know," she said and looked up and was able to look at the old vampire again. "I haven't seen her for a long time."

"Oh come on, Coraline," Elizabeth blurted out with a little, stilted laugh. "Who do you think you're kidding? You two are almost like sisters!"

Coraline head flew around to her, her dark eyes sparkling angrily and fixing directly on her face. "That's over. Forever!"

I could not do anything to prevent my eyebrows from lifting up slightly. There was hardly a relationship in Coraline's life that had endured for so many years or had been so dearly held. It was hard to imagine that it should now be over.

"Why?" Malik asked gently and looked at me as Coraline's gaze roamed to me instead of him. I already knew what was coming.

"Because she has done something I cannot forgive her for." Her incredibly beautiful, almost black eyes took on an expression of deep remorse and then scurried to Mick whose tension was rising to a level that would soon even overtake mine. Slowly I realized what roiled him so much. It was not about the past, not about Coraline directly, but rather about what she knew.

"So, now is the story that you, poor innocent thing, got to know that she's a traitor and you were involved in this whole thing against your will?" Elizabeth asked mockingly and in doing so distracted Coraline from Mick for a second time. How quickly Coraline could jump back and forth between sad emotion and deepest anger was almost admirable.

"I don't deny that I worked with Cynthia for a certain time on the further development of the Cure, but that served only my own purposes and the moment Lance took me back it was over," she immediately defended herself. "In fact I knew nothing about Cynthia's dealings with the Legion, or her connection to the_ Cercle_!"

"You say Lance took you back then?" now Max jumped in and she turned to him. "Where were you taken?"

"His job was to take me to _Him_," she explained, "but he didn't do it… couldn't do it."

"Why not?"

"Because the_ Cercle_ interfered," said Coraline. "Hendrik had probably told them where we were and eventually Clement and a few others came to the hotel."

"Hendrik also belonged to the_ Cercle_?" it burst out of me in surprise.

Coraline head spun around to me. "_Belonged_?" she repeated incredulously. She played her role really well - as always.

"He's dead," it came darkly from a completely different direction. Mick had probably decided to no longer just stand by noninvolved, despite his fears and concerns. "Just like this Étienne and this Clement."

Coraline played the speechless one for a moment and cleared her throat a few times. "Well… I don't think this is a reason for me to mourn. In the end they probably got what they deserved."

"What exactly did they want from Lance?" Malik probed.

"They wanted to give me over to the Legion." Coraline's gaze only grazed Malik and then settled on Mick who had dropped his arms at her words and was now staring at her with incredulous horror, his mouth open. "I was there too, Mick, in one of their labs. I know what hell you went through there."

"You… you…" Mick shook his head, not able to get out a complete sentence. His mind seemed not to want to understand what Coraline told him just now. "This… this cannot be. You'd be dead."

"I was there only a few weeks," she said quickly. "And they were more cautious with me than the others. I don't know why, but it was so. But I've seen the others and heard the pain, the anguish they had to go through and I… I'm so terribly sorry, Mick," her voice was in fact full of pity and sorrow, "if you only knew how much. All you had to go through…"

She broke off, because Mick defensively raised both hands and shook his head, an almost pained expression on his face. With all the emotions and memories that were boiling up in him, he seemed to find it extremely difficult to keep control, to focus.

"A couple of weeks, Coraline?" he brought out between two heavy breaths. "Why only a few weeks?"

Oh, oh, not a good question! That would go wrong!

"Cynthia freed me," Coraline explained.

"How?" Mick pressed through gritted teeth. His mind was too sharp to not already divine the answer himself.

His former wife could not stand up to his pressing gaze and looked down at the worn carpet in the motel room. "At first she didn't tell me how, but she made a deal with the Legion. She… she sold them someone else for me."

"Me," Mick said this time very softly, he closed his eyes briefly and shook his head once again. A small, desperate laugh came from his lips. I knew what he thought, our last conversation was still too fresh in my memory… coincidence or destiny? 'The evil intrigue of other people' I wanted to answer. But I did not as I had no real time to do it.

Coraline looked at Mick sadly. "Cynthia had learned what they were looking for and saw this as a chance to save me. You have to believe me, Mick, if she had told me that she had sacrificed you for me, I would have done something much sooner. I would have moved heaven and earth to get you out there. But I only found out about two months ago and at that time I was not even in LA. All I could do was to send a message to Josef with the few hints I had about your whereabouts at that time."

Ah, there it was, the little kick in my direction and it worked perfectly well: Mick's gaze shot over to me and I felt a wave of anger against me flare up inside him. 'You knew all of this?' his eyes asked and I returned his gaze as calmly as I could, trying to make him understand that this was not the right time and place to discuss this, that we would talk later about it. Amazingly, this seemed to satisfy him for he turned his gaze away from me. His chest expanded visibly in an attempt to breathe as deeply and calmly as possible. It seemed as if it wasn't that simple for his ex-wife anymore to make my friend her puppet. His lips pressed tightly together until they formed only a fine line and he crossed his arms over his chest again, probably trying to win back control over his emotions.

In Coraline's eyes next to her genuine compassion appeared a hint of confusion.

"What I don't quite understand about this story," Max seized the questioning, "is why the Legion needed you and Mick so desperately for their tests."

The dark-haired beauty in our midst tore herself reluctantly away from Mick and turned to Max. "I'm not sure, but I think it is related to our blood type… and our ancestry."

Something in the way she said it was strange. The sound of her voice, the sparkle in her eyes… She was not being quite honest.

"Which ancestry?" Max probed, but Coraline leaned back again and smiled in that strange way that only she possessed.

"I think we are getting close to a matter that is only meant for a few ears in this world."

"You mean Gabriel's blood line," Elizabeth voiced what I had long since foreseen, but it was not her _words_ that caused an unpleasant shiver to run down my back, but more the warning glance that Malik cast at Elizabeth. Secrets… secrets everywhere! That slowly made me sick!

Even Coraline looked surprised… and a little amused that Elizabeth had been carried away by her hatred enough to let out such utterances.

Max, who also didn't seem to like secrets, wrinkled his forehead with slight annoyance and stepped still closer to Coraline. "What exactly does that mean?"

Coraline eyed him up briefly from top to bottom and then let out a small sigh. "There's no blood in this world that is older, more precious and purer than his. Its effects are strong, stronger than any other blood that can be drawn from the veins of a vampire. In our ranks, it's not for nothing that it's forbidden to shed the blood of the Ancients..." Her eyes wandered over all our faces and unsurprisingly remained again with Mick. "And there are no other vampires that the cure works so well with as the vampires from Gabriel's direct bloodline."

"And why is that?" Max asked one of the questions that also haunted me.

"Because he created it," Mick of all people answered his question and in doing so not only surprised Coraline and me but probably everyone else in this room. "It's probably made directly for him and was matched to his blood."

"_He_ made the cure?" I repeated stunned and still could not really believe it, although it all made quite a bit of sense.

"Together with two other Ancients," now Malik said rather reluctantly. It was written on his face how much discomfort it gave him to talk about this and he just did it to present everything in the proper light.

"But why?" I could not help but ask. It was hard to believe that this so incredibly powerful vampire had ever had the desire to again become a weak, mortal human. This idea was deeply repugnant to me.

"That you would have to ask him yourself," Malik replied with a joyless smile. "I only know that he recollected himself quickly and locked the Cure away to hide it from the world."

"But Luis stole it," I remembered with a thoughtful frown. "And he refined it for himself and his family, who all somehow also belonged to Gabriel's bloodline."

Coraline nodded with a small smile. "That's why I could give it to Mick without hesitation - he belongs through me to this bloodline."

"And what has all this to do with the blood _type_?" Max took up the other thread that Coraline had previously rolled out so generously.

"Oh, that is a different story," she smiled. "Or not really..." She lifted her brows up in a thoughtful frown then shook her head briefly. "Anyway, people with certain blood types transform more quickly into vampires and have far fewer problems with the metamorphosis. Why it is like that, I don't know. I only know that the Legion was informed about this and has started to use this information for their research. Vampires with the same blood group as mine and Mick's have during such experiments a much higher chance of survival than others. And vampires who have both a rare blood type _and_ Gabriel's blood are extremely rare."

"And why did they let you go then?" Max probed. "Why was Mick more appropriate?"

"Because… because I'm younger," Mick managed to say only with strain. "Frank told me that my age was almost perfect… but I still have no idea what he meant by that." He gave Coraline a questioning look but she only shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"I don't know anything else," she added to her gesture and I was even tempted to believe her. There was such a look of cluelessness in her eyes.

"And that tells us again how much we need Frank Peterson to help us get to the plans of the Legion," I said with a deep sigh.

"This is the doctor who was with you for a long time, right?" Coraline asked and I nodded thoughtfully.

"And we absolutely have to find him," I admitted. "Coraline, you say you have also been in one of their labs. Do you remember whether it was outside or inside a city?"

"It must have been somewhere in LA," she said quickly, and again a pensive wrinkle formed between her dark, finely arched eyebrows. She tried to concentrate to remember. "They had me drugged and I saw everything only very vaguely, but I'm sure that we had not driven long until they passed me to Cynthia. And we were then in LA. Of this I'm sure. But I can't tell you where, however."

"Was the lab in a cellar, a basement?" Max asked.

The line between her brows deepened, her eyes got smaller. "That may be… Yeah, I think so." She lowered her eyelids shortly, focused more on the pictures in her memory. "It was all sterile, bright, and terribly cold. But there were also other rooms on upper floors and an elevator. There it was more like… a hospital."

"_Hospital_?" Mick repeated and his voice nearly cracked. Coraline gave him a confused look and then nodded. He turned away from her, ran his hands over his temples and head, entwined them on his neck and closed his eyes. The meter high wave of concern which had washed over him unfortunately also seized me with its tails. If Coraline was not mistaken, then the probability that Beth and Simone would walk into the lion's den tomorrow morning had just increased by at least eighty percent.

Coraline was still a little confused. "Is that… bad?" she asked Mick who now took a few steps across the room because his emotions threatened to boil over once again. I had the feeling that he really was on the verge of jumping into the car and racing like a madman to an airport to take the first plane to LA.

"No, quite the opposite," I said in a tone that belied my words. Too much gnawed also at me the ever-growing concern that the two people who probably fought for us right now at the cutting edge were still completely clueless. Of course, that meant the deep line between Coraline's brows could not truly disappear.

"This is actually very helpful," Malik added. "Can you remember any other things?"

She shook her head but seemed a little distracted because her eyes again and again wandered to Mick, who, though he had once again approached us, gave a very nervous and impatient impression. "Only a few faces."

"Then perhaps we should call Logan to see if he can mail us Ritchcroft's files," Max suggested.

"We could also instantly fly to LA together," Mick jumped in immediately. "Coraline is now with us and Gabriel wanted to talk to her anyway. What would keep us here any longer?"

"The agreement was that we meet the day after tomorrow!" Elizabeth countered unusually strict. "So we'll wait and see what else your ex-wife has to tell us." She cast an exaggeratedly loving smile at Coraline and was probably unaware that she was dealing with Mick who had a stubborn streak even _I_ often had a tough time with.

"We assumed before that Coraline would arrive here _tomorrow_," he replied in a harsh voice and Elizabeth turned to him angrily. "But as she's already here probably all previous agreements lapse. And we no longer live in the Middle Ages, there are phones one can use to clarify this!"

I didn't like the angry sparkle in Elizabeth's eyes. Somehow she had become in the last minutes incredibly tetchy and since Mick was currently in no way inferior to her in that respect, this was anything but a harmless situation.

"Phoning is a good idea," I tried to step in soothingly but Elizabeth ignored me by simply taking a step toward Mick.

"What is this about?" she asked warily. "Can't you bear it that your sweetheart is in search of adventure or…" She was in a split second at Coraline's side, who jumped up reflexively and immediately transformed. "…are you afraid that I could lay a finger on your ex-wife?"

She now didn't look at Mick but at Coraline who automatically moved backwards to Mick, instinctively looking for his protection. She felt just like I did, that Elizabeth had catapulted herself into a state that was quite precarious and, above all, very dangerous.

"Liz," I heard Malik say softly and he took a step toward the red-haired beauty who was following Coraline with a burning gaze.

"You men are all the same," she growled at him and avoided him to continue on her way. "You let yourself get lulled by beauty and false words. But she's hiding so much from us."

The threat, which was in her words and her now very bright eyes, escaped none of us, especially not Mick who pushed Coraline with a rapid movement behind him just as Elizabeth's hand reached out for her.

"Relax!" it slipped in a dull growl from his lips and I also made a step toward my Sire. Although I did not like to admit it, at the moment it was not my best friend who was behaving strangely. Elizabeth stopped and let out an angry laugh. "You stand up against us? For _her_?"

"Liz, calm down," now I also tried to get through to her and touched her arm, but she shook my hand off angrily not taking her gaze away from Mick's threatening sparkling eyes.

"_Gabriel_ will talk to her and nobody else," Mick repeated his words and I knew that was a big mistake.

Elizabeth uttered an angry growl and threw herself to one side to get past Mick at Coraline. But in the next moment she was pushed away with such force that she flew past Malik and Max and crashed into the nearest wall. However, she was a very old vampire and combat proven. Within seconds she was back on her feet and leaped with a deadly growl at Mick. The attack came so fast that even I could not intervene, even though everything in me shouted to do just that. But the speed with which Mick responded made it impossible even for my trained eyes to follow his movements. All I saw was the effect left by his actions. Coraline landed in the corner beside the bed out of Elizabeth's reach, whose leap somehow led to nowhere and in the blink of an eye she hit the next wall with her back. Only this time a strong hand had wrapped around her neck and a male body, strained to the utmost, threw himself against her and caught her between himself and the wall, breathing heavily and with teeth bared. I blinked a few times, stunned. I had only seen _one_ other vampire before who could move so quickly, and that was Gabriel.

"Calm… down!" I heard Mick hiss between clenched teeth and I was not sure that he actually spoke with Elizabeth.

Malik was the first one of us who collected himself quickly enough to slowly approach the two of them. I followed him right away because I was not really sure on whose side this strange guy was and I wanted to intervene in time if the situation escalated even further.

Elizabeth fought back with a vengeance against Mick, growled hissed and kicked, but he did not let go, no matter how hard she tried to get free. It only made my friend grab her even more firmly and make her gasp for air.

"Okay, as much as I would love to participate in this nice cozy snuggle-round," I began to speak before Malik could do it, "I think that _this_ is not the appropriate moment."

Neither Elizabeth nor Mick looked at me. Their bright eyes had caught like their bodies. I cast a slightly worried look at Malik, who had now approached the two as closely as me, but his eyes were fixated only on Elizabeth, which told me that he also saw _her_ as the greater problem. My intestines knotted nevertheless, when the Assassin raised his hand to interfere for I feared that Mick would ward him off. But that did not happen. Instead, my friend detached his hand from Elizabeth's throat as if he had coordinated this with Malik and the Assassin touched her neck shortly. I did not quite understand what he was doing, but the next moment Elizabeth collapsed and Mick caught her quickly and let Malik take her from his arms.

I was upset and shocked, but also incredibly fascinated. I had heard of these tricks and handles of the Ancients, but had never before been able to witness such a thing myself. To knock out a vampire so quickly and effectively was a stunning performance that simply earned my respect. And it really tickled me to learn something like that once as well.

Malik carried Elizabeth over to the bed and gently laid her down. Then he looked over at me. "I knew that this would happen," he explained slightly saddened. "But in this condition she's no help to us. I will take her away and then come back to you later." His gaze wandered to Mick who still seemed to be pretty upset to me although he tried to breathe more calmly and to get out of his vampire state.

"You should indeed go to LA," Malik continued. "I don't think Gabriel has anything against it. And if the laboratory in fact lies beneath the hospital, we will all have to gather there quickly anyway."

I nodded with understanding and the concern in my heart blossomed anew. To crowd the Legion voluntarily wasn't such a good feeling. And when I looked at Mick I knew he was thinking much the same way, except his fear was overshadowed by his concern for Beth.

I noticed now that Coraline had moved out of her corner and stepped up to Mick. She tried to smile but one could see that my friend had not only_ impressed_ her with his new skills but had also _frightened_ her slightly. Nevertheless, it was very clear to me that her interest in him had certainly not decreased.

"I… I thank you," it slipped very softly from her lips and caused Mick to raise his gaze and look at her. He shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"This wasn't about you, Coraline," he said lowly, then simply turned around, went to the door and left the motel room to get some fresh air. A hint of hurt appeared for a moment in Coraline's beautiful dark eyes, but when our eyes met it was gone and had made room for something else: the knowledge that this was only half the truth. Knowledge that I shared with her. Truths are a class apart - sometimes they can become really uncomfortable.


	19. In the Realm of the Dead

_I thank all of you so, so much for your feedback. It's great to hear most of you understand that I had to build up the Coraline-storyline and can live with it. And to those who have stronger problems with that: Just trust me. I will do my best to stay true to the characters and build up a logic story with some twist and turns that leads to an end I would have wanted to see on TV. And remember I'll always stay a true Mick/Beth-shipper. And now I let you all go on reading and hope you'll leave me a little comment. Will be back at Thursday. Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_Translated by: Cleo 28_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**I****n the Realm of the Dead**

To become a reporter had been the right decision – Beth knew this now. Of course, the job could be stressful and at times very demanding but she enjoyed it and it was great being your own boss most of the time. To be a nurse – even for a day - was sheer horror. Especially, if you were just a lowly nurses assistant. Then you had less to do with the actual patients themselves and more to do with their excretions. Wiping, cleaning, changing all types of bandages, catheters and bedpans, making beds, disposing of waste - and what a waste! – and letting the other nurses and doctors boss you around and bark at you - that was what took up the largest part of her work, at least for that day. And she couldn't even take advantage of a real break because she had to use that time for the task that she had to suffer this whole ordeal for in the first place: to look around for suspicious persons and events, and possibly get a glimpse into the basement at some point.

Well, the glimpse into the basement part arose mainly out her own need rather than from any of the other participants in this action and because up to now they had been quite unsuccessful in their search for possible Legionaries. Gabriel had even forbidden them to go into the basement alone after he had received a phone call, but since he didn't really want get into the reason why, Beth was dying to defy the ban. Not to mention that she was still a little peeved with the old vampire since he hadn't given her the opportunity to have a say in the action or the decision-making. Rather he, Logan and Guillermo had planned the entire operation single-handedly and she and Simone were basically relegated to simple executive helpers. Something she didn't care for at all. Sometimes men were worse than mother hens and hated giving you credit for_ any_thing…

Apart from that, it had also frustrated her to no end, to not be given the opportunity to talk with Gabriel alone. There was so much she needed to ask him, still so many things that were gnawing at her, which he could have put her mind at ease with if he had just given her a moment of his time for a private conversation. And then there was that conversation of Lance's she had overheard. An urgent burning inside told her she needed to tell Gabriel about it but she just didn't know how to approach him with it because he seemed so sure he could trust Lance – quite different than it had been in Mexico. She wondered where that came from and because of all that and the lack of options to speak with the old vampire, it had irritated her even more. It had almost seemed at times as if he were deliberately trying to evade her, so after a while she just resigned herself to focus on her mission and gave up trying to question him.

Having to get up at five o'clock in the morning was just one of many negative aspects of this job and so she had started her day off grumbling. She was simply not a morning person and it was definitely not her most active time of day. In addition, Beth hadn't felt quite comfortable in her skin when she had initially entered the clinic. The idea that somewhere in the building a staff of the Legion could possibly be sneaking around was pretty scary. But Logan really had put together an excellent operation along with Gabriel and Guillermo. She and Simone had been accepted at the hospital without any problems and a, not so friendly, head nurse had instructed them on their duties. Beth, at first, hadn't liked the fact that she had been separated from Simone but hadn't been able to do anything about it. It actually turned out better this way since they were now able to sift through different areas of the hospital without attracting too much attention. That the work would have taken up so much of their time, none of them could have divined, nor the fact that nothing, absolutely _nothing_ suspicious was going on.

It was now already early afternoon and Beth felt broken, tired and worn out, when she was finally able to take, after what felt like an eternity, another twenty-minute break. She shuffled tired into the break room of her section and went straight for the counter where the coffee maker was. It was hard for her to ignore her aching feet that were shouting at her to sit down first but her need for this hot, invigorating liquid was even greater. With a deep sigh she poured herself a cup, added some milk and sugar and could only manage to bring herself to look around once she had taken a large sip of the drink.

The room was empty. There was no one in either the cozy sitting area or any other hidden corner of the room. Apparently everyone had something else to do at the moment - or some had already gone home for the day, the lucky ones. A hint of melancholy grabbed Beth when she thought of her beloved little apartment, which was no longer allowed to be her home. Basically, there was no more real home for her anymore, at least when it came to buildings. She now felt she was only home when she was with Mick…

Mick. Strange, it wasn't a pleasant feeling that went through her when she thought of him this time. No, actually it wasn't strange at all, for she knew it wasn't him who caused it but the thought of whom he would soon be with, would spend his time with. Heat boiled up inside her and rose up in her cheeks. How she hated this woman. She knew only too well that she was going to try it again, to try and wrap Mick around her little finger, to take him away from her. And that made her livid even though she knew how important it was to get as much information about the Legion out of this woman as they could. But the sting of hatred and fear which Coraline had inflicted on her at their last meeting, was still too deep, could not be withdrawn so easily - not even over the great distance that lay between them now. Just knowing that Mick would be talking to her, that he was going to be with her brought Beth's blood to boil, and brought back images she didn't really want to think about; not only the shadowy, gruesome memories of her kidnapping, but also the memory of how Coraline had slowly come down the stairs in Mick's apartment, wearing only his shirt and a provocative smile on her lips. 'I won', she had wanted to tell her with that look and the shocked expression on Mick's face, his stammered words, had only made Beth angrier.

She shuddered inwardly and took another big sip of coffee while she shuffled over to the couch. Yes, all right – so she couldn't compete with the elegance and sex appeal of a Coraline DuVall.

'You've got to stop thinking about this woman!' she muttered to herself inwardly and sat down tired on the soft upholstery. It had been a wise decision to participate in the action here. No matter how unsuccessful they were, at least for now it had prevented her from going for Mick's ex-wife's throat immediately or from hatefully having to watch her sidling up to him. Nevertheless, thoughts of her were taking up far too much space in her head. Maybe this was why she hadn't found anything. She needed to concentrate more, keep her thoughts in the here and now.

Beth moved her head a little, trying to resolve the tension in her neck and was frustrated when her scalp began to itch once again. This happened every time the dark-haired wig she wore moved – yet another agony she couldn't escape, for it would immediately attract attention if she shoved a hand under her hair to scratch herself. Although… Beth quickly looked around once more. Actually, there wasn't anyone here. She put her cup down in front of her and grabbed a pen that was there. Another glance over her shoulder and the pen was already under the wig, scratching so wonderful over this itchy sweaty part of her head and… oops, it was gone, had slipped completely under the hair. Darn it! Beth looked around again. From somewhere she heard footsteps but she couldn't possibly leave the thing under the wig. It pinched far too much and there was surely a bump to be seen somewhere.

This was again so typical for her! Something like this surely would never happen to a Coraline DuVall. Her fingers pushed hastily under the wig, groping for the treacherous pen and grabbed one end of it. A jerk - a painful jerk - and then the pen was back in her hand. Just in time, for almost at the same moment she perceived a figure dressed in pink hurriedly coming into the break room.

Beth put on a friendly smile and turned to face her. Relief seized her as she looked into the beautiful, smiling face of Simone's, who was headed straight for the coffee machine.

"Nice highlights… Hannah," she said with a slight nod in her direction and Beth raised her hand to her temple surprised. In fact, a fine strand of her blonde hair had come loose from the grip of the tight wig. Annoyed she stuffed it back into place.

"It itches terribly, doesn't it?" Simone looked at her sympathetically as she also poured herself some coffee. She was wearing a blond pageboy haircut, which would have looked rather silly on any other woman - Simone looked like a hot blonde, even with the glasses she wore. Figures.

Beth sighed deeply and hard. "Can you still feel your feet?" she asked wearily. Simone came over to her and sat down exhausted on the armchair opposite her.

"What feet?" she responded and Beth allowed herself a small smile. She soon became serious again and leaned a bit forward to her friend. "So? Have you come across anything suspicious?" she asked softly.

Simone shook her head. "Dr. Miller is sleeping with nurse Claire, nurse Rosie has been missing now for three weeks and is probably skipping work, Dr. Hatcher is pregnant and no one knows by whom, and Dr. Thomsen is probably gay - but I don't think those are the kind things we're interested in."

Beth let out a chuckle. "You seem to have your ears everywhere…"

"Pure routine," Simone said with a grin. "Law firms make the best scandal houses…"

The look and smile the young lawyer now conveyed caused Beth to slightly wrinkle her forehead. "What?"

"Well, there's yet another rumor going around," she grinned.

Beth let one of her eyebrows move upwards questioningly.

"It's said that the young Dr. Feddar has cast a covetous eye on you."

Beth groaned loudly, rolled her eyes and fell back against the backrest of the couch. She too had noticed that one of the younger doctors had on several occasions conspicuously summoned her to his side to show her certain things and had charged her with smaller, less strenuous tasks in his proximity. And his eyes spoke volumes. So it was no big surprise this was also picked up by others.

Simone had to laugh. "Come on, he's not an unappealing man," she said. "Actually he's just your type: Tall, dark, beautiful eyes…"

Beth furrowed her brows doubting. "Fat chance," she muttered, although she had to admit that she hadn't really looked at him that close. "And he's not really doctor yet anyway, only an intern."

Simone again responded with a laugh but then was distracted by something behind Beth.

"Speak of the devil…" she muttered grinning and now Beth even heard the steps and saw that someone had entered the room.

"Oh, is it finally time for a short break?" a little lighter male voice inquired and Beth really had to struggle with her smile when she turned. The somewhat lanky-looking, boyish demigod in white returned her kindness with great enthusiasm, but also headed for the coffee machine first.

"Yes, otherwise someone is going to have to carry me out of the hospital by this evening," Beth replied kindly, and yet dared to really eye up the man for the first time. Simone was right. He was not unattractive, and there was actually something about him that indeed reminded her of Mick, although he didn't really look like him. He was much younger and built more delicately, had much softer facial features. But the warmth and temperament in his eyes…

"I think there're probably a lot of men here who wouldn't mind doing that at all," he replied charmingly and Beth laughed in a quite silly way. How good it felt to dally a bit with other men. Anything Coraline could do, she could do better…

Unfortunately, this little pleasure wasn't to last for very long for at that precise moment one of the other doctors stormed into the room.

"Do you have a lot to do right now, Zach?" said the slightly older doctor hurried. Dr. Feddar shook his head.

"Then can you bring Mr. Smith down to the pathology?"

This time a nod was enough for a reply. The other doctor gave his colleague a grateful smile and was gone again.

Dr. Feddar looked at her and shrugged his shoulders a bit helplessly. "There goes my well-earned break…" He let out a small sigh and put his coffee cup back on the shelf again. "Who needs a comfortable break room when he can also spend a little time in the pathology?"

Beth let out a little laugh. The doctor winked briefly and then disappeared from the room. But something in Beth's head began to churn. There was an important idea forming far too slowly…

"Wow, he's really fond of you," Simone smiled at her, but Beth didn't respond.

"Did he just say 'pathology'?" it slipped from her lips tensed.

Simone gave her a confused look. "Yeah…"

"That's in the basement!" Beth was already up before she had even finished the sentence and stormed off immediately. That was _the _idea!

"Oh no, Beth, please!" she could hear Simone call, but her plan was clear - resolute. A genius idea! And so inconspicuous!

In the hall she looked around briefly and found 'her' Doc in front of one of the elevators. She didn't hesitate and immediately rushed up to him, putting on her best smile.

"Be… Hannah," she heard Simone call behind her, but she didn't stop. Dr. Feddar looked in her direction and his face lit up immediately. However, he wrinkled his brows quizzically when she finally reached him.

"I've decided to accompany you," she beamed at him. "You've made pathology sound soo pleasant to me…"

His dark eyes flashed pleased and he gave a little laugh. She almost felt sorry that she was exploiting him this way.

"Do you really want to accompany me down there?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well, sure… I guess as a good nurse I should get to know every place here. Even the scary areas," she said in this flirtatious tone that made a lot of men very nervous. "And in a pinch there's a strong man at my side…"

The next, much more throaty laughter of the doctor proved that her banter hadn't failed its effect this time either.

"And one can talk undisturbed," he added, and the gaze he examined her with briefly, was now more than obvious. Jesus, this could turn out to be more problematic than she thought.

"Can I come with you on this spine-chilling tour?" Simone's voice was heard behind Beth and it had an undertone that could very well cause man's blood to boil. Dr. Feddar stared at her a little perplexed and winced slightly when the door of the elevator opened with a soft 'ping'. He blinked a few times.

"Uh, yeah, of course," he stammered, and then grabbed, a bit cramped, the bed with the body and pushed it into the elevator. Simone threw a warning glance at Beth when they both followed the doctor in and Beth knew exactly what she was trying to say: 'Just a quick look, then we need to leave immediately!'

Beth still tried sharing a mischievous smile with the young doctor when the elevator took off quickly, but his mild tension didn't disappear. Two women who were seemingly interested in him at the same time appeared to somewhat overwhelm him. And he seemed almost relieved when the elevator doors opened again and he was no longer locked in such a confined space with both of them.

"So, this way," he said, pointing to the left, immediately pushing the gurney in that direction.

Beth threw a glance towards the corridor in the other direction. There were several closed doors and at the end of the hallway another elevator.

"And what's back there?" she asked quite frankly as they followed the young doctor.

He threw a brief glance over his shoulder and frowned. "Honestly, I don't really know. I haven't worked here that long. But Matty can tell you I'm sure." He headed for a partly windowed double door and pushed it open with the gurney.

The room that lay behind it was wide, had four examination tables, two of which were occupied, all kinds of medical equipment and carts with other utensils and the typical refrigerated drawers for bodies that lined one of the walls. Just a normal pathology room. Nothing Beth hadn't seen before. Simone, however, gave a slightly disgusted impression, which was probably due to the smell emanating from the bodies that couldn't be ignored.

Only one man in typically green pathologist's clothes was currently busy here and approached them with a broad smile, immediately eyeing her and Beth up. He was not very tall, wore his peroxide hair in an interesting flattop cut and had a round, friendly face with brown eyes, twinkling merrily.

"I didn't expect such lovely visitors today," he grinned at them both. "Otherwise I'd have baked a cake and made some coffee…"

He looked at the young doctor who had just pushed the gurney next to one of the tables with a requesting glance.

"Matt, this is Hannah Jonas and…" He cast a help-seeking glance at Simone.

"Daria McField," she said with a charming smile and offered her hand to the pathologist that he accepted willingly and immediately examined her with favor again. He seemed to like what he saw very much.

"They're new here and wanted to see the pathology," Dr. Feddar added explaining.

"Well, then…" Matt spread his arms in a presenting gesture. "Welcome to the realm of the dead! Shall I give you a little guided tour?" He laughed and Beth tried to laugh as well although she didn't feel like it right now. The steadily increasing desire to look around thoroughly caused an uneasy tingling in her body.

"Oh, a guided tour sounds nice," Simone said, winking playfully at the pathologist.

"Well, then…" he grinned and made a sweeping turn on his heels. "This is our small collecting point. All patients who pass away up there among our gods in white," he pointed to the ceiling and Dr. Feddar rolled his eyes, "end up down here. Here we test – _we_ usually being Stacy and I – to be sure the doctors haven't made a mistake with the data concerning their patient's death…"

"Gosh, Matty, quit showing off so damn much!" the young doctor couldn't help saying and vigorously put a hand on his hip.

"What? It's the truth…"

"All dead people first come here?" Beth repeated. "From the whole building?"

The pathologist was nodding but then stopped hesitantly. His eyes narrowed slightly while he looked at her face thoughtful for a moment. Finally, a strange knowing smile showed on his lips.

"Then you've probably heard about it…"

She tried not to show her surprise but simply nodded, even returning his smile.

"Of what?" Dr. Feddar inquired slightly confused.

"Well, the horror stories from the basement," Matt tried to make his voice sound particularly dark and sinister - but he didn't need to. An icy shiver had already run down her back.

"Oh, those are just silly stories from the students'," the young doctor beckoned with a laugh.

"And what are they about?" Simone probed now.

Matt waggled his eyebrows, a broad grin on his face. "Supposedly every now and then the body of a patient no one has ever seen before will appear, always on the nights Stacy is working alone," he said softly in a gloomy voice. "And then she brings them into _the_ _room_…," he leaned conspiratorially towards them, "... to quietly and secretly _eat them_!" he uttered the last words so abruptly that Beth and Simone indeed flinched. Then he burst out into loud laughter.

Dr. Feddar rolled his eyes once more and looked at the two women apologetically. "I'm really sorry. Matty's a bit crazy… you probably get that way down here as time goes by…" He shrugged his shoulders a bit helplessly but Beth's attention had long since returned to the pathologist again.

"What's _the_ _room_?" she asked with interest and in doing so caused the young man's laughter to die away quite quickly.

"It's a room on the other side of the hall that's always kept locked," he said with a grin. "And only our Zombie-Stacy has access to it – that's in fact true. If I go in there, I'll get fired. And the funniest part is yet to come…" He looked at his friend who contracted his brows critically.

"Today I peeked through the window and imagine that: there's an actually body bag inside!"

Beth's heart began to beat a little faster now. "Really?" she asked, now not only playing the inquisitive girl. "Can you show us the room? I just loooove scary stuff!" she cackled silly and Simone joined in half-heartedly.

Matt shrugged. "Sure - if we four can get together after work…" He raised his eyebrows questioningly and Beth gave him and the doctor a radiant smile.

"You bet!" she gave back joyfully and Matt's broad, happy grin was back immediately.

"Well, then…" He pushed past her and Simone and walked ahead of them out of the room. Of course, their path led them directly to the area of the corridor that Beth had seemed suspicious of from the start.

"Where does this elevator lead to," she asked when they had approached it.

"Just down to research," the pathologist said soberly.

"Research?" Beth repeated keen-eared.

"Yeah, for viral diseases. Only selected personnel under the strictest security measures are allowed to go down there. No admittance for average people like us."

He stopped now in front of another windowed door and switched on the light from outside. One of the neon lights in the ceiling came on, the other just flickered restlessly and cast a sinister aura on the small, brightly tiled room. There was just one stretcher on which a shape wrapped in a body bag was lying.

"He'll be probably be cremated tonight as far as I know," Beth heard Matt telling at her side. "Stacy wasn't ready with her examination and, like I said, she didn't want me to handle the job. She loves to appear mysterious…"

"And you… you put up with that?" Beth probed provocatively and it was only now that she felt how tense Simone was. Her eyes kept returning conspicuously to the elevator. But inside of Beth an urgent need had formed to get a look at the body. Her gut feeling was that this was a vampire. And if that was true then that would be more than enough evidence to prove the so-called research facility beneath their feet did indeed belong to the Legion.

"Well, yeah, what else should I do?" Matt replied. "Risk my job to follow up on some silly ghost stories?"

Simone audibly cleared her throat behind her now. "Uh, Hannah, our break will be over soon. Maybe we should be getting back upstairs…"

But Beth ignored her. This was simply too important. "Do you have a key to the room," she asked Matt bluntly.

He hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Because lately Stacy has had to leave so often. And someone has to be able to get into all rooms."

She raised her eyebrows a bit and her lips twisted into a wide grin.

Matt understood her immediately. "Oh, no, I can't go in there. Honestly. I want to keep my job!"

"You only need to unlock it," she said. "I'll just go inside for a second and see if anyone's been gnawing at the corpse, and then I'll leave - and the secret surrounding Zombie-Stacy will be solved."

"That's complete nonsense," Dr. Feddar interfered again, giving now a slightly nervous impression. "And your break is already over."

"Exactly," Simone agreed with him and looked at Beth urgently. Only Matt seemed not to have quite decided. He seemed to like the idea, to finally know what was in fact going on with this body.

"Come on, Matty," Beth uttered with a wicked tone of voice and looked at him up from below. "I will be really fast! Don't be a coward!"

There it was, the grin she had been waiting for. The grip into his pocket and the tinkling of a bunch of keys made Beth's heart beat speed up once more. Matt looked around briefly, put one of the keys into the lock and opened the door.

"I'll give you two minutes," he whispered to her and she quickly pushed past him into the room, hurried in the flickering light of the neon lights toward the body bag. Her heart was pounding up into her throat and her fingers were shaking when she grabbed the zipper and pulled it down quickly. First, an ashy nose came appeared and a smell hit her that caused her to stumble backwards a little and made her grimace. Why did corpses always have to smell so horrible?

"Hurry!" Matt's voice pierced her ear and she grabbed courageously the rims of the bag, pulled them open over the face of the dead and backed off once more in disgust. Corpses in general were not very pleasant to look at but this one… It almost looked like a mummy, completely dried, with sunken cheeks and wrinkled skin. But the hair was dark and full, like the one of a young man's. Additionally a nasty festering bloody rash had spread from the cheek of the corpse down to the chest, and his face was distorted, as if the man had died in horrible pain.

"And? Did she gnaw at him?" Matt's not very serious question came from the door.

Beth shook her head in disgust. "Certainly not," she uttered quietly. Everything in her rebelled against looking at the corpse in more detail but she _had_ to do it, had to check one other thing. Her trembling fingers moved to the slightly opened mouth of the dead man. She swallowed hard and had to fight against the feeling of nausea as her fingers met the cold skin. It wasn't hard and immovable like she had expected but still surprisingly supple so she was able to easily raise the upper lip slightly. Almost a joyful sound escaped her. There they were, clearly visible: the fangs of a vampire. She had been right, she had been damn right!

"What are you doing?" Matt whispered to her. "You're supposed to look at the rest of the body not just the teeth. What do you want to be - a dentist or something?"

Beth shook her head, grabbed the zipper and easily pulled it up again, then turned on her heel and hurried to the door. Matt gave her a questioning look, which she responded to with a small grin.

"They're just stories," she said with a shrug and he looked almost a bit disappointed when he closed the door behind her. Beth turned to Simone and Dr. Feddar and noticed from the corner of her eye that he let his pager disappear in the pocket of his coat before he looked at her. He was a little pale around the nose and didn't seem to feel comfortable in his skin anymore.

"Apparently you're just not cut out for great adventures, are you Doc?" she tried to chase away the slightly tense atmosphere between them with a loose flirting voice. But the smile the young doctor gave her was more tormented than convincing. He turned to his friend who had answered Beth's comment with a small laugh.

"Can you finally take care of the guy I brought down to you just now," he asked a little unnerved and Matt raised his eyebrows with a mixture of astonishment and anger.

"Why are you so pissed off now?" he asked bluntly. "We were just having a little fun!"

"Maybe for you," the doctor growled and Simone took advantage of the debate between the two to grab Beth's arm and pull her with her.

"Come, our break is already over," she murmured, and Beth really wanted to follow her, but there was suddenly a hand grabbing her arm and holding her.

Beth looked up in surprise to Dr. Feddar's tense face and a strange feeling came over her when she discovered an upset flickering in his eyes.

"Wait, please," he said urgently and then looked back at Matt. "I'll now arrange our date and you return to your work, please. Dr. Thomsen said he would need the results in the next hour."

Did he really say that?

Matt cast a slightly disappointed look at the two women and then shrugged his shoulders. "Okay," he said and still gave Beth and Simone a smirk. "See you later then…"

Beth had the urge to hold him and persuade him to accompany them upstairs because the doctor's firm grip slowly started to frighten her. But she was unable to make herself to do it because another part of her grumbled at her and insulted her for being so stupid. So she let it happen that Matt disappeared to the other side of pathology and left them alone with the nervous doctor.

"So, maybe it would be better if we went upstairs to discuss everything," Simone proposed with a seductive smile but the doctor didn't respond, instead he looked at Beth almost sadly.

"Why did you do such a thing?" he asked urgently and not only caused her confusion but allowed her fear grow even stronger. A mechanical noise behind him made Beth wince. With horror she noticed that the elevator had started moving._The_ Elevator. Someone from below was coming up to them for some reason. She already had a premonition who or what that reason was…

"It… it was just for fun," she brought out not very convincing, and tried to free her arm from the firm grip of his long fingers while her heart took on a pace that couldn't be healthy in the long run.

"She often does such crazy things," Simone agreed with her and threw a frightened glance behind her because now the regular elevator had started to move as well. One could see that she now had the same bad fears as Beth did.

Dr. Feddar's cheek muscles twitched suspect and his dark eyes seemed to be trying to pierce her. "Why did you look into this man's mouth?" his next words confirmed her frightening presumption and Beth's heart stumbled a bit, just to take on an insane speed. She didn't know what to say, how she could get out of this delicate situation. Her mind was paralyzed. Instead, her look flew over his shoulder to the elevator. Within a second it would be there… in a second they would be trapped…

Panic grabbed her and she took a step backwards, trying to free herself now with a violent jerk. But the doctor was surprisingly strong, pulled her slightly forward and now also grabbed her other arm.

"Answer me!" he barked at her while she pressed her hands against his chest, trying to keep him at distance.

"Hey!" Simone was immediately at her side, tugging at his arm now. "Let her go!"

The ping of the elevator, which now echoed loudly through the hall, went straight through Beth. Dr. Feddar had a time keeping her restrained so far and turned with her so she had an unfettered view of the now opening elevator doors. The sight that met her took her breath away. Her own personal nightmare seemed to have come true. It wasn't just one doctor dressed in white who stepped into the corridor, whose stern look was threateningly directed at her and Simone, but four armed men dressed in black - men who looked like soldiers of the Legion.

Everything in Beth cramped painfully and her heart was now beating so hard against her ribcage that she believed she needed to collapse just because of that. But she didn't, she stood motionless and allowed the men to approach her.

"Some things you simply shouldn't do just for fun," she could hear Dr. Feddar whisper with deep regret. Then there was a second 'ping' and the doors of the other elevator opened noisily. Beth didn't turn around. She knew that her fate was sealed, that she wouldn't get out of this healthy. It was over.

"Is there any problem?"

The deep, gentle voice that resounded behind her caused Beth to open her eyes and now look around incredulously. Behind her stood a tall, dark-haired man in a white doctor's coat, whose ice-blue eyes were directed with cold determination at the superiority of opponents opposite him - and Beth's overtaxed heart made this time a _hopeful_ leap. Gabriel! _If_ there was someone who could still get them out of this whole thing safely, it was him! And hope was back again…


	20. Plan B

_I have to make this short this time for I'm in a hurry. Thank you so much for your dear feedback! Fat hugs for all of you! Will be back at Sunday with a quite long chapter! Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_Translated by: Cleo 28_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**P****lan B**

Time was something incredibly wicked. When you needed it, you didn't have it and if you had it, you didn't need it. This dilemma alone also depended on how you perceived it - like a storm of seconds, minutes and hours rushing past, that were hardly distinguishable from each other, or like periods of time, that were long and drawn out, that just didn't seem to want to pass. It was especially bad when these, in reality non-existent time shifts, took place one right after the other, when they alternated with each rapidly. Then the nerves became raw, the willpower and control over ones emotions and opportunities for action would then begin to slip through your languorous fingers. But if you already had no nerves anymore the whole thing could end up a disaster.

'Don't think so negative. Stay calm,' Mick said to himself while his knee jerked nervously up and down and his eyes looked frantically for possible loopholes in the busy traffic through which their car sped. He tried his best to breathe calmly, fight against the fear, the worry and discomfort in his chest but that was easier said than done.

'Don't think about the things that could happen. Just focus on the here and now,' he continued telling himself but his gaze roamed again to his watch. More precious minutes had passed without coming any closer to their target.

"Can't… can't you try to get through over there?" he addressed Josef impatiently and pointed to a gap that had opened up between two cars.

Josef uttered an exasperated sigh and shook his head, his whole posture clearly expressing that _he_ was at the moment the one deciding what was and wasn't going to be done.

After they had heard from Logan early this morning, that Gabriel had proceeded with the mission in the hospital despite Coraline's new information, Josef had insisted on driving the car himself and had shooed Mick away from the wheel of the vehicle stating he wanted to arrive in one piece at the hospital and not be pushed into it as a patient. Mick had been terribly upset about this, although he secretly knew that Josef's concerns had not been unfounded. The thought of something happening to Beth in this hospital, that the Legion might do something to her made Mick almost insane. If he'd had his way, he would have already met with Gabriel, Beth and the others last night, but fate hadn't been kind to them. The small private airfield they had approached at Mick's insistence last night was deserted and only after Josef dialed one of the numbers listed on the sign, rousting the owner of the airfield out of his bed and successful bribery, had they been promised a pilot would be sent. Of course he had taken his time and had caused Mick to seriously consider climbing over the fence and simply taking one of the machines. Josef's argument that his old pilot's license from the 20's was certainly no longer valid hadn't deterred Mick in the least as he promised his friend impatiently that he could co-pilot since he had experience on a flight simulator. Max had been so enthusiastic about the idea that he was already half way over the fence as the pilot's car showed up at last, relieving Josef from his paralysis of fear. It had taken a while for him to recover to his old, more relaxed state - which hadn't lasted long since it seemed their pilot had not come from home but directly from a bar and took a while to find the right plane.

In any other situation Mick would have thought it through three times before flying with this man but the queasy feeling in his stomach that had befallen him since Coraline's shocking news, told him that he shouldn't lose any more time when it came to getting to LA to prevent Beth from entering this hospital. So even Josef's penetrating glance, his conspicuous nod toward the staggering pilot hadn't been enough to stop him from boarding the plane. And when Max and Coraline had followed him, Josef had had no alternative but to bow to the will of the majority.

The pilot had sobered up more and more during the flight and had then unfortunately remembered he still needed to pick up a package from one of his aunts. Mick had protested vociferously while Josef advised the man to also take time for some strong coffee, of course that wasted another precious hour and strained Mick's nerves even further. Eventually, after five more stops to get something to eat, refuel the plane, take a lunch break and later to take a coffee break and refuel once again, they had finally reached the suburbs of LA and had switched to a transport vehicle with less wings and bigger wheels.

Although it was already noon by the time they had driven into the city, Mick had calmed down somewhat. They were nearing their target and there had been no shocking call, letting Mick assume that Gabriel had finally called off the action. He had only wanted make sure, when he dialed the last number Logan had for him. That's when he had had to hear something like this: …that in Gabriel's opinion the action was planned so well that it could be carried out _despite_ the exacerbated conditions, that it would be a unique opportunity to find out where Frank Peterson was being held and that nothing would happen to Beth and so on…

Mick couldn't avoid shaking his head when he thought of the naivety and self-assurance with which Logan had told him these arguments. But he was even more annoyed with Gabriel's behavior, the ease with which he put Beth's and Simone's lives in jeopardy and acting cocky as if he knew better than anyone and that the world would always dance to his tune. That this wasn't true the old vampire had so often felt in his life and yet he acted as if with his presence indeed nothing could happen to Beth. Maybe all the other vampires believed it but he had told Mick too much. He now knew better, knew that Gabriel was also a being that had weaknesses and faults, that even _he_ couldn't prevent bad things from happening sometimes. And this knowledge wasn't good for Mick. It added to all his other fears, his discomfort with this city, his deep concerns for Beth, fought against his self-control and caused the vampire, the beast within to start pacing restlessly up and down inside and bare his teeth aggressively.

"Why don't you just take Baker Street?" Mick now addressed Josef anew when his friend once again stepped on the brakes as a small traffic jam had formed at the traffic light in front of them the next. "There will be less traffic on it this time of day…"

Josef moaned again unnerved. "Mick! You're killing me! I'm driving the shortest way there and I'm not going to take any side streets that will take me everywhere but our target!"

"Hey! _You_ wanted to drive!" Mick growled back and felt his tension instantly transform into aggression. "If_ I_ had driven…"

"... then we'd probably have a bunch of police cars behind us," Josef finished his sentence cautiously and was finally able to drive on. He took a deep breath. "Just try to stay calm. You're not the only one who's worried."

Mick gritted his teeth, crossed his arms before his chest and stared out the front window. How he would have liked to rage on, curse and strike something - but he couldn't. Not only because this wasn't the right place or the right time for it but also because Josef was right. He _wasn't _the only one who was worried. Although Josef often acted as if he didn't really love Simone, Mick knew - _felt_ that his friend's feelings for the young lawyer went surprisingly deep and with regard to the action of the two women he had the same fears Mick did. He just didn't show it so openly.

"Besides we're already quite close to our target, we just need to trust Gabriel," Josef added quietly and Mick could feel how difficult it was for him to say that. "He knows what he's doing…"

"Well… most of the time," a soft, feminine voice from the back seats was heard and Mick was reminded yet again who they were still carrying around with them as an uncomfortable appendage.

'Uncomfortable appendage'? Mick surprised himself. He couldn't ever remember having thought that way about Coraline - but he felt it indeed. She was someone he didn't want to have to deal with at all in this current situation. He was up to his neck in stress and he knew from experience she most certainly wouldn't be one to help reduce it. The opposite was usually the case - as her remark testified again.

"What do you mean?" he still asked, without even wanting to and turned a little towards her. Previously she had been surprisingly restrained, would rather have watched everything that was happening around her in silence but very vigilant and had only said the bare necessities. A sure sign she was planning something.

"Well, Gabriel _usually_ isn't prone to rash acts," she replied calmly. "He's incredibly good at sizing up people quickly and correctly and in grasping the situation and opportunities that arise from them within seconds and accordingly is able to act quickly and skillfully … but even_ he_ makes mistakes, can be mislead from time to time by his own wants and feelings and then also tends to selfish acts."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mick growled, and his anxiety rose to a new level.

"… that he as well sometimes thinks only of his own interests regardless of the consequences."

Josef let out a low, pejorative laughter while Mick's stomach knotted once again. "My goodness, Coraline, you lose no opportunity to spin your intrigues and raise us against each other."

She replied with a slightly indignant sound. "If you want to see it that way, Josef… But I think you know Gabriel far less than I do. I know a few sides to him that aren't so pleasant in nature."

"That's rich, coming from you," Josef replied with another angry laugh and Mick could feel him slowly becoming angry.

"You misunderstand me, Josef," Coraline sighed now. "I don't want to criticize Gabriel in front of you - absolutely not. I adore and admire him like most other vampires, I'm just saying I can understand Mick's concerns and find that they are valid. And you should never idolize a person and trust him unconditionally - no matter how old and wise he is. No one's perfect, nobody's free of errors…"

"Don't we have a gag somewhere?" Josef asked back in the direction of Max and despite his best effort a smile flitted over Mick's lips. His friend had voiced the exact sentiments, which had also assaulted him.

"Not that I know of," Max gave back seriously. He had probably missed the subtle irony in Josef's voice. "But I can make sure she's silent…"

Mick shook his head quickly while Josef nodded approvingly, still keeping his eyes on the road. But Max had focused on Mick, shrugged his shoulders then leaned back in his seat. Mick wanted to do the same but the strange look Coraline gave him kept him from doing it. His eyebrows roamed slightly towards each other and in doing so unintentionally invited her to say what went through her head.

"Is it really true that you've been in Gabriel's care for the last few weeks?"

He didn't immediately respond to her question but thought for a moment about what she was driving at and whether it was just another attempt to stir him up emotionally. Coraline knew only to well that it was easier to manipulate him in an excited state than if he was on a more even keel.

But she didn't let herself be stopped by his silence. "Did he really take care of you?" she dug further and Mick stumbled because he thought to hear a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"He helped me tame the vampire inside me, if that's what you mean," he replied after all, focusing on her facial expressions. There was once again this twitch in her eyes, this mix of pain and anger, which she seemed to be suppressing with a vengeance. These emotions in the dark depths of her eyes would probably have escaped most humans and even vampires. But he knew her too well, had often enough been forced to look for these signs of the onset of jealousy and to assess the resulting consequences. The unusually part was that the trigger for it now wasn't him but a very different man.

"And that was all?" she asked and the tone she said it in told him she didn't believe him. "Did he tell you anything about himself? How did you know that the cure was adapted for him?"

"Gabriel and I had some interesting conversations, Coraline, that's true," Mick admitted now reluctantly. "But that one fine detail I owe to my own ability to be able to draw a quick conclusion from information."

Coraline gave him a further doubtful look. "Did you also talk about me?"

Mick uttered a small, angry laugh. "Why would we've done that?"

She raised her eyebrows a bit and put on a provocative smile. "Oh, there're so many reasons. But your response shows me that you're telling the truth, otherwise you wouldn't ask…"

Oh, yeah, this was the old Coraline, the woman who loved it to hide subliminal messages in her statements so she could plunge you into a state of profound confusion and make you dangle on her every word, make you beg, fight and lose your mind, just so you could finally get answers to all the questions she brought up with her hints.

Mick gritted his teeth and tried not to let her words get to him. But he knew perfectly well that it was already too late. His mind was already working on its own and brought up further frightening ideas.

"And now she wants to convince you of course that she's played an incredibly important role in the whole entangled story around you, Mick," he heard Josef say angrily. "Because she simply cannot bear to be just a tiny light in our vampire society…"

Anger smoldered in Coraline's eyes. "There's more noble blood in me than in _yours_ or _any_ other vampire in your circle of friends, Josef," she hissed and Mick flinched slightly from her because she even leaned a bit forward.

"Oh, yeah? We know you're only connected to Luis' family by Gabriel's blood," Josef said coolly and had to brake a little harder because his own displeasure had caused him forget about the traffic in front of him.

Coraline laughed angrily. "Arrogance isn't the way to fill in your gaps of knowledge, darling. You've no idea how wrong you are…"

"Wait," Mick joined in again and his tension grew once more. "You mean, you're also related on your human side with Luis' family?"

Coraline took a deep breath and the expression in her eyes became softer and warmer again when she turned to him.

"Before you start to think again that I've lied to you about my human past, you should know that this is not the case. Everything I've told you then, was true - you have to believe me, Mick…"

She looked at him intently and he tried to ignore Josef's head shaking though he himself had the urged to do so as well. On the one hand he really didn't want her to go on because he knew what harm only a few words from this woman could do - on the other hand, the urge to hear what she had to say was almost unbearable.

"It's just that I must first talk with Gabriel before I can tell you what happened," she continued softly, "why I was turned into a vampire, why I had chosen you to be my companion, why… why I did the things I did… and…"

He interrupted her brusquely first raising his hand in a swift movement. "You…" He closed his eyes briefly to sort the thoughts that were going haywire in his mind. "You didn't _choose_ me. We met at your party!"

The expression in her eyes shocked him more than anything she had said so far. She looked caught, scared and he was sure she wasn't acting.

"You chose me?" he uttered barely audible and Coraline pressed a hand to her mouth as if she wanted to take her words back again. But that was not possible, just as it wasn't possible for him to now dismiss her conversation as a trick or ploy - as much as he wanted it.

"Mick, I…" She searched for the right words, but couldn't find them.

Again he shook his head. This time because he felt his head would explode at any moment from the onrush of thoughts, questions and fears. Lies, lies and intrigues… again… Everything was wrong, untrue… another house of cards that collapsed into itself… all a sham, his whole life, the body he was stuck in. Nothing was as it had once been. Not even his past…

His heart was pounding hard in his chest and anger, deep, cold hatred slowly began to supplant all other feelings in him. The beast within growled menacingly.

"When?" he finally brought out with great difficulty.

"Mick, it's all so complicated and I really can't…"

"WHEN?" The vehemence with which he repeated the question caused not only her to wince slightly but also Max and Josef.

"I… I cannot tell you," she stammered lowly and shrunk back in her seat as far away from him as she could. "I must first talk with Gabriel…"

"He knows about it?" Mick growled and already felt the sharp tips of his fangs against his lips. His self-control began to crumble, disappeared under the burden of this disaster, which was once his life.

"Everything is linked with him, Mick," she brought out in a shaky voice. "Absolutely everything! You must not trust him so much, Mick. He will only disappoint you."

"Then tell me what you know!" he growled menacingly and tried to hold her gaze, to penetrate her mind, just as Gabriel had shown him. But she wriggled, tore herself away from his eyes with difficulty.

"I can't do that!" she uttered in despair and there were real tears in her eyes. "He's my Sire, Mick! I can't betray him!"

Without really be aware of it, his mouth lifted into a strange smile. Icy cold took hold of his heart, caused him to become strangely calm and emotionless. He knew this wasn't good, knew he was about to lose all control but he couldn't help it.

"You _will_… you most certainly will, my dear," he heard himself say in this strange cold voice that was so incredibly alien to him but was still very much a part of himself and always took possession of him when the vampire assumed leadership. "I'll see to it!"

The next moment his hand shot toward Coraline, grabbed her neck and pulled her to him. His ex-wife uttered nothing other than a horrified gasp. She was already struggling frantically for breath, dug her fingers into the back of his hand and tried desperately to free herself from his deadly grip. Josef was the first to recover from the shock quick enough to act. He just pulled the car over to the curb and stopped abruptly. Max' respond was just as quick. His arm pushed between them as he tried with his other hand to help Coraline loosen the much too firm grip around the gasping woman's neck.

Mick hardly noticed that he was pulling on him. He suddenly felt as if he was very far away watching himself slowly crush his ex-wife's larynx. Even the cold hatred or his desire to finally know the truth seemed to have moved quite far away. His mind shouted for him to stop, to let go, but he couldn't… couldn't fight the instinct in the beast to kill. It was too strong, too angry.

"Mick! Mick!" it was now Josef who pulled at his shoulder, trying to get through to him. "Let her go! We still need her! And in addition, we're already here now!"

Here?

"We've reached the hospital! We need to stop Beth and Simone from doing something stupid! You know Beth!"

Beth… images found their way back into his mind. Beth's lovely face, her sparkling eyes, her gentle smile… he could see her, hear her voice. His mind used her to fight against the beast, asked him to stop and the human inside, his gentle side, began to stir again.

"Do you want something happening to her, because you absolutely have to kill your ex-wife?" Josef pressed him further. "Not that she wouldn't be happy about it… but Beth wouldn't really be able to enjoy it as a corpse…"

Beth as a corpse? The concern was back again, yelled at him, and shook him awake. Mick blinked, once, twice. Horror seized him when he stared at the slightly bluish, distorted face of Coraline's full of fear and he let go immediately, shrunk back into his seat as if _she_ was the one who was the cause of danger.

"Oh, God…," he uttered when Max caught Coraline and held her while she struggled for breath, coughing and gasping for air.

He felt two strong hands on his cheeks then Josef turned his face to him to look searchingly into his eyes.

"Okay, breathe deeply my friend," he ordered and Mick did as he was told, felt his true self slipping back into place again, as the beast retreated from his best friend's warm, concerned gaze and hid deep down in his soul again. And then they came with a vengeance: the feelings of guilt, regret and remorse, the shock of his actions.

"Oh God!" he uttered again, but Josef shook his head, forced him to direct his eyes on his face.

"No, no, we don't have time for this now, Mick," Josef fought the thoughts and emotions that wanted to take possession of Mick. "You have every right in the world to act this way with all she's already done to you in your life, but you have to concentrate now on more important things. And that's Beth now. Okay?"

Beth… She was in the hospital and certainly on the verge of once again risking her life senselessly… they'd come here because of her! How could he have forgotten this? He nodded modestly, for the sounds Coraline uttered while still struggling for breath were too pervasive, too painful. What had he done? That was the second time since his training with Gabriel, that he had lost control of himself in such a way. Of course, the sparse information that Coraline had thrown at him, since they'd found her, was shocking and confusing at the same time and he urgently needed answers, but that didn't justify freaking out like this.

"Mick?" Josef was still holding eye contact, struggling to bring him back to a reasonably usable condition.

Mick swallowed hard, screwed up his eyes briefly and then replied to the questioning gaze of his friend's as composed as possible.

"I… I'm okay now…," he stammered.

Josef let go of him very slowly. "I need your full attention – do I have it?"

Mick forced himself to give him another nod and after Josef watched him searchingly for a moment he pointed with his chin towards the windscreen.

"Do you see that ambulance over there?"

Mick followed his gaze. A few cars away from them were one of these typical emergency vehicles. However, there was one small detail that distinguished it from the others: On its roof was a small, odd-looking antenna.

"If I'm not mistaken, that's where we'll find our friend Logan," Josef added with a small smile and Mick almost got the feeling that his friend was happy about meeting the young vampire again.

"But Gabriel isn't here," Mick added frowning. Somehow, the presence of the old vampire was noticeable, but only faintly, as if he were far away.

Josef nodded in agreement and one could see that this fact troubled him somewhat. "Let's… let's just go over there and see what's going on," he suggested and immediately opened the driver's door to get out.

Mick didn't hesitate either. Logan would certainly be able to answer some of their questions and tell them where the rest of his team was, because Mick couldn't sense Guillermo at the moment either. He paused a second, when the rear door of their car opened and Coraline got out staggering slightly.

"I'm coming with you," she uttered a bit raspy and another wave of remorse overcame Mick and led him to nod once. When Max had gotten out of the car as well and helped Coraline to walk, he could finally turn around and follow Josef over to the ambulance. It wasn't easy to put aside what he had done to Coraline but again his growing concern for Beth finally made it possible. He focused on what he saw, heard and felt. Logan was definitely in the van alone but seemed to be talking to someone on the radio - Mick could hear him within a few yards of reaching the van. Logan suddenly fell silent, as he perceived the presence of other vampires. It only took a few seconds for the back door of the van to open and Logan stuck his curly head out in astonishment. His facial expression wavered between joy and surprise when he realized who was walking towards him but in the end he managed to give them a delighted smile.

"What are you doing here already?" he greeted them when they had reached the car and to his relief Mick found that the young vampire seemed quite relaxed. That meant that nothing bad had happened so far.

"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood and thought we'd check in on you," Josef replied relaxed, but his nervous glance past Logan into the van testified to the fact that his tension hadn't really subsided.

Meanwhile Logan's eyes were stuck to Coraline and for a moment he appeared to be frozen. Mick wasn't surprised. Most men reacted this way when they met his ex-wife for the first time. And especially guys like Logan who quite quickly became victims of her mysterious aura and her irresistible charm.

"Do you think we could come in to go over some things?" Mick addressed Logan in a slightly irritated tone of voice.

"What?" Logan looked at him confused, blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah, sure of course, come in."

He made room a little awkwardly and they all climbed one after the other into the, outwardly, much too small looking ambulance. But as much as the van looked like an ambulance from outside, the inside looked like an ultra-modern control center, equipped with lots of monitors, computers and all sorts of other small, for Mick instantly identifiable, technical equipment. His eyes roamed at once anxiously to the monitors but he could spot neither Beth nor Simone among the people shown there.

"Where did Gabriel disappear to?" Josef asked with a friendly smile and Logan, whose gaze had once again stuck to the only woman among them, looked at him confused.

"Disappear…" The smile Coraline had given him only seconds before had probably caused a couple of his brain cells die. "Uh, no idea… I mean, he said he was going to stay close by Beth and Simone to intervene in case of an emergency…"

"Didn't you say that the hospital was equipped with thermal imaging cameras, if it indeed belongs to the Legion?" Mick probed.

Logan surprised him with a broad grin and jumped back into his second nature - the computer-genius who loved to flaunt his unsurpassed skills to his ignorant environment.

"That's true," he said, as he pushed Mick aside a bit and sat down on a small stool in front of the main computer. He typed in a few commands and the next moment the screens on the monitors changed, showing people moving in all their multicolored glory.

Mick held his breath for a moment trying hard to prevent his heart from beating faster. But he didn't quite succeed and once again the vampire inside became a little more awake.

"Then why are Beth and Simone still in the hospital?" he uttered tense. "We don't need any more proof than that. What normal clinic would install thermal imaging cameras in their hallways?"

"When did you know they had this?" Josef asked also clearly worried by now.

"Only two or three hours ago," Logan said. "It took a long time before I was able to hack into their system. They have a pretty sophisticated security system…"

"This means in the beginning you couldn't see _anything_ that was going on in there?" Mick was now having a lot of trouble keeping his voice under control.

"Well, yeah, but Beth and Simone are equipped with a transmitter," Logan replied, a little sheepishly, "and as I said, Gabriel said he would stay close to them."

"And how is it he's able to do this when they're working with thermal imaging cameras?" Now Mick's voice cracked a little and he ran one hand over his face shaking his head in disbelief. This was all so very maddening and didn't fit at all with the thoughtful, sharply calculating Gabriel _he_ knew.

"N… no idea," Logan mumbled somewhat frightened. "He took one of the doctors' coats and made a few phone calls and then he disappeared. He said he was going inside. I thought he was pulling my leg…"

Mick searched Josef's gaze, on whose forehead deeply thoughtful wrinkles had formed.

"Did he do anything else before he went in?" Josef asked and Mick saw the light. He suddenly knew exactly what his friend was driving at.

Logan was still clueless, and only responded to his question with even more confusion in his eyes.

"Did he inject himself with something?" Mick added.

The young vampire thought hard for a moment, pulled his brows together. "He took something with him that Guillermo brought him from the other car. Kind of a box…"

"Then he transformed," Mick concluded immediately. "That would explain how he was able to get into the building without being detected."

Josef nodded, but didn't seem to like this idea. "That's crazy. How long does it last? Months, right?" He looked at Mick who had no other choice than to nod.

"Unless he's seriously injured…"

"And how does he plan on helping Beth and Simone if something happens?"

Josef was right and it wasn't a very comforting thought.

"Gabriel knows what he's doing," Mick heard someone say close to his shoulder and noticed only when he turned that Coraline had also approached the monitors scanning them in search of familiar faces. "He always has a Plan B."

"Does he?" Mick directed his next question again to Logan.

"I think Guillermo was instructed to locate the main power supply to the hospital and then attach a small charge to it," was the surprising answer.

Mick raised his eyebrows in shock. "What?"

"Well, if there's an emergency we'll turn off all power to the building that will also turn off all the video cameras and alarm systems - which aren't powered by the emergency back-up generator. And some areas of the hospital will be quite dark…"

"What would be beneficial for vampires _not_ humans," Mick said tense. "And Gabriel _is_ probably a human as we've just found out!"

"Guillermo and I are still here…"

"Because you can be so quickly out of the car and inside the hospital!"

"Where's Guillermo now?" Josef chimed in again, trying to speak as calmly as possible.

"At the back of the hospital, near the garage…" Logan pointed to one of the monitors. "You see, somewhere here… of course, outside the reach of the camera."

On the monitor, the garage exit was seen, closely guarded by two fierce-looking security guards.

"We noticed that every now and then a dark van drives out and suspect that the Legion is in the process of vacating the laboratory under the building. There is a conspicuously brisk amount of activity…"

Mick shook his head once more. More proof that the Legion was working in this hospital and Gabriel _still_ sent Beth and Simone in there and had not gotten them out yet. But maybe this _was_ the reason why Gabriel hadn't stopped the mission. If the Legion was closing the lab they would have no chance of finding Peterson's whereabouts and the activities going on down there…

"And… where exactly are Beth and Simone now?" Mick tried to ask as composed as possible.

"I think they're both just taking a break," Logan said quickly. "But there are no cameras in the break room. And you wouldn't recognize them anyway. They're masquerading quite well…"

Once again Mick's gaze slipped over the monitors and finally fixed on a brunette nurse who had just stormed into the picture, chasing a doctor excitedly. Mick's stomach made a small somersault. She was indeed disguised well but the way she moved was so familiar to him, he had no problem recognizing her immediately.

"There," he uttered tense and pointed his finger at the tiny figure, which had stopped at the elevator and was now talking with the doctor she had followed - in a way Mick didn't like at all. "What's she doing?"

Logan shrugged his shoulders innocently. "No idea. We can't hear them."

Another nurse came into view - probably Simone because Josef also leaned forward to get a better look at the monitor. The doctor pushed the stretcher with the body he had with him into the elevator and Beth and Simone followed.

This time Mick's intestines contracted convulsively. "Where are they going?"

Logan typed in a few commands into his computer and threw a quick glance at the screen to his left. "Oh, fuck…"

Mick's head flew around to him. "What?"

"To the basement… they weren't supposed to go down there…"

Mick skimmed now both his hands over his face, while his pulse rose to an enormous pace. "I knew it…," he uttered softly, trying to think straight, to figure out what to do. "Can you contact Gabriel?"

To Mick's relief Logan nodded, quickly put on his headset and activated it. Then again typed a few commands into the PC and waited. His expression quickly changed from optimistic to nervous. "I… I'm not getting any response."

And Mick's stomach did another somersault.

"What about the cameras in the basement?" Josef asked tense. "Can you get to them?"

Logan nodded and only seconds later the picture on the monitor changed and they could see Beth and Simone just disappearing into one of the rooms there.

"_There_'s no camera in there," Logan added and Mick gave a resigned sound.

"Continue trying to reach Gabriel…"

"I do, but he seemed to have turned off his transmitter."

Mick turned away from the monitors frustrated, needing to walk a few steps to counter this incredible tension in his interior, at least a little. Everything in him screamed for him to rush into the hospital immediately and get Beth out of there.

"They're on the move again!" Logan uttered and Mick was immediately at his side, now staring at the monitor strained.

Another man had joined the small group and was now leading them down the hall to another room. For a moment they all stood in front of one of the doors. Beth spoke to the stranger and finally the guy opened the door and she disappeared inside the room.

"What's she doing in there...?" Mick uttered in disbelief. This was so typical Beth. She just _had_ to push the situation until finally something happened. And he wasn't there, wasn't near her to protect her…

Mick bent even closer to the monitor when he noticed the doctor standing in front of the door take something out of his coat pocket, a beeper of some kind and pressed a few buttons. He hid it the moment Beth came out of the room, visibly more excited than before. She seemed to have completely missed how tense the strange doctor had become all at once.

Mick's heart was pounding hard against his ribs now. He knew something was wrong, felt a disaster approaching in giant steps. But he wasn't able to move anymore, just stared as if in a trance, glued to the monitor.

The other man walked away and when Beth tried to go to the elevator the doctor suddenly grabbed her arm and held her. She struggled and Simone tried to help her but she wasn't able to break free and a heartbeat later the door to another elevator Mick had not previously noticed, opened. Three men got out: A doctor and two black-clad Legionnaires.

Cold terror grabbed Mick and he tore himself away from the monitors, turned around to get out of the van and rush over to the hospital. But Josef had anticipated this and grabbed his arm at the last moment.

"Wait! We can't simply storm in there," he growled and held him in an iron-like grip.

Mick tried to break away from him, jostle him away, but this time it was Logan's voice that held him back.

"Gabriel! It's Gabriel!"

Both rushed back to the monitors and in fact the old vampire got out of the elevator and walked with a smile towards the little cluster of people. He spoke a few words to the doctors and the Legionnaires, whose hands had clearly jerked in the direction of their heavy weapons but were now lowering them again. However, the younger doctor hadn't let go of Beth yet. He said something to the older doctor who suddenly grabbed her hair and pulled the wig from her head.

Mick gasped simultaneously with Josef and Logan. But Gabriel didn't appear to even be thinking about attacking. Instead, he himself grabbed Beth roughly by the arm and did the same with Simone.

"What the hell…," Josef uttered lowly but stopped because what was happening on the screen captured his attention too much.

More rapid words were exchanged and the older doctor pointed significantly to the elevator, whereupon Gabriel nodded in agreement. Mick's intestines not only turned on themselves they knotted painfully when the group now walked to the elevator to descend to the lab.

"What… what the hell is he doing?" Mick gasped, not believing what he was seeing.

"I'd say… it looks as if they're now going down to the lab," Josef responded with a breathy voice.

Mick shook his head, even though he knew his friend was right. Josef grabbed his upper arm again in wise anticipation and held him before he got any bright ideas.

"Gabriel knows what he's doing…"

"He's a _human_ – how's he going to get them all out safely?" Mick countered much too fiercely and now also grabbed his friend's hand to free himself from his grip. He _had_ to get down there, had to get into the basement of the hospital somehow.

"Then we'll help him, but not without a plan!"

"Shall… shall I call Guillermo and tell him to turn the electricity off," Logan asked insecurely.

Josef thought for a moment. "Not just yet. Otherwise they'll be expecting us …"

"There are still two guards left," now Max also joined in, pointing to the monitor. The two Legionnaires had in fact not entered the elevator and were now standing guard in the basement. "They'll first need to be eliminated to get into the lab."

Mick closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. 'Breathe calmly, focus… don't let the beast out. Your mind is your greatest weapon…'

"When the power goes out they'll become alarmed," he managed to get out with strained control. "If it doesn't, the other Legionnaires will see us attack the two on camera. And you won't be able to get into the hospital without being detected…"

"But _you_ can," Logan thought out loud and Mick nodded.

"No way!" Josef protested immediately. "You're not going in alone!"

"At first, I _need_ to!" Mick replied and a plan in his head began to take shape quickly. "I'll go in disguised as a doctor and knock off the two guards."

"But then the others in the basement will become alarmed and will give you a nice welcome," Josef growled.

"Exactly," Mick agreed to his friend's surprise. "They'll all come to the elevator and neglect other exits…"

Josef stumbled and knowledge gleamed up in his eyes. "You mean the main garage, where Guillermo is?"

Mick nodded.

"And then I'll turn off the electricity," Logan added. "And you'll be able to enter without being seen and will probably also have the advantage of having the laboratory in totally darkness."

"That'll work," Max added joyfully. "I think three vampires can cause, in this surprise attack, quite a bit of harm."

"Four," Coraline corrected. "I'm going with you!"

All eyes rested on her for a moment but no one contradicted her. Everyone knew they needed _all _help they could get in this situation.

Mick looked Josef again in the eyes and after a moment he nodded. "Well, what are we waiting for then!" were the last words they still needed.

* * *

Surreal. That was the word that described their situation at that moment. Surreal like one of Dali's paintings - painted so realistically you thought you could almost touch the things painted there, but yet so alien looking, so strange and frightening in their new environment that one could only stand pensively in front of them for a long time - or instead looked away for a moment.

Unfortunately Beth couldn't look away. The situation was too dangerous and her fear too great. Equally difficult it was for her to understand other things happening here, such as why friends suddenly had become enemies, vampires were suddenly Legionnaires…

Timothy Soreign that was who Gabriel had called himself and had so believably slipped into the role of a Legionnaire that she had indeed asked herself for a moment whether he was a traitor. Where had he come up with this interesting name, she couldn't figure out and what astonished her most was that these two Legionaries and the older doctor not only knew the name but in fact had been awaiting a person with this exact name today.

Of course, Gabriel had at first tried to get her and Simone out of the dangerous situation by claiming they were just two curious nurses who were looking for a little action and thus had pushed the idea of him being a traitor completely out her mind. But the older, more cold-looking doctor, unfortunately, had figured out her masquerade long ago and just ripped the wig from her head. Gabriel switched tactics quickly from 'friendly newcomer' to 'a sergeant, vigorously cracking down' and not only grabbed her and Simone forcefully by the arms to hold them but also indicated he wanted to take the two women himself down to the lab to interrogate them.

After her initial shock Beth had successfully persuaded herself that the old vampire was just trying to make the best of their standoff. He couldn't immediately free them without starting a fight - unarmed and unprepared - so he grabbed the opportunity and let the Legionnaires lead him down to the lab.

What had confused Beth even more was his further behavior: why had he not just overwhelmed the two doctors in the elevator when the two armed men stayed upstairs in front of the elevator; why was he still clinging to this role, even though it was no longer necessary now. Two weak humans like the two doctors for a vampire of his caliber were no real challenge.

It was only when Beth noticed how warm the pressure of Gabriel's hand was on her arm and how naturally he was breathing, that it began to dawn on her _why_ he was being so careful and her heartbeat, which had just calmed down slightly, started to race again. The feeling of safety that she had felt in his presence was starting to crumble.

"How far have you gotten with the dismantling," Gabriel asked as she stared wide-eyed with a thick lump in her throat at his throbbing carotid artery and her stomach made another somersault.

The older doctor uttered a little sigh. "Not as far as I would have liked," he gave back exhausted, "but Mr. Crane was down here earlier and claimed that we were still on target. He also told me that you would be coming, sir. Only I didn't know it was going to be so soon."

A small smirk flitted over Gabriel's face. "Well, I'm well known for my proclivity for surprise visits, right?" he said and the smirk became a complacent smile that indeed outfaced the doctor even more. "How's our little research project going?"

"Good. Really good," the doctor replied almost overzealously but Beth was sure he fibbed a little.

"Well, Dr. Ramone," Gabriel raised his finger admonishingly and his eyes became much cooler, although he was still smiling. "I don't think everything is proceeding as well planned as you pretend here…"

"You're alluding to the missing delivery," Dr. Feddar now mingled in and another large chunk of Beth's barely existing sympathy for this man vanished. She had not expected the young, so innocent and friendly looking doctor, to be this deeply enmeshed in the whole affair.

"It hasn't hit us as hard as laboratory five. We had a few specimens and were able to make some progress in the last few days, despite the upcoming move. Correction: _immense_ progress. Compound BXA-12 is in fact as good as finished and ready for use."

"Then the testing phase has already been completed?" Gabriel probed and Beth couldn't help but admire him for his ability to still radiate such professionalism and self-confidence, with the lack of knowledge and pure guesswork, to such a degree that these men supplied him overzealously with new information without even noticing that they had one of their worst enemies right in front of them.

"No, but the weapons arrived only yesterday and we were only able to make a few trial runs," the older doctor explained again and let out a small laugh. "Unfortunately, we currently suffer from an acute lack of test subjects. The two test subjects we had yesterday didn't fair so well. The accelerated re-transformation reaction is simply too extremely - their bodies just can't handle it. And there just aren't that many that have previously been in contact with the BX-23 serum."

"So what you're saying is they_ only_ died of the consequences of the compound?" Gabriel showed very clearly that he didn't believe it and he strengthened this impression additionally with a mischievous wink. "Come on…"

The doctor's laughter was drowned by the ping of the elevator and Beth's heartbeat accelerated a second time when Gabriel pushed her and Simone amazingly rough through the doors. She wasn't surprised when she saw another group of four Legionaries in the tiled hallway waiting for them. The old vampire had no other choice but to let her and Simone go and pass them to the Legionaries, who at once grabbed them far more solidly. The feeling of panic, the need to free herself and try to escape grew significantly. The grim, unapproachable looking men, by whom she was now surrounded, terrified her and caused the last shred of confidence Gabriel's appearance had conveyed to fizzle out very quickly - especially since this place showed no options for flight: narrow, tiled corridors, small offices, treatment rooms and over and over again armed men carrying boxes out of the rooms, pushing heavily laden carts through the hallways. Beth felt confined, restricted, threatened. Here there were no windows, no light or fresh air. It smelled of hospital, sterile, unpleasant and frightening. How had Mick been able to stand it, to be held for a whole year in such a laboratory without going crazy? She was already feeling sick in this short amount of time and her anxiety grew with every second, with every step she took deeper into this horror. She glanced at Simone who she noticed had become significantly paler and had pressed her lips together so tightly, they formed only a thin line. She too was terribly afraid, appeared tense and insecure.

Beth tried to breathe calmly and deeply trying to prevent the fear from taking over, from letting her react irrational or even panicky.

'Calm down, Beth,' she spoke softly to herself. 'You're gonna make it out here, definitely! You just need to trust Gabriel. He's sure to have a plan and there's got to be a strong rescue team just waiting for his signal. You just need to use your brain, play along and take in all the information your environment is giving to you. And, look for Peterson!'

"…it's going to give us a huge advantage in a fight," Dr. Ramone finished and Beth was angry that her panic had prevented her from following the conversation between him and Gabriel.

"How long before you were able to see the onset of the effect?" Gabriel asked interested.

"A few minutes," Dr. Feddar intervened again. "And even if these creatures don't die from the violent effects of the drug, it at least makes them as mortal as any other human…"

"My goodness, now I'm really curious," Gabriel said enthusiastically and once again Beth admired him for his ability to push the anger he undoubtedly had to have for these people, so far to the back of his mind that he gave the impression he was truly happy about the new development. "Are there really no more test subjects on which you could demonstrate it?"

"Unfortunately no," the older doctor sighed and Beth's heart stumbled a little when Gabriel's contemplative gaze clearly wandered over to her.

"And if we simply turn someone into a vampire…," he whispered with a conspiratorial grin to the doctors and Beth now felt sick as well. That couldn't have been what she just heard!

"...we would then have another test subject."

Simone sucked angrily for air while Beth's guts painfully contracted and she stared at the old vampire full of disbelief. How could he lead these doctors to such a monstrous idea when he himself was human and had nothing to counter the Legionnaires with? This was absolute madness! What little calm she had laboriously gained vanished within seconds.

Dr. Ramones lips twisted into a devilish grin. He stopped in front of one of the treatment rooms they had just started to pass and quickly opened the door.

"You… you're kidding, right?" Simone uttered, struggling against the attempt of one of the Legionnaires now pushing her into the room. But the man was too big and strong.

"Let me go!" Beth heard her friend shout with clear panic in her voice as the soldier's broad shoulders had briefly blocked her view. Beth didn't struggle as much since she knew deep down, despite her doubts and fears, that this was still part of the plan Gabriel's was carrying out with this action. Nevertheless, the panic continued to well up in her, causing her pulse to race and her palms to become sweaty.

"Let me go, you Neanderthal," Simone now yelled at the man holding her and the next moment he raised his hand and slapped her - with enough force that the young lawyer was thrown sideways, crashed into the wall and slumped to the ground. That had been enough for Beth. Out of a deep, uncontrollable instinct she turned nimbly, rammed her elbow into the stomach of the man behind her who then released her with a surprised gasp and rushed to her friend who laid on the ground stunned. She sank to her knees and had started to comfort her when a searing pain went through her and she screamed as she was pulled by her hair back to her feet. She staggered backwards against her boorish tormentor but now flailing around in her panic. She scratched and punched parts of his body a few times before she too was pushed away with full force sending her crashing into a medal treatment table. She stumbled, but was able to get hold of the table before falling to the ground. From the corner of her eye she saw that the man advance on her. But he didn't get far because suddenly there was someone between her and the angry soldier: Dr. Feddar.

"Take it easy!" he said, raising his hands in a soothing gesture. "They're just two harmless women. There's no need to be so brutal with them."

The soldier's chest expanded a few times under his heavy, angry breaths, then he nodded and went back to the door followed by his companion. The other two had not entered the room Beth now noticed with relief.

Under Dr. Feddar's clearly anxious gaze she drew herself up with difficulty to her full height. She was sore all over and found it really hard to gather herself again. It was only when she noticed Simone slowly regained consciousness and shakily straightened herself, that she was able to get her breathing and pulse under control again. However, she couldn't prevent herself from casting a critical glance at Gabriel. Why hadn't he done something? Why had he allowed them to be treated this way? Of course, it was important for him to keep up his masquerade but couldn't he have still intervened in some way? How far would he have let the two men go?

The old vampire even dismissed her glance with a cool smile and turned back to the grinning Dr. Ramone.

"And where is your wonder weapon now?" he asked kindly.

Dr. Ramone looked at his younger colleague. "Would you?"

The young man nodded slowly and walked over to the door where the two Legionaries made immediately room for him.

"And bring me some of the V-9 mix too," he added and Dr. Feddar stopped in his motion. This time he didn't nod immediately. His eyes remained attached to Beth and she noticed concern and resistance glimmering in his eyes. So she hadn't been so mistaken - this man actually did have a heart, wasn't as cold and ruthless as his colleagues were. But ultimately he had no choice but to nod and bow to the demand of the older and probably superior physician. With sagging shoulders he left the room.

"You… you're really going to turn us?" Simone uttered with a shaky voice as she staggered over to Beth wiping blood from her mouth. Beth took a step toward her and pulled her to her, giving her a little more support.

Dr. Ramone looked at her with disgust. "If you're both truly one of these vampire whores – which is what I suspect - then I'll be doing you a favor."

He smiled falsely and Beth's disgust for this man grew even strongly. Just like him she had imagined the doctors who had tormented Mick: full of prejudice, self-righteous and narrow-minded. He was nothing like Frank…

"It would be interesting to know just why these two have ventured so boldly into the lion's den," Gabriel intervened and stepped closer to her, giving her a questioning glance - and even though Beth was still incredibly angry with him and everything in her struggled against cooperating with him - she understood what he was asking of her, knew what he was getting at.

"We were looking for someone," she replied, and Simone looked at her in horror.

"Who?" the doctor asked curiously and came closer now.

"Don't tell em!" Simone let out and clutched her arm.

"Dr. Frank Peterson," Beth admitted anyway and surprise was reflected in the doctor's eyes. He even let out a little laugh.

"Here?" He laughed again. "Well, I can see you really do know very little! We're in a completely different research field - although of course we benefit from his research. But right now you can't use the man anyway. He'll be lucky if he makes it to the end of the month…"

Beth's throat constricted and her hatred grew. "You beasts!" she uttered lowly, and provoked another laugh from the physician.

"Why? He's sick, that's all," he said. "He'd never have survived torture. The others still think they can get him back on his feet but I doubt it. He's out of medicine and unable to get to the source at the moment…"

"Maybe we can remedy this quite quickly," Gabriel replied with another look in Beth's direction and she looked at him confused. She was missing something, some important detail that still eluded her and this made her incredibly nervous.

The doctor didn't seem to understand what Gabriel was getting at either. He wrinkled his brows slightly confused. But then his face brightened visibly and his thin lips twisted into a cruel smile. His cold eyes roamed briefly over Beth's body.

"But of course…" he uttered softly, almost pleased. "Perhaps our two darlings here do know where our special friend is. Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

"Do you have Sodium-Amytal here?" Gabriel asked immediately.

The doctor nodded enthusiastically and walked, under Beth's anxious gaze, over to one of the cabinets, opened a drawer and rummage around in it.

"Pain is also a useful tool to get to information," he muttered to himself, finally pulling an ampoule of liquid out and looked at the label, "but a little truth serum will make the whole thing a lot easier…"

"What about Fentanyl?" Gabriel added and followed the doctor quietly.

The knot in Beth's bowels loosened a bit and her heart instantly beat a lot faster. Something in Gabriel's behavior had changed, quite transparently, something that others who weren't used to dealing with vampires, wouldn't notice. She, however, had developed a feeling for them, could almost feel it in her body, in her blood, when vampires tensed up, were up to something. This was only strange because Gabriel was currently a human and not a vampire.

The doctor looked at him frowning. "You want to sedate them?" he asked confused.

"Not immediately," Gabriel replied calmly. "But do you seriously think they're going to calmly sit there while we turn them into vampires?"

Dr. Ramone thought about this for a moment. Then he nodded in agreement. "You're right," he said and opened the other drawer and took out another ampoule and two needles. Simone took in a trembling breath. Beth took her hand in hers, squeezed it reassuringly trying to transfer her own confidence to the young lawyer.

"May I help?" Gabriel asked and stepped up next to the doctor.

"But of course," he replied smiling and in fact pressed a vial with the syringe inserted into Gabriel's hand.

Beth just resisted exhaling audibly relieved. Her mind had assembled the new impressions enough to figure out some of Gabriel's plan at least to some extent. Suddenly she understood his actions, realized how wonderfully he had manipulated the two doctors, without them having a hint of a suspicion. In fact she had almost missed it herself. But now she understood, knew, as she watched him prepare the syringe with a soft smile. These men had provided him with exactly the means he needed to get Beth, Simone and himself out without a fuss and at the same time extract valuable information. The only critical part would be in overpowering the soldiers at the door without attracting the attention of others. But Gabriel probably had a plan for that as well.

Beth shuddered violently when the door opened again and Dr. Feddar rushed into the room. He looked stressed and harried, almost frightened and immediately turned to his colleague. "I've spoken with Sergeant Finnigan," he uttered out of breath and placed a box with some vials and syringes on the treatment table. "He said we need to hurry, that our two visitors here certainly haven't come alone. He immediately sent a couple of search teams off, which will scan the terrain for potential spies. The two soldiers outside have already gone as well."

"Then we should hurry indeed," Dr. Ramone said and approached Beth with a syringe and she immediately backed away from him. But again Dr. Feddar courageously stepped between her and the advancing enemy.

"I think it would actually be better if we postpone this whole thing, pack up our stuff and take these two with us," he said in a firm voice and the other doctor furrowed his brows angrily.

"Don't be such a coward, Zach," he growled, and continued walking, driving them all ahead of him, until the wall was at their backs stopping them. "What could possibly happen? The whole place is full of soldiers!"

He'd no sooner had said it, when at that moment a huge turmoil broke out in the hall. Sounds of quick steps, shouts and commands of tough men's voices were heard prompting one of the Legionnaires in the room to immediately open the door and grab a comrade by the arm who just happened to rush past the room.

"What's going on?" she could hear him ask and Beth's stomach lurched when she heard the answer: "We've visitors!"

The soldier turned quickly to Dr. Ramone with a questioning look and the physician nodded. That was all he had time to do for only a heartbeat later the whole room was covered in pitch black.

"Excellent timing," Beth heard Gabriel's deep voice and the soft laughter that was hidden in it told her that he had found the right moment to drop his masquerade.


	21. In the Lion's Den

_Hi there! Am back again with a quite long chapter. 22 pages in my word-file. Hope you like this. Thank you so much for your feedback. Great to hear you liked that last chapter and are eager to read on. Would also be great to get new feedback for this chapter. You know I'm addicted to your words and thoughts about my story. You're my source of inspiration and motivation. I'll be back at Thursday again. Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_Translated by: Jenna_

_Beta read by: SG6169_

* * *

**I****n the Lion's Den**

There it was again, this stupid feeling that struck me whenever we threw ourselves into a fray with a poorly organized plan, not knowing what to expect next. A typical Mick-mission – just like it used to be. The only difference being that my dear friend still wasn't as mentally stable as he was in old days. He was losing his mind with concern over his beloved Beth and had initially even wanted to walk into the lion's den alone.

'Den' wasn't quite the right word. 'Hell' was probably more appropriate for what _he_ had to be feeling because even though this laboratory wasn't the same in which he had been held captive and tortured for a year, it was still a laboratory, in a basement, deep below ground level. And if I remembered correctly, the laboratories of the Legion were the same as two peas in a pod. That he would feel 'slightly off' while entering this building was as safe a bet as an Amen in church and I fervently hoped his training with Gabriel had given him enough strength to keep him from raging like a rabid animal through the ranks of the soldiers down there, to in the end only kicking the bucket himself. He had certainly memorized some tips and tricks to help him keep his traumatic memories under control to be able to act reasonably careful and sensible. His lapse that night at the club had only been a recent gaffe and after all he had eliminated almost all of his opponents there on his own. If he could do it again this time, it wouldn't hurt.

I tried to convince myself of that at least as I stopped the car at an angle opposite the back door of the hospital. I looked over at it for a tense moment and then turned the motor off. There was one thing I still had left to do before we started with 'project suicide'…

I turned in my seat enough to look directly at Coraline and she immediately raised her beautifully arched brows questioningly.

"Is this the part where your dramatic warning comes in?" she asked before I was able to speak and annoyingly forced me to pause. Not only because she was actually right but also because I hadn't wanted to give in to the desperate need to bare my teeth belligerently at her. Where the hell had my urgently needed coolness gone?

"Yes, I promise I won't get too close to your precious little Beth and I won't lay a finger on her and I'll stay away from Mick during the fight," she droned on almost bored and gave me, once again, no chance to vent my aggression in the form of a small threat.

"We shouldn't be wasting our time with this, Josef," she added instantly with much more enthusiasm. "I'm not your enemy. Whether you believe me or not – I _have _changed. I'm on your side. There's no way in hell I would ever harm Mick! And if protecting him also means rescuing Beth, then that's what I'll do!"

I furrowed my brows angrily and still wanted to say something to her but this time it was Logan's unpleasant gasping in my ear that kept me from it. He had probably just activated the headsets we were all wearing.

"He's inside now," he uttered tense and I turned away from Coraline and looked uneasily over at the hospital instead.

"In the basement?" I asked.

"No, in the hospital, He used the coat and name tag and was able to get in without any problems. Man, I'd really like to know who paved the way so well. All the names on the tags inside Gabriel's special bag actually belong to real people. This is really incredible. And he praised me profusely for what_ I_ had created for Simone and Beth! Somehow that makes me feel a little bit…"

"Logan," I interrupted him brusquely. "Stop whining about it! Can you still see Mick?"

The little freak took a moment to recover from the rude tone in my voice but then replied. "Yes, he's reached the elevator…"

"Shall we hop out?"

"Wait, I'll ask Guillermo."

There was crackling in the line and Logan was gone, leaving me with a significantly higher heart rate and steadily increasing tension. It was quite clear that our intervention was going to be required at any moment.

"Do you think he'll be able to handle this?" I heard Max's deep voice behind me

I didn't turn around, just nodded, although I wasn't so confident. "He won't be left alone for long," I returned surprisingly calm, although this wasn't necessarily associated with pleasant feelings. Once again I had been forced into the role of a fighter, while having to painfully neglect the one of a lover, which was downright criminal. When was this going end?

"He'll have to take on quite a few opponents at once before our little red herring finally succeeds - though not for long but still there's going to be a lot of them at first."

'Go on say it! Say it like you believe it'!

"He can do it."

Fantastic! My voice didn't even shake.

"Mick's tough," Coraline now added and from the sound of her voice I could hear the same doubt I was feeling. "And he's become incredibly fast and strong."

The wince I gave was hardly noticeable when the line crackled again and I could hear Logan anew.

"Go! Get out of the car! Mick is in the basement and…" He gasped. "Oh God you should see him! Oh yeah… you have one minute to get to the back entrance before Guillermo switches off the power. He'll meet you. The two guards are still there!"

I wasn't sure what to make of Logan's statement concerning Mick's action, but I had no time to think about it. My body was moving with almost no effort on my part, as if it knew exactly what to do before my mind did. I got out of the car, closed the door quietly and ran off at vampire speed, flanked by Max and Coraline, heading for the pleasant looking building which sat so peacefully in the sunshine before us.

Somewhere among the bushes and trees of the park-like setting, I saw another shadow scurrying towards us and within seconds felt Guillermo's presence. The entrance to the underground parking garage was fast approaching - just as the two dark figures there were, who looked like they were going to turn around just before they entered the darkness in front of them. They seemed a little distracted, not focusing on what was happening outside the building, didn't see the danger heading straight for them at breakneck speed. By the time it was too late, one _had_ turned around and the last thing he ever saw were my bared fangs and the bloodlust in my eyes as I hurtled towards him…

* * *

The panic attack went away slowly, allowing the slight tremor and the rapid heartbeat the narrowness of the elevator had triggered in him, to subside. It wasn't until he was in a slightly wider corridor, which gave him the room he needed to move about more freely, that he was able to push away the images that had attacked him in the few last minutes and taxed his nerves severely. This he couldn't let happen again! Concentration was key, the foundation on which this whole pieced together rescue operation now depended. He wasn't allowed to fail… not allowed… not allowed…

The soldiers who stood guard in front of the other elevator looked up, surprised and raised their weapons a little in suspicion, as Mick walked towards them with a friendly smile on his lips and raised his hands soothingly.

"I'm looking for Dr. Jenkins," he called out to them, while at the same time collecting his energies and scanning the men's posture for weaknesses, looking for points of attack. "Is he perhaps down here?"

The smaller of the two seemed a bit more nervous, more attentive, while the other was more lethargic but also a lot cooler. Both carried heavy weapons and wore bulletproof vests, however their necks were exposed, providing the target Mick would need to take them out once and for all. Cold rose up inside him, allowing him to forget these were humans in front of him. Unfeeling fighting machines was what he saw them as now. Machines that were not afraid to kill defenseless wom… like Beth. His Beth. The vampire began a low growl and bared his teeth within.

"He's not here," the taller one replied to his earlier question and pointed in the direction of the elevator with his chin. "Go up again!"

"He's about 5 foot 9, dark-haired…" Mick just went on unmoved and continued to approach the two until they raised their weapons so threateningly that he _had_ to stop. He didn't need to get any closer. For a vampire, this distance wasn't that significant anymore. A jump would be enough.

"He wears glasses…" Mick added and raised his eyebrows questioningly, as the beast within brought itself into position, felt its way forward inside him, allowing the energies to flow, all of which were well hidden.

"You really need to go back up now," said the shorter of the two, as his left eye began to twitch a little. He seemingly got the feeling there was something going on with Mick, something that didn't seem so harmless anymore. "This area is closed to regular staff. You won't find your friend here, Dr…" His gaze wandered to the tag on Mick's chest. "… Durowsky."

"All right, all right," Mick raised his hands a bit and there it was - this cold calmness that took possession of his mind and body that he needed in order to let the monster in him out. "It was just a question…"

He turned around as if to go. From the corner of his eye he noticed both men lowering their weapons a little, giving him the opportunity he had been waiting for. The energy boost was unusually violent, shot through his muscles like liquid fire and he spun round in one fluid movement. The change took place within a fraction of a second. It wasn't the human anymore that launched himself at them, grabbing the smaller soldier's weapon and ramming the barrel with tremendous force against the other man's head, who never got the chance to lift his weapon even a little in his direction. Mick's hypersensitive hearing picked up, with delight, the crunch of cranial bones and unfortunately he had no time to 'care' about the soldier who went clattering to the ground. Instead he rammed his only remaining opponent against the elevator door, burying his bared fangs as deeply as possible into the man's neck. He screamed and tried to push him away, to break free from his vice-like grip, but he didn't stand a chance. Mick drank enough blood to get an additional boost of energy, then snapped the man's neck in one quick movement. The body crumpled to the ground.

Mick's eyes moved rapidly over the buttons of the elevator before him. Of course this was no ordinary elevator. Instead of regular buttons it had a sensor panel.

"Logan," he let out tensely and at once received a breathless "Yeah!" through the button in his ear.

"What kind of panel is this?"

"Wait…" He heard the frantic clicking of a keyboard. "I would say it's for fingerprints. Give it a try."

Without further questioning, Mick grabbed the arm of one of the dead soldiers and pressed his thumb on the sensor field. He immediately heard a mechanical sound coming from the elevator and then the heavy machine began to move quickly.

"I'm sure they'll be waiting to give you a warm welcome. You look really wonderful on camera," Logan noted, while Mick's pulse began to accelerate rapidly once again. 'Try to remain calm… completely calm…'

"And that's why you need to turn the power off when I get down there," he gave back slightly impatient.

"You're planning on climbing through the hatch in the ceiling of the elevator, aren't you?"

Mick gave a quick nod, although it still didn't make him feel all that comfortable. The men of the Legion weren't stupid. They would immediately know where he went once they found the elevator empty.

"Cool! Just like Bruce Willis in 'Die Hard'!" Logan exclaimed enthusiastically. "Now you just need to wear a dirty-white t-shirt with bare feet, and then…"

"Logan!" Mick growled unnerved and felt almost relieved when the elevator finally opened before him. He grabbed one of the soldier's weapons and entered. Again a narrow room, a ride bringing him down to a basement…

Even his vampiric side now showed signs of reluctance as he hastily looked around the interior of this modern elevator and found again he would need to be creative.

"There's no hatch," he informed Logan quickly and jumped up to push, with the open palm of his hand, against the ceiling. But it didn't give in.

"So what now?" Logan asked tense. Mick didn't want to admit it, but somehow it felt good to hear the young vampire's voice. Even though his words weren't that comforting. "They're going to start shooting at you as soon as the door opens!"

Mick's thoughts tumbled. As restrictive as they might appear, the walls and the door of the elevator were the only things left to protect him now. Then again he would have the darkness, produced by the power failure…

"Just get out and come back to me," he heard Logan say, while toying with an idea that surfaced between all his fears and worries. "They're sufficiently distracted now and the others will be able to get Beth and Simone out of there without you…"

"Can you control the doors to the elevator?" Mick interrupted him.

"I can hack into the system," was his encouraging response and Mick heard Logan immediately put his thought into action.

"Can you open it while the elevator is still moving?"

"Sure, but why would I wan…"

Logan broke off because Mick had leaned forward and firmly pressed the down button. The elevator closed its doors and began to move with a jerk. Logan gasped.

"Cripes! Wait! I'm not in yet!"

Mick wasn't listening, simply closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, trying to visualize the image of a vast field, landscapes without houses, without walls, without limitations, as he had been taught, but again and again other images pushed in between, faces flashed before his inner eye, men in white coats, dark chambers, tables with leather straps and shackles… His breathing began to accelerate, his intestines knotted and he broke out in a cold sweat…

'Concentrate! You've not been caught. Nobody's holding you down! Think, what's your mission? What is it you need to do next?'

"Logan?" He needed a voice, someone to give him the feeling he was not alone.

"I've got it. Okay, am in! And I've given the other's notice."

He had to be almost to the bottom by now. Mick opened his eyes, took a deep breath and went to his knees.

Focus. He could do this, would not fail. Another deep breath helped him gain enough composure to collect his energies again and also make the beast tense up, concentrate.

"Open the doors! Tell Guillermo to turn the electricity off. When I say 'now' you tell him!"

"Okay."

Mick could hear the doors just beneath him open just as they did in his compartment, then machine-gun fire started. He took a short breath, when a narrow strip of light fell across the floor of the elevator.

"Now!" Mick hissed and only a few seconds later, everything became dark and the elevator stopped with a jerk and only a narrow opening of about 2 feet between the bottom of the elevator and the top of the doorway was formed.

Mick pushed himself off the wall with all his might, skidded across the floor and slid through the gap, not allowing the excited soldiers in the hallway any chance to collect themselves or adapting to this new situation. He shot over the heads of the trigger-happy and now quite blind men, out of the elevator, turned in flight and ensured as he landed among the small group of men that he knocked at least one of them off his feet. His mind worked so quickly and so keenly with his supernatural senses and reflexes that the four men had little time to seriously defend themselves. He rammed his elbow with full force into the face of one of them, driving his nose straight into his brain, pulled another in front of his body so the bullets of an M-16 that was aimed at him pierced the soldier's bulletproof vest and broke his neck in the same motion. The slackening body crashed into the shooter and carried him off his feet, while the side of Mick's hand slashed with full force against the throat of another soldier and this one staggered backwards uttering strangled sounds and then fell grabbing his throat, desperately gasping for breath. The next bullets came at Mick as he threw himself to the side. One grazed his side and he used the sharp pain to draw on additional energy reserves. A deep grumble escaped his throat as he leapt into the air with knees-first and planted them against the chest of his attacker, knocking him over and burying him under his body. Another shot rang out from the gun between them but the barrel had long since been aimed at the neck of the shooter himself. Blood splattered against Mick and the man could only manage a strangled gurgle. Then there was silence. Mick raised his head, listened tense. Not too far away were voices, the trampling of boots on smooth tile, which grew closer by the minute. Their back-ups were moving forward.

Mick came quickly to his feet again, ran close to the wall of the corridor, crouching and stopped at the next door. Fortunately, it wasn't locked and he was able to open it silently and let himself be swallowed by the darkness within the room. A quick 360 degree scan told him this was an office and he was almost relieved. Office was good. No tables and equipment, no chains, no medication…

He leaned a little against the wall by the door, trying to get his breathing under control and to again calm his agitated body. He urgently needed to switch his mind on again, _without_ letting the thought of being back in a laboratory paralyze him again, the thought that he was below the ground, surrounded by people who hated him and were trying to kill him.

Beth… he had to think of Beth. He had to find her, had to save her. And she was here somewhere… somewhere…

* * *

At first she could only hear the rustling of clothes. Then there was a muffled sound, followed by a startled gasp and finally other odd sounds that indicated a fight.

"What… what the…," she heard one of the doctors stammer shocked, when at first one and then another body went audibly to the ground, proceeded by choked anguished noises, followed by the sounds of several cervical vertebras being crushed. Then she felt someone flit past her, felt the swift breeze of his passing. Simone's fingernails dug painfully into her arm and she too had to hold onto her friend anxiously for a moment. To see next to nothing in a situation like this, was sheer torture and robbed her of her last remaining nerves.

"What… who are… Ahhhh!" That was Dr. Ramone's voice… and again muffled sounds of battle, shuffling of feet and rustling of clothes. Someone crashed against the treatment table and Beth stepped to the side pulling Simone with her, fighting the panic welling up inside her.

The following thud sounded so much like a body hitting the floor that Beth had no doubt someone had seized one of the two doctors. It wasn't long before the second body went to the ground. From somewhere far away muffled shots echoed off the walls of the corridors – machine guns bursts and more cries of pain. Beth tried hard, however, to not let these sounds get to her, to not allow images to form that were associated with these sounds. The situation was just too dangerous to become distracted now. She had to remain on guard, adjust to the thought of being forced to act again, to fight, if it became necessary.

She narrowed her eyes because she thought she saw movement in front of her in the dark. In fact, she was slowly beginning to recognize the outline of the room and several lockers, although there seemed to be almost no light source in this cursed cellar that didn't depend on electricity. The fact that Gabriel had counted on a power failure gave her comfort, for it told her the man had indeed had a contingency plan that seemed to work. But it still didn't alter the fact that she and Simone were still pretty much helpless in the dark and because of this, it relieved her a little when here eyes began to adjust to the gloom enough to now be able to identify the dark figure crouching on the ground. He was bent over one of the two doctors who had just been knocked out and seemed to be feeling for his pulse. "Beth…," Simone breathed in her ear with a shaky voice. "I feel like I'm blind… do you see anything?"

Yes, she did. Gabriel's dark form was becoming more and more clear so that now she could even see him raise his head to look at them. He slowly stood up and Beth automatically stepped back a bit, causing her friend to gasp horrified. She simply couldn't see enough of his face to not be afraid and he was acting so strange…

"It's okay," she now heard the familiar, gentle sound of his voice. "Just do what I tell you to and be as quiet as possible and nothing will happen to you."

Cries and the trampling of feet directly outside made Beth and Simone flinch violently and they crowded against the wall behind them. Damped, flickering light now penetrated the glass pane of the door and Beth's heart began to pound again. The soldiers had picked up flashlights so they wouldn't be completely blind against their invisible enemy - whoever that was. Beth was hoping it wasn't Mick. That he had not yet arrived in L.A. and had felt compelled to come down to the basement to rescue them - not only because it was so terribly dangerous for him, but because he would be asking something of himself that might be far to hard to survive emotionally. It was still too soon to descend into a laboratory. There was no way he could possible bear it. No, he certainly couldn't be that attacker. Josef would not have allowed it, was sensible enough to know he should prevent it.

Beth watched in alarm as Gabriel went to his knees in front of the door and took the two soldiers' weapons: two machine guns and two long melee knifes, which he immediately took for himself. Again and again her gaze slipped back to the door and tensed when the dark shadow of a person rushing past fell through the glass of the door. How long would it be before one of them broke in and discovered what had happened here?

Gabriel sat up quickly, went to them and took Beth's hand. He pressed one of the weapons into it.

"This is a modified HK MP7," he whispered to her, picked her other hand up and moved it over the weapon. "Unlock it here…," he performed the movement together with her, "here's the trigger… pull the trigger here. Not now."

Beth only had time to furrow her brows confused, then he continued.

"Aim at their heads. They're wearing bulletproof vests, light ones, which means if your standing directly in front of them, one or more bullets could penetrate it - but better safe than sorry."

Simone winced when Gabriel took her hands, handed her the other weapon and told her softly how to use it. Beth, meanwhile, took the time to look around again. The two soldiers appeared to be dead. Both had very unhealthy looking crook in their necks. Surprising that Gabriel would have, in human form, such strength. Or was he even still human?

The two doctors were right next to the treatment table. She didn't know which one was Dr Feddar but at least one of them had survived the struggle because he was now starting to lift his head, swaying and uttered a pained groan.

Gabriel seemed to have noticed it as well, for he immediately rushed towards the man, grabbed him by his neck and lifted him with one arm off the ground as if he were light as air.

Well, that answered one of Beth's many questions. No human could possibly do that, could have such immense strength. But how the hell had Gabriel been able to transform so quickly?

Using his free hand, the old vampire grabbed the box with the bottles Dr. Feddar had brought, placed it on the shelf and heaved the gasping doctor onto the treatment table, immediately pressing him down on it.

Beth's heart pounded as if it would burst. She looked nervously at the door and then back to Gabriel, who was now bent over the man bringing his face quite close to the doctor's and Beth immediately felt the urge to hide in a corner, to make herself as small as possible and cover her eyes and ears. Whatever Gabriel was going to do to him - she didn't want to watch. Of course her hatred of these doctors was immense and this Dr. Ramone - she was now convinced he was the one lying on the table – was one of the biggest pigs here, but someone being tortured was something she'd rather not see, no matter who it was.

"You… you're… one of them?" she heard Dr. Ramone croak now full of fear. "How… how is that possible?"

"Sh-sh," Gabriel uttered and held the man's face with both hands. "I'm your friend. I'm going to help you. Breathe calmly. Very deeply and calmly."

Beth frowned confused. This didn't sound like someone who was about to torture a man. The tone in Gabriel's voice was so gentle, so soothing… Oh yes, this was the truth serum! Her eyes flew over to the shelf, the floor… yes, there it was, one - no, two emptied syringes. The second one had more than likely contained narcotics. This also explained Dr. Feddar's stillness, who was now lying not far from her on the ground. She had to admit she was slightly relieved that Gabriel had not killed him. After all, he had defended her twice today and so far had seemed to be less vicious than any of the other people who worked here.

She looked back over to the table just as the doctor took a deep breath, unable to detach his eyes from Gabriel's.

"Go on," the old vampire demanded and even the loud noises out in the corridor had not distracted him. Beth and Simone, however, became quite nervous. They once again pressed backwards into the wall behind them and simultaneously held their breath.

This time the men ran past the room in the other direction, calling out to the others, cocking their guns, running towards the sounds of battle that seemed to be getting closer. Out there a bloody war had erupted!

"Everything's going to be okay," Gabriel talked on calmly, while Beth's trembling fingers closed more firmly around her gun. "We'll bring you back to laboratory five and you'll be safe there."

"Yeah…," the doctor uttered dully. "Sure…"

"We just need to find a way out of here. Maybe you can help us…"

"There's an emergency elevator with its own generator that can bring us up to the garage," the doctor answered in this droning tone that was so typical of someone under influence of drugs. "On the left side of the laboratory…"

"Does it also work with a fingerprint?"

The doctor nodded. "And you'll take me out of here?"

"Exactly." Gabriel nodded affirmatively. "We'll take you to laboratory five. We'll need to go to another state, won't we?"

"Yes, Arizona…"

Beth's eyes widened. She had never heard of a truth serum that was this effective so quickly. And somehow she knew the doctor's talkativeness wasn't related to this serum alone. His gaze was fixed so strangely on Gabriel's eyes.

"What city was the laboratory close to again?" he now asked gently.

"I… I don't know," the doctor brought out quietly. "No one here knows that."

"Who runs the other lab?"

"Gallagher…"

An icy shudder ran down Beth's back. This name was associated with so much cruelty and anguish…

"He's the lead-coordinator of several cells," Gabriel shaped his words as a statement, but Beth was able to hear the question in it very clearly.

"Yes," Dr. Ramone agreed with him. "If you contact him, he will certainly tell you where the laboratory is…"

"How do I do that from here?"

"In my office there's a computer… they send me new codes daily, emergency numbers and addresses…"

"Take us there."

This time it was Gabriel's voice that sent a shiver down Beth's back. It had such a strange tone, dominant but also so incredibly tempting. She had heard him speak like this once before - during the terrible battle in Mexico - and somehow it seemed to be effecting her as well, although he hadn't addressed her directly. How else could she explain that the idea of leaving this fairly protected space and stepping out into the battlefield didn't really scare her? At least not at the moment.

The old vampire straightened and allowed Dr. Ramone to do the same, to slip from the table and come unsteadily to his feet.

They all - except for Gabriel - winced violently when outside, not far from their door, gunshots rang out and Beth gave Gabriel a startled glance. He had simply closed his eyes to her great surprise and when he lifted his eyelids again, his lips twisted into a small smile.

"What an impatient, unreasonable boy," he said with a slight shake of his head but also with a degree of admiration in his voice, just as a long-drawn out scream of pain froze the blood in Beth's veins and echoed through the halls. Her heart was now almost in her throat again, her eyes tensely fixed to the glass of the door in front of her. There was such a numb feeling in her chest, a tingling deep inside, which told her _who_ was approaching, _who_ was attacking and chasing the indiscriminately firing soldiers, massacring them one by one and educing horrible screams from them. And she was afraid - not _of _the beast Mick had certainly become but fear _for_ him, because she knew perfectly well how little care Mick was taking of himself when he was in this state, no matter how seriously he was wounded - especially when it came to rescuing her.

* * *

"Logan, where's Mick?"

Crackling. "Down… But I…. no longer reach him. Something's…. disturbing the reception, or he's lost channel…"

Oh great! This was exactly what I needed to hear to calm me down. Our surprise attack had succeeded wonderfully so far. The two men, even while taking their last breath had probably never knew what hit them - everything had happened so fast. Nevertheless, I was too experienced and careful to start celebrating just yet, even if fortune did seem to be favoring us at the moment.

Thanks to Max' unerring instinct and expert knowledge of situations like this, we were able to quickly find access to the laboratory: an emergency elevator that for some reason was wired to a dedicated circuit, for it was still working faultlessly - once you knew how to activate it. And Max had already figured that out, for he had cleverly dragged one of the dead soldiers along and was able to quickly open the 'gates of hell' for us.

That no further opponents, up to this point, were heading our way disturbed me a little because if they weren't after us, it only meant one thing: they were all rushing towards Mick and that wasn't good.

"I'll try to see if I can listen in on the Legion's radio frequency, then I'll get back to you," said Logan and took his leave with this loud crackling again.

My gaze wandered over the strained faces of the vampires who were at my side: Max, Guillermo and Coraline. All had the same concern written on their face, concern for Mick but also for themselves because we didn't really know what to expect once we got down there.

My body tensed even more when the first alarmed voices came to us from the laboratory. Voices that told us there were people directly in front of the elevator shaft. Probably wanting to flee.

Max cast a side glance at me and I knew exactly what he was going to ask.

"We don't have time for prisoners," I clarified once and for all. "Our first priority is to find Mick, Gabriel, Beth and Simone and to ensure they get out of here safely. Anyone carrying a weapon is a potentially lethal and must be eliminated. And you don't need to be considerate of unarmed people…"

I saw the others nod, took another deep breath and tensed my body. A quick jolt went through the elevator and the doors opened. We looked, for a split second, into the shocked faces of two laboratory assistants and their armed escorts.

I lunged immediately, but one person was faster than me, carried one of the soldiers off his feet and with an inhuman growl rammed her sharp fangs deeply into his throat: Coraline.

I did the same to the other soldier almost simultaneously, but decided, after hitting the ground hard with the man and noticing how strenuously he defended himself, to neutralize him quickly and snapped his neck with a practiced grasp. No matter how well a person wore a bulletproof vest, the neck was, for us vampires, always wonderfully vulnerable.

Guillermo grabbed one of the laboratory assistants and smashed him with such force against the nearest wall that he remained motionless on the ground, while Max, like me, went for the easiest and fastest method of silencing the other man forever.

Coraline's victim still uttered a weak death rattle and as she stood to wipe the blood from her lips with the back of her hand, his heart stopped beating. We couldn't have asked for a more successful start to our attack and the first waves of joy and pride welled up in me.

But we didn't take time to look around and discuss how we were going to proceed because the quick steps of boot-clad feet and the sound of weapons being cocked were coming the area where the corridor branched off.

I didn't really think but merely rushed towards the approaching danger. Offense, even in modern times was still the best defense and the more surprising the better. My friends seemed to agree because they followed without hesitation, stayed with me, picking up speed as we charged, enough for the impact to carry our opponents off their feet. And it did.

The impact was severe but not uncontrolled. With our incredibly receptive senses and quick reflexes we were able to spot the soldiers turning the corner within a fraction of a second and calculate the dangers each presented and simultaneously identify which of us was targeting what opponent. I launched myself at a tall, broad-shouldered guy who with his eyes wide, raised a strange-looking weapon and aimed it directly at my chest. But he wasn't able to pull the trigger fast enough because my fist met his face with such force that I could hear his nasal bones breaking. By the time we both hit the ground, he was already brain dead. I spun around and kicked the feet out from under the man next to me so Guillermo's attempt to ram him with his shoulder was even more successful than anticipated. At the same time I dug my teeth into the calf of another soldier, quickly indulging in a few sips of adrenalin-rich blood. The screaming man didn't seem to appreciate it too much because all at once the butt of his rifle came shooting toward me. I grabbed it and with full force shoved it upwards. The damage the gun stock caused when it crashed into the soldier's face must have been massive for he collapsed like a lifeless rag doll, hitting the ground and didn't move again.

I had a moment to look around since the remaining four men had, because of my friends aggressive attack, no chance of turning their attentions back to me. The hall wasn't that long and it dead ended into another one. There were a few doors on either side of the hallway and from one of them I picked up the disgusting smell of dried vampire blood and decay. It reminded me once again where we were, what these people were doing down here and the hatred grew so strong in me, a low growl began to build.

A soldier fell next to me, grabbing his bleeding neck with both hands, gasping for air with his eyes wide in terror. I had nothing but contempt for him and felt a slight satisfaction when his heart beat began to slow. Anyone who worked for this sadistic group deserved to die! For the cruel experiments that had been preformed here, for the countless vampires who had suffered and died at their hands, for all the torment and misery they had brought upon our species… and especially for what they had done to Mick… Mick.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, perceive where he and the others were. But it wasn't so easy. The hospital smell, the stench of disinfectants and drugs numbed my senses and my own excitement made it almost impossible for me to at least sense the others energetically. They could be anywhere in this labyrinth...

No, not anywhere, it occurred to me as I heard shots in the distance. Mick had to fight the Legionaries - and would certainly find Beth. So, all we needed to do was go where he was… and hope we weren't stopped by the soldiers, who had just appeared at the other end of the corridor, raising their guns. This time, we didn't have the option of a surprise attack and the corridor was too narrow to maneuver around them.

"Go back!" was the only thing I could think of as I flung myself around and dashed off as the first volley of bullets whizzed past us. We were fast but not fast enough. One bullet grazed my shoulder, another my thigh, sending white hot pain through my muscles and I began to stumble. A delicate hand grabbed my arm, pulled me up then pushed me against the door of a room that gave way immediately. My momentum was so strong, I crashed unchecked into one of the treatment tables in the room and landed with my upper body on top of something cold but soft.

I guessed what it was before I straightened up again. The smell was just too intense, too obvious. Immediately I shrank back uttering a disgusted sound and held one arm in front of my nose, my eyes fixed on the gray, dissected and mangled figure in front of me. Necrophilia was so not my thing…

I knew I needed to prepare myself for the upcoming battle, that it was much more important to see who of my friends was still with me, but the sight of the dead man seized me - not because I'd never seen such a ravaged corpse before, but because the peculiar smell it gave off puzzled me so deeply: It smelled more like a human than like a vampire. And there were no fangs in the mouth of this vampire, which had opened so wide in agony. Vampires usually transformed when they fell into danger.

It was ultimately the cry of pain behind me that finally caused me to spin around and I noticed that besides me and Coraline, Guillermo had also successfully escaped into the room. He crouched down with his back against the wall on the ground and held, with a pain stricken face, his upper arm, while Coraline quickly inspected the bullet she had probably just removed from of his shoulder. She gave me a requesting look and I hurried over to them while my senses still concentrated on the noises in the corridor. One could clearly hear the legionnaires moving, sneaking up on us.

"Silver," she whispered to me in ultrasonic frequency. I nodded, went to my knees next to Guillermo and pulled out one of the syringes Logan had found in Gabriel's case. It was the compound that had been distributed at the meeting - our protection against this diabolical silver ammunition. The old vampire really had been prepared for anything.

"Where's Max?" I asked Coraline while injecting the compound into Guillermo's arm.

"I think he's hunkered down in one of the other rooms," she replied, looking at me. Deep worry was written in her beautiful eyes. "Josef, have you noticed this as well? They're not just firing silver bullets…" Her eyes flickered to the door. The strained sounds of heavy breathing from the men outside was very close now and I ducked, retreated further into the protective darkness of the room, although I was able to notice they weren't carrying flashlights – that could mean only one thing that they were probably wearing night-vision goggles; at least some of them.

Coraline had just got into an attack position when a split second later the barrel of a gun appeared in the doorway. She grabbed the barrel incredibly fast, which prompted an immediately shot to ring out, then she jerked the soldier into the room, throwing herself with a muffled growl on top of him. Further movement caused me to rush forward as well. The soldier at the door shot the moment I pushed his arm up and just missed Coraline, who was still holding his gasping comrade in a deadly embrace, by a few millimeters. But _I_ wasn't the reason for the anguished cry that was uttered next. No, one of his comrades had shot him from behind in the thigh - not entirely voluntary because I knew from the noises outside that Max had again become quite active. The soldier in front of me involuntarily sank to his knees, making it very easy for me to grab his neck and strangle him. Human larynges were so susceptible…

His agony only lasted seconds, then I let him fall and in a single bound was in the hallway next to Max, spinning as I kicked the face of one opponent and rammed my elbow into the nose of another. My senses picked up at the same time, two more enemies standing with guns raised at the end of the corridor - too far away to get to them immediately. I sprinted off. Two men… how much damage could two men cause, especially since we had this brilliant antidote for the silver bullets here…

But just as the bullets were flying towards me, I noticed something strange about them. They didn't smell of silver, they didn't make the same sound the other bullets made as they cut through the air and they looked different. I was able to avoid the first two with a knee-jerk reaction, the third was already too close. I wasn't going to be fast enough to escape it and it dug mercilessly into my belly, causing an intense burning pain that made me stumble and fall against the wall sideways before I could throw myself onto the shooter. My teeth dug into his flesh, tore at his neck, dug so deeply into his artery there was no way he could survive it. Next to me, the other soldier went to the ground under Max's weight but I was no longer able to concentrate on what was going on around me. Something was happening to me, a burning and tingling in my belly triggered by the bullet that was still protruding from my flesh. I sat up a little, grabbed the end of the projectile and pulled it out with a suppressed cry of pain. My eyes widened in horror when I saw what was lying in my hand: long, light as a feather, with a needle as a cap.

_This_ was what Coraline had been trying to say. It wasn't just silver bullets they were using anymore…

* * *

He had really tried repeatedly to recall Beth's face, to use it as a weapon against these horrible memories brought on by the sights and smells in the laboratory, the room where he was now sitting. But it wasn't working, didn't help like it usually did and this awful nagging feeling spread in his interior, the tremors that went through his body again and again along with the racing of his heart made it incredibly difficult to focus, to find out where Beth was.

Three more men, he had already struck down with cold, unfeeling, almost routine precision and had made quite a bit of progress, was now in another hallway, another area of the laboratory, a different room. He had been immediately aware this wasn't an office, had smelled it, felt it and tried to not let it get to him, tried to not look around. But he knew it, he knew he was exactly where he never wanted to be again: a treatment room, in one of these cold sterile rooms in which these devils in white coats had played God, experimented, tortured and killed…

Again, these pictures, these awful pictures… he could see people in white, half of their faces hidden under sterile face masks, as they bent over him, injected him with something, caused injuries to see how fast his wounds would heal, to see how much he could endure, how strong, how resistant he was. He could feel the pain again almost physically, as if they were again being inflicted on him, could even distinguish them… Each injury had its own unique pain: buzzing, stinging, burning, roaring, throbbing… Some were so bad that your circulation collapsed, that you sank into this soothing darkness, into this feeling of liberation that would awaken a desire to never have to wake up again…

Mick sucked the air around him into his nose deeply and frantically, trying desperately to fight the panic attack, which affected him, wanted to cripple him. He needed a distraction, something to help him stop this vicious spiral…

He took a deep breath, clenched his fist and slapped his shoulder, just able to suppress the cry of pain that immediately wanted to burst out of him. The pain was white hot, first piercing, then just booming, followed by an almost gentle throbbing, that radiated in an unpleasant way into his chest and back muscles. But at least it was real, was good, not the same as the phantom pain of his memory. It brought him back in to the here and now, reminded him he was no longer a prisoner that he had to fight, _could_ fight back. The images in his head slowly blurred, dissolved. Soon, the pain was only a buzzing, numbed his muscles a bit, making it difficult for him to move his left arm.

Actually, he would now need to show a little gratitude towards the soldier who had inflicted the wound. Mick had seen the bullet coming but had had no room to avoid it. It had gone straight through his shoulder, had severed flesh and tendons and its exit had caused even greater damage than the entry. Still, it was good that it had gone through because Mick had at once felt the burning traces left by the silver of the projectile. Even though he had developed some resistance to this dangerous substance, if it got into his bloodstream, he'd also have to struggle with it and wouldn't be as useful as before. But the bullet was out, had not left much damage except for the heavily bleeding entry and exit wound and the building rage inside him again.

Rage was good - rage was useful, for it too helped him dispel the memories and to get his trembling sweaty body under control again and allowed him to focus again. And that was sorely needed because they were moving closer again, this time quietly and organized, trying sneak up on him. Mick closed his eyes, concentrated all his senses on what was happening in the hall outside. He could now hear them. They whispered, passing brief instructions. The rustling of their clothes revealed that they were communicating with hand gestures, moving towards him light-footed.

They weren't sure exactly where he was. There were so many rooms and not all were easily accessible, even when they came closer. Mick was able to see light in the corridor, so they were probably using flashlights attached to their rifles, had changed out their equipment in a hurry to be able to compete with the danger that lurked in the darkness. Lights were good, certainly better than night vision because for human eyes that only uncovered a limited area within their environment.

Mick shrunk back slightly from the wall he had been leaning against when his legs had no longer been able to carry his weight alone. He crouched and turned in the same movement towards the wall. He peered over at the large window that allowed you to observe the experiments going on in the room from the outside. Experiments… He squinted his eyes briefly. 'Don't think about it, don't think about it…'

The first dark figure slipped past the window, his gun ready, scanning left and right to cover his back. The light from his flashlight fell through the window for a short moment and Mick hunkered down a little more. But nobody seemed to have noticed him. There was no shot, no noise, instead just more dark-clad heavily armed men moving past the window. One, two, three, four… The fifth remained at the edge of the window, more than likely they had stopped at the door to the room to make sure that none of their enemies were still inside. Mick moved - silently and deadly fast. One of the soldiers kicked the door open and the next moment shot the face off of one of his comrades, because the weapon that had just been aimed into the room was now suddenly pointing in a totally different direction. The pain his broken wrist radiated, went away quickly as his head was twisted too far much under the firm grip of Mick's hands, giving a gnashing noise. Mick's elbow struck, cracking the jaw of another soldier who had just tumbled backwards from the force of Mick throwing himself against the entire troop at the door and now finally went to the ground.

The surprise and uncontrolled panic of the men gave Mick a few extra seconds. His opponents were incapable of any reasonable action, while his own body worked together with his mind and his natural reflexes with a precision he himself would never have been capable of earlier, even on his best days as a vampire. His body was working entirely on its own now. The cold clarity and high concentration was back and allowed the immense energies that coursed through his muscles to be used with precision and concentration so that every blow, every kick, every jab to these fragile human bodies trying to stop him, caused irreparable damage. He didn't need to use his teeth this time. He knew what points on the human body he had to hit and the force needed to achieve maximum damage while this strange out of body feeling, as if none of what was happening felt real, continued. The knife, whose blade touched him bothered him even less than the bullet that grazed his hip. The breaking of bones under his fingers, the heartbeat coming to an end after a violent kick to the solar plexus was all that mattered, just like the dull thud of bodies hitting the floor, lifeless.

And then there was silence. The only noise that still echoed loudly in his ears was his own frantic heart beat and his short, quick, breaths. The massive energies that had put his body under almost painful tension retreated a little, allowing a part of his human soul to return. Only now was he able to come out his crouching position, which he had assumed automatically. Then he noticed the five lifeless bodies littering the hallway, which he had conquered by himself. None of them moved, breathed or lived anymore… and it felt good, brought him the feeling of safety, of invincibility that he needed in order to go on searching.

Mick allowed himself to close his eyes one more time to focus his mind on what he sought. It took him a moment, but it was suddenly there, this energetic tingling. Too strong to be Beth's, too intense to belong to a human at all. Gabriel… he was a vampire again.

A low growl came from Mick's throat, unable to prevent it. The vampire within him was still controlling his thoughts and actions too much and he greeted the old vampire, immediately longing to be at his side, even though his human side still carried a grudge against him. But it wasn't just the vampire, who instantly moved forward, who looked for the proximity of the other, although the smell of humans, of fear, anger and excitement was there again, piercing his nose. The human inside him wanted it as well because he knew that Beth would be close to Gabriel, _had_ to be with him.

It only took a few more seconds before he could feel and smell her as well and his steps quickened. The vampire was now feeling the strong urge to not only be at Gabriel's side again - he now wanted to get to _her_ too, longed for her scent, her blood, her proximity… for his companion. Another growl came from his throat. He called to her and just knew that she would hear him, no matter how far away she was. She would know that he was coming to fetch her and that he would certainly not be held back by the three heavily armed soldiers who were now rounding the corner in front of him.

Once again one of those indescribable energy attacks seized him and he shot towards the terrified men, who lifted their guns and pulled the trigger immediately. His acute hearing told him how fast and from what angle the bullets were traveling and he ducked, moved to the side slightly without losing speed and leaped at them.

'In front of you!' he heard a familiar voice in his head now and registered that the mentioned soldier had not only rapidly aimed his gun at him, but that another beast like Mick had broken with bared teeth out of the shadows behind the soldiers and came crashing into them at that same moment he did.

* * *

Beth's hands were tightly closed around her weapon as she followed Gabriel and the doctor down the hall, every bit as tight as Simone's fingers were around her arm in order to have at least_ something_ to cling to in her fear. Beth understood this only too clearly. This darkness, the sounds, the shots and screams and the certainty they would at some point face some of these very hostile soldiers was wearing on her nerves. Her heart pounded in her throat and her legs were terribly wobbly. And yet she slowed, looking again and again in the opposite direction of the corridor and felt with every step they took more and more uncomfortable.

Gabriel seemed to be able to feel it too, for he suddenly turned to her. "He will join us, Beth, but we cannot go to him immediately," she heard him say, even though she thought his lips had barely moved.

"But… but he needs our help," she gave back lowly and Simone winced, looked at her confused from the side while she let Beth pull her further down the hall.

Something flashed in Gabriel's eyes and a strange smile came across his face. "He's done it," he replied. "I cannot hear the noises of battle from his direction anymore. And when the other soldiers come, they will have to use _that_ hallway and I'll be there to intervene."

"But…"

The clear shake of his head left her silent and only a second later Dr. Ramone opened another door.

"Who were you talking to?" Simone whispered into Beth's ear, as they followed Gabriel and the doctor into the room. Beth gave her a confused look, but there was no time to wonder about her friend's confused state and respond to her strange question. Instead, she went up to Gabriel, who was helping the slightly unsteady doctor onto a swivel chair in front of an office table and he gave the old vampire another worried glance.

"Look inward - then you'll know how he's doing," he said curtly, then turned again to the doctor.

"I need all the numbers and addresses you have to the bases of the Legion," he said again with this strange tone of voice that, strangely enough, also seemed to help _her_ become quite calm. Gee! This was almost scary…

"And the files on the research done in this lab," he added.

"But they… they're top secret," the doctor stammered, and screwed up his eyes a few times to try once again to struggle powerlessly against his state of trance.

"And that's why they'll be in especially good hands with me," Gabriel added even much softer and a very pleasant shiver ran down Beth's spine. Her muscles began to relax, her heartbeat slowed again and Simone also let go of her, taking a deep, almost relieved breath.

"Only I can save you and your work from destruction, Doctor," she heard Gabriel's incredibly beautiful voice continue to persuade the doctor. Stimulating - that was probably the correct term for the tone he used, so stimulating that he made the people close to him weak-willed. What a weapon!

She now started to blink herself, to move, tried to shake off this dangerous calm and relaxation from her body. And she was successful in small way, for she had the good fortune of not being drugged just like the doctor. The man obeyed again like a puppet, took a USB memory stick from Gabriel's hand and connected it to his computer. His fingers flew all too willingly over the keyboard, accurately following every order the gently caressing voice of the vampire gave.

Hypnosis… didn't Gabriel once tell her something about this in Mexico. Back then she had been totally distraught and he had needed only a few seconds to calm her down - with this exact voice, this same way of talking.

A slight tremor went through Beth's body and then it happened again: images flashed before her mind's eye, men with masks bending over her, needles, strange devices; she was lying on a stretcher, unable to move and the men were doing something to her… pain - excruciating pain! Beth stumbled backwards, panting and was steadied by her worried friend. Her heart raced and her eyes flew frantically around the room, recognized Gabriel's face in front of her, felt him take her by the shoulders to help her along with Simone to stay on her feet.

"Easy," he said softly, his eyes full of worry. "It wasn't real, Beth…"

She inhaled faltering, shaking her head. "God… He cannot face this alone! This is too much for him," she uttered hardly composed, fighting the tears that threatened to well up in her. "I need to look for him!"

"He can handle this, Beth," Gabriel replied and his eyes got this strange fixed stare, his voice this soft sound.

Oh, no - no! Beth pulled away from his eyes, trying to wiggle out of his grip even as she felt her body begin to relax again.

"This is just too much for him!" she repeated again and was surprised when Gabriel indeed released her. "He needs us!"

She took a big step out of the reach of the old vampire and only then dared to look at him anew. But Gabriel wasn't watching her anymore. He had directed his concentrated gaze to the door of the office and seemed to be focusing his other senses on something that was happening outside of her perception. Only after a few seconds she heard what the vampire had noticed much earlier: the rapid footsteps of several people outside in the hall. Another group of soldiers marched on.

Beth's eyes widened in horror. She knew the exact direction in which these men were running, who they were going after. She couldn't help it – her feet were moving without thought towards the door. But she didn't get far. Gabriel grabbed her upper arm and held her, pulling her towards him

"_I_'ll see to it!" he said firmly, giving her a stern look. "You stay here and make sure the doctor finishes his work - is that clear?"

Beth looked over to the doctor, who seemed to see nothing more than the screen before him and the data he was downloading. She didn't want to stay here, couldn't bear waiting, not knowing what was happening out there to Mick and Gabriel appeared to read this right in her eyes when she looked at him again.

"_Is that_ _clear_?" he repeated again a little louder and in his eyes there was definitely something threatening. "It's just for a few minutes, Beth - a few minutes."

He waited for a nod from her, but she couldn't do it, couldn't promise him something she wasn't sure she could keep.

His other hand grabbed her other arm and she now flinched as he pulled her closer with a rapid jerk, digging his eyes deeply into hers.

"I'll put up your unwillingness maybe once or twice, Beth," he said gently, but with a hint of exasperation in his voice, "but I won't tolerate this a third time! Do not make me show you why people fear me so much!"

For a heartbeat the color of his eyes changed, a deadly cold showed in his face, which shook Beth heavily and made her breathing falter. Suddenly it was no longer difficult for her to nod. But she couldn't say anything, her mouth was too dry and her throat too tight.

"Good," said Gabriel and let her go to walk over to the door. When he had reached it he turned around and looked at her again. "I'll be back - with Mick," he said and was gone the next moment.

Only now did Beth dare to take a shaking breath again and although her concern for Mick had not diminished she stayed in the room. It wasn't just that she believed Gabriel's every word and knew she would be heading for a lot of trouble if she went against his wishes again, but in her heart it was also clear that he could help Mick far more effectively if he didn't need to take care of her as well. Apart from the obvious fact that someone needed watch the doctor who was still doing his job quite well.

Simone seemed to see it the same way, for she stepped into the light of the screen, closer to the doctor, and held her weapon at the ready. Her gaze however, rested worriedly on Beth.

"He'll take care of it," she said softly in Beth's direction and somehow Beth couldn't shake the feeling that she was talking more to herself than her. Her friend looked disheveled and dissolved. She had long since lost her wig and her hair had come loose from the tight bun, which she had previously donned under the wig and now hung in disarray around her face. Her makeup was smeared and her skin pale. She had certainly not imagined her first mission like this. But given their disastrous situation, the young lawyer had held her ground quite well.

Beth nodded at her as encouragingly as possible and then turned back to the door, tense, listening to what was going on outside. At first there wasn't much to hear. Most of the fighting seemed to have died down and Beth wondered for the umpteenth time, which of her friends was down here in this basement fighting for their lives. She was sure Josef would not have let his best friend do this alone…

Beth shuddered violently, as shots rang out again not far from her and then she heard growls and hisses and… someone shouting for her, causing this pull in her insides, this pull towards the corridor… Mick…

As if in a trance, she began to move, to walk to the door.

"Beth!" she heard Simone's horrified voice behind her but she couldn't turn around, could not stop, just _had_ to open the door, although there were quick footsteps heard in the hall again.

"Beth!" A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the room, but it was too late. A dark shadow had appeared in the doorway. Cold eyes looked at her confused. A heavy weapon lifted, aimed directly at her face.

Beth came to her senses again, stumbled backwards holding an arm in front of her face shocked, as if the gesture would really protect her.

"Who the hell are you?" growled the dark-clad soldier, following her threateningly, holding the weapon like he was going to shoot her in the head at any moment.

"Don't! Don't!" Simone cried in despair, let her own gun fall down and held both hands in the air. "We're civilians! Civilians!"

Beth dropped her weapon as well, shrunk further back, bumped her hip against the metal exam table and unintentionally ripped Dr. Ramone out of his trance, who jumped up so suddenly that the chair he was just sitting in, went crashing backwards to the ground.

A deafening bang was heard, then all noise around Beth died out. She staggered to the side, pressed one hand to her aching ear, barely able to endure the shrill whistling that resonated now. But there was no pain - at least not until another soldier grabbed her arm so tight she thought the bones in her upper arm would break at any moment. She was turned around and for a moment saw the other soldier grab Simone and press the barrel of his gun to her temple. In the next moment she was thrown against the wall. With a muffled sound she heard herself cry out, then saw the lips of the man before her move and heard his voice as if he were angry. She saw the barrel of his gun, which rose to her face, saw him yelling at her and still didn't know what he wanted from her. All she knew was that he had no patience and with a wildly beating heart knew that he had come to kill…

She tore her eyes open in horror as he pressed the gun to her temple. But that was all that happened. Something suddenly whipped first his arm and then him backwards, away from her. She looked in disbelief at the bright eyes of the vampire, who in the next second dug his sharp teeth into the man's neck and ripped, with an expression of deep satisfaction, a large chunk of flesh from his neck, leaving behind a deep wound in the area of his carotid artery that he simply could not survive.

Beth was, for that moment, happy she could barely hear anything, for she could see the man screaming terribly as he sank to the floor writhing in a pain, desperately pressing one hand to the injury. But Beth could no longer pay any attention to him because the beautifully spooky looking woman, who had just saved her life and from whom she still expected the worst, was moving up to her. Beth swung around, trying to avoid her, but she wasn't fast enough, felt her grab her arm and pull her back. She struggled but Coraline held her arms, forcing her to look at her face. To her surprise, Beth saw no bloodlust in the eyes of Mick's ex-wife, just a mixture of anger and concern. She spoke to her and Beth clearly made out the names 'Gabriel' and 'Mick' from her lips.

Another figure pushed his way into her field of vision and Beth could have almost sobbed loudly with relief as she looked into Guillermo's worried face. He also spoke with her, but she shook her head and said as loudly as possible: "I don't understand you! I can't hear anything!" She couldn't help her voice from trembling and that her words were followed by a low, muffled sob. Well, great, there were those damn tears again! She was such a wimp! And now the young Mexican pulled her into his arms, giving her the comfort she longed for so terribly. Beth closed her eyes and heard herself sob again, couldn't help clinging to him and finally let the tears run down her cheeks.

"We've no time for this," she heard a woman's muffled voice say and even though Beth hated her for it - Coraline was right. Beth straightened and freed herself from Guillermo's comforting embrace, at the very moment the beautiful woman rushed to the door to help Max carry someone into the room, who was barely able stand on his own two legs.

Beth's heartbeat stopped for a second, only to jump violently against her ribcage again the moment Simone ran toward the injured vampire Max and Coraline were now carefully lying down on the ground.

"Oh, God, Josef!" she uttered in horror and fell along with Simone to her knees beside him.

Her friend had a bleeding wound on his thigh, but this hardly explained his condition. His entire body jerked again and again and he was bathed in sweat. His gaze was strangely fixed far away and he hardly seemed to notice anything that was going on around him.

"What… what happened to him?" Beth heard her friend now ask, somewhat clearer. Fortunately Beth seemed to have recovered her hearing fairly quick after the gun had gone off right next to her ear.

"He was hit with this," Max replied and held up something that looked like a projectile with a needle attached. "No idea what was in it, but it doesn't seem to be very good for vampires…"

"Josef?" Beth tried to speak to him, touched his face and winced. "He's burning up!"

"Oh, God!" Simone uttered appalled and tried to suppress a desperate sob with one hand pressed to her mouth.

"Maybe he needs blood," suggested Beth and immediately held her wrist in front of Josef's pale trembling lips. But he didn't react, didn't even look at her. Beth's stomach contracted painfully. She had a feeling something very evil was happening here. Something only a doctor could fix again… A doctor?

She rose quickly and looked towards the desk and froze. Dr. Ramone had not disappeared. He lay motionless on the ground and the blood spatter, which spread extensively over the wall behind him told her whom the shot next to her ear had hit. She winced violently when she was again touched on the shoulder and turned to see Coraline's beautiful face that still showed nothing but concern.

"Beth, where's Gabriel?" she asked urgently, and Beth really wanted to answer, but an energetic tingling attacked her at that moment causing her to pause. All the other vampires in the room had probably sensed it as well because everyone turned towards the door at the same time and just a few seconds later, the tall, impressive figure of the eldest vampire appeared in the doorway. It was as if he already knew what had happened, for he immediately knelt down next to the others beside Josef.

As concerned as Beth was about her friend, she couldn't keep from looking towards the door, in which another figure now appeared and remained there, his bright eyes fixed on her. Beth suppressed the sob that wanted to burst out of her and rushed forward, was with him in just a few steps and threw herself into his protective arms that immediately closed firmly around her.

She felt Mick's chest expand with a deep breath and pressed herself even closer to him, allowing him feel how sorry she was for everything and how good it felt to have him back with her. But she didn't take much time for their reunion, for her concern for Josef was too great, and she knew Mick felt the same. He released her and walked with her towards the others. Gabriel was examining Josef closely then his eyes wandered over to the dead doctor. He shook his head and stood up.

"What happened?" Mick asked worried and went to his knees beside his friend, put his hand on Josef's forehead like Beth had done earlier and drew back shocked.

"This is irrelevant now," said the old vampire and walked, under Beth's bewildered gaze, towards the table where the computer was. "We can't do anything for him here," he added. "Quite apart from the fact that it's much too dangerous to continue to stay here much longer. Any moment, back-up will be arriving and I don't think we're equipped well enough to fight with the elite units of the Legion."

"But he needs help immediately," Mick uttered controlled with only great difficulty. "Look at him!"

"He will _not_ die," said Gabriel and pulled the stick from the PC.

"How do you know?" Mick growled at him and Beth felt the other vampires around them tense. They had also noticed the angry flash in Gabriel's eyes.

"I just know," Gabriel replied strictly and came back to them all. "That'll have to suffice."

Beth felt as if Mick wanted to say something else but quickly put a hand on his shoulder, hoping he would understand her unspoken request and push his fears and concerns about his best friend, at least for the moment, to the back of his mind - and her hope was fulfilled. Mick took a few deep breaths, then gritted his teeth and said nothing more. Someone else rose to speak instead.

"But we should at least take one of these doctors along with us - if we can still find a living one," Max argued. "Only _they'll_ know exactly what to do to help him."

Gabriel nodded slightly. "We will. But Mick, Josef and the two humans need to get out of here first!"

The next nod was more an instruction and Max understood immediately, put Josef's arm around his shoulder and lifted him up. Mick was immediately at his other side, but Max waved him off and heaved Josef completely over his shoulder.

Beth's heart was now pounding up in her throat again when Gabriel walked out into the hallway and looked around, closing his eyes a moment to concentrate.

"This isn't going to be easy," he said softly and Beth knew immediately they were going to have a hard time getting to the elevator. There were probably still too many soldiers who would block their way and the idea frightened her. It was quite strange that there had been so many troops stationed here. They had really stirred up a hornet's nest.

A large, cool hand reached for her, drew her close to an equally cool body and Beth looked up into Mick's tense face.

"You stay with me and do _exactly_ what I tell you," he said firmly and she nodded quickly. As long as they were down here, she would not let go of him again, even if he ask her to. Another figure stepped up to her and when she looked into Coraline's cold face, she noticed for the first time something similar to anger in her dark eyes while trying to give her a smile.

"Caroline!" another voice barked menacingly and Beth looked over at Gabriel who gave a stern look to the beautiful vampire who flinched violently. "Prends garde! C'en est fait de ma patience! Tu viens avec moi! Aussitôt!"

Coraline responded immediately and rushed to Gabriel's side, who then gave her quite a strange look, before he began to move again and therefore set their little caravan into motion. But Beth nerves were too raw to continue to wonder about the relationship between Gabriel and Coraline. All she wanted now was to get out of this hell-hole as soon as possible without further injuries and to get Josef the help he needed now from whatever the soldiers of the Legion had done to him.


	22. Weakness

_So here's the next chapter again. It's a shorter one but I still hope you'll like it… and maybe leave me a little comment? You know, to fuel my addiction… And I thank you so much for the last reviews! I literally suck them in and gain new strength to go on writing. Will be back at Sunday again. Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_P.S. Because some of you asked: Gabriel said to Coraline "Watch yourself! Don't try my patience! You come with me! This instant!"_

_Translates by Francis_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**W****eakness**

* * *

_"Strangely enough, the biggest weakness is not wanting to be weak."_

_Wolfgang J. Reus, (1959 – 2006)_

* * *

"Josef!"  
There was that voice again. A familiar voice that came to me from far away, through this hazy feeling of floating, of non-existence.

"Josef!"  
That one was much more urgent, more demanding and the need to respond, to make myself known in some way grew stronger than the desire to remain in this secure, dark, protective cocoon that surrounded me.

Other sounds reached my ear now, a monotonous drone, a wailing siren, the rattle of equipment... and then my other senses started to work again, making it clear why I had wanted to remain so long in the motionless dark. I could feel the rapid beat of my heart, the rush of blood in my veins, and a violent throbbing pain in my head. No, not just in my head, the more I came to my senses, the more I realized that my entire body consisted of aches and cramps and my skin felt as if it were on fire. A groan escaped my lips and I immediately screwed up my face when I opened my eyes, blinking. God, was I nauseated, and the light... this terrible light, it burned in my eyes so much. I squeezed my eyes closed again and uttered another groan, when the jostling became even stronger and a hot pain penetrated my leg, then subsided to a dull hum.

"Josef!" This time the familiar female voice sounded relieved. I felt fingers on my cheek, hands clinging to my face, almost forcing me to open my eyes again. I couldn't see that well. Only the outline of a person, no, _two_ people who were bent over me, sitting by my side left and right, and the walls of the terribly narrow space I now found myself in. Everything was so blurry, so loud, so painful... Why couldn't I switch this off as usual, focus only on what was important? And this headache... I had a headache? Why? I hadn't felt something like this in over three hundred and fifty years.

"Can you hear me Josef?" asked the voice and soft fingers stroked my hot skin, producing a strange tingling there. Hot? Yes... I did indeed feel as if I was boiling inside and out. I had also not felt this warm for quite a while. What was happening to me?

"Josef?" That was a different female voice and one of the faces came closer. A face framed by blonde curls. Beth?

"Yes... thank God, you've given us such a scare!"

So, I must have asked my question out loud. No wonder I felt so exhausted again - or maybe it _was_ a wonder. Usually vampires weren't weakened for such extended periods of time, no matter what kind of severe wounds they had suffered in a fight.

"Is he awake?" That voice I knew as well and I was so relieved to be able to assign it to Mick in spite of my befogged mind. So we found him... or come to think of it, maybe it was the other way around, because actually I was the one lying here limp and weak and having great difficulty gaining access to his not so well functioning senses and much less cooperative body.

There was my friend, climbing over stuff in this strange, narrow room, coming towards me. As he sank down on his knees to my side, my eyes were already beginning to recognize faces, at least the ones near me, reasonably well and I realized that it was Simone who had brought me out so softly from my faintness and now smiled at me lovingly. She looked different, as if she had suddenly aged years.

Mick's hand moved toward me, lay gently on my forehead. God that felt good! It was so wonderfully cool...

"Do you recognize me?" my friend asked with great concern in his eyes and I wondered why his body was wiggling so strangely. Not just his - also Beth's and Simone's... and mine. Actually it was the whole room. We were in a car? This would also explain the monotonous hum in the background.

"Josef?" Mick asked again and I managed to move my head clumsily, to indicate a nod.

"Mick!" I knew that voice, as well, even if I seldom heard it in such a panicked way. Logan, if I wasn't mistaken...

"And now, where to now?" he asked with a clear tremor in his voice. Mick glanced up, looked tense toward a certain direction. "To the right."

"And then?" The little freak really was afraid.

"I don't know! Just drive!" Mick snapped at him. "The main thing is to just get out of town!"

He exhaled noisily and noticeably stressed and then turned to Beth, who looked quite upset and dishevelled. "Has August called you yet?"

She shook her head and I saw that Mick didn't like this information at all. He too looked as if he had just been hurled out of a hurricane and didn't know exactly where he was or what he should do.

"What should we do if he has another seizure?" Simone asked in a shaky voice. My friend seemed to be overwhelmed by this question though, because he could only rub his hand over his face and shrug his shoulders, while shaking his head in an expression of profound helplessness.

I, however, didn't understand what they were talking about. My mind still wasn't working properly, was repeatedly kept by incomprehensible convulsions and movements of my desolate body from analysing the situation I was currently in and from understanding what was going on. And this damn heat inside of me really bothered me.

"Shit, there's a police car, Mick!" Logan's horrified voice rang out again. "What do we do if they stop us?"

"Just drive as if everything's all right," Mick replied tense. "This van looks like a normal ambulance. They won't do anything."

Ambulance? Yes, there had been something but... I tried to move my head a little to the side to look around, but even that was too demanding, too painful. What the hell was going on with me? Even the last silver bullets that struck me had not weakened me this much. At some point my healing abilities should start to work. I needed them, damn it! For a moment they all remained still around me with tense expressions, then, as if a secret signal had been given, they relaxed again and Logan let out an audible sigh. The police car had probably passed us.

A faint hum resounded close to me and Beth winced slightly, then raised a cell phone she had probably been holding in her hand the entire time to her ear and answered the call a little breathlessly.

For a moment she said nothing – so I assumed the caller was speaking. But why couldn't I hear him? I now felt deaf as well as partially blind and couldn't even speak. Although, I hadn't tried but hadn't wanted to, I just felt too weak.

"Yes, he is," Beth said now, while all eyes rested on her face. "But the fever's not gone yet..."

I moved my eyebrows up laboriously. She was talking about me? If I had a fever, I just needed blood. What was the problem? However, I felt no hunger at all. On the contrary, I was still pretty nauseous.

"We did that... Yeah, I..." Beth became silent again, was probably forced to listen and I looked tiredly at Mick, trying to assess how he was doing, but that wasn't so simple. Somehow, my eyes suddenly had problems focusing. Again and again the picture blurred and distorted. All I could see was that he had survived the battle in the laboratory not completely unscathed. On his shoulder and his side were two rather large, dark spots - presumably blood - and the shirt was torn in these areas if I wasn't mistaken. His anxious eyes were again watching me, but I couldn't see well enough to read from his eyes what he was thinking. Then I would just need to find that out in a different way. I lowered my eyelids and once again strained my sense of hearing and focused on the bodies around me. At some point it was bound to work again. But there was nothing. No heartbeats, no enticing noise of blood rushing through human veins. It was as if they were dead!

I tore my eyes open again and gasped for air, looked panicked from Mick to Beth and Simone, only to stare again at my best friend in despair as if he could somehow change my condition. It was slowly all becoming too much for me. I felt as if someone had amputated important parts of my body without my consent and left me totally mutilated. My heart rate and breathing accelerated tremendously and moreover put me in great fear. My skin began to tingle, the interior of the car and the faces of my friends blurred even more and the throbbing pain in my head began again, this time even worse.

"Oh, God, he's having another seizure!" I heard Beth's horrified voice that soon was extinguished by the high whistling in my ears. My body jerked and my muscles began to cramp painfully. And then it came back, this soothing, wonderful darkness, borne by that hazy feeling that began to envelop me, freeing me from all that worried me.

"Josef!"

They called for me again, but this time I would not follow their voices, would not let them lure me out again into this hell. Absolutely not.

* * *

The stupid thing about the state of unconsciousness is that we completely lose our sense of time and when we finally wake up, we are catapulted into a terrible state of total disorientation.

How long I had slept I didn't know when my senses, one by one slowly switched on. At first I heard only noises, or rather their nonexistence. The hum of the car was gone, as was the excited voices of my friends' and that was what probably made me come back to my senses a little quicker than I really wanted to. I tore open my eyes and winced. Not because I was looking into a glaring light like I had before, but because I was now enveloped in complete darkness. My heart immediately took on a very unhealthy pace and my breathing quickened. It was dark and I saw nothing! I gasped for breath in horror, because now my head was starting to throb and roar again. Oh, God, not again! What a nightmare! Why couldn't I hear anything?

"Jo... Josef," I heard a sleepy voice beside me and then sensed movement in the dark. Seconds later the dim light of a bedside lamp lit up the room I was in. I gasped for air again, when my gaze flew through the horribly furnished room and I realized I was in an even uglier bed. In a bed under a blanket and I was still so cold!

"Josef, calm down!" I was asked by the soft female voice. Warm hands lay on my cheeks, forcing my eyes to focus on the beautiful face directly in front of me. Brown eyes looked at me with concern. Simone...

"That's better," she said softly but the slight tremor in her voice showed me that she was really upset.

"What... Where..." I croaked, barely understandable, and had no idea what question I should really formulate. There were too many thoughts spinning in my head at once, all wanting to burst out at the same time.

"We're staying in a motel near Thousand Oaks," Simone explained simply, not knowing that's what I'd really wanted to ask. "We're safe here for now. The owner of the motel is a friend of Alejandro's and will cover us until we know how we're to proceed."

I closed my eyes briefly, but immediately opened them again when I heard the door to our room open.

"I've simply made some fruit tea," muttered the blonde, young woman, who now approached us, her eyes concentrating on the two full cups of tea, which she transported very warily. "The selection wasn't that huge..."

She raised her eyes briefly and then stopped, rooted to the spot, turned her eyes widened with surprise to me.

"He's awake?" she asked barely audible. Simone nodded, stood up and took the cups from Beth, which she then immediately put on the bedside table. Then she sat back down on the chair next to me and gave me a gentle smile.

"You see, Beth is also still with us," she explained. "As are Logan and Mick."

Her words indeed calmed me a little bit. I still didn't understand anything at all, but at least I wasn't alone.

"How are you?" Beth asked and sat down carefully at the foot of my bed. Something in her expression told me she wasn't just talking about my physical condition. "Can you remember what happened to you down in the lab?"

I closed my eyes briefly and strained my mind a little more. The excitement, the battles... it somehow seemed to be so long ago. One of the soldiers shot at me – this I still remembered - with a strange bullet, a sort of syringe. And then my health rapidly went downhill after that. It had felt as if my entire body was on fire, cramps had shaken me and my head had started spinning. I had collapsed and then passed out. Whenever I had woken up for a moment, I had looked into a different face: Guillermo, Coraline, Gabriel, Mick... But I had only been conscious for a few seconds, hadn't really noticed anything around me. Whatever had been in that syringe had a hell of an effect on vampires and even now didn't let go of me. I still felt terribly exhausted and deprived of my superhuman strength. When would this stop again?

"Josef?" Beth was still waiting for an answer and I lifted my eyelids tiredly and nodded to her in order to answer her earlier question.

"Gabriel called a half hour ago and told us some important things about the drug you've been injected with," she said, pushing her hair behind her ears now in a rather nervous-looking gesture.

"Ga... Gabriel?" I croaked and was angry about the miserable impression I was giving here. This weakness was so uncomfortable!

"Yes. He, Max, Coraline and Guillermo paved the way to escape from the laboratory and then went back again to gather as many documents and as much information as they could about the Legion and, above all, about this drug," said Simone while quickly exchanging a strange glance with Beth. The two didn't seem to be in agreement on something and were trying to hide it from me.

"We were all pretty worried about them," Simone continued, "but they were able to escape as well with no major damage, and are also on the run now."

I managed a fairly impressive frown.

"After this we'll all need to hide for awhile and remain very quiet," Simone added. "The _Legion_is currently looking for us everywhere. But you don't need to worry about that. Alejandro has everything under control. He not only has hidden us pretty well, but has also laid false trails for the _Legion_. Somehow he seems to know exactly how they work."

Oh, God, this wasn't good... not good at all. If Simone had already noticed that, then I could imagine what Mick might be thinking. I moved, tried to sit up, but didn't have the strength yet, not to mention that Simone didn't seem to think it was a good idea anyway, because she pushed me back with one hand into the pillow. With one hand? This petite woman? What a disgrace! What a weak little thing had I become. This was worse than my time as a sickly human!

"You need to relax, Josef, until you get used to your new state," Beth explained now and Simone looked at her in horror.

_New state_? What the hell was she talking about? The weakness was related to the injection and the effect would surely wear off soon!

"What... what do you mean?" Now at last I brought out my first real sentence. Even though my voice croaked horribly, it was a start.

"The fact that you're still under the effect of the drug," Simone added hastily. "And as long as this doesn't change, you have to stay in bed and rest."

Now my frown slowly began to work a little better, but hadn't impressed Simone that much. She smiled instead of telling me what I wanted to know, even though she wasn't able to conceal the concern in her eyes. In fact, she seemed incredibly tense. My eyes went to Beth. Somehow I felt that I would get more information out of her.

"That... that drug..." I cleared my throat briefly. This hoarseness in my voice had to finally go away somehow. "What was that exactly?"

"It's called BXA - 12 and was obtained from experiments with the old cure," Beth explained, ignoring Simone's protesting sound. "They're using it as a new weapon against you vampires."

"Weapon?" I repeated, though it all made pretty good sense to me. The stuff had knocked me out within seconds, had divested me of all my powers. And there worked something else in my mind, a thought that I really didn't want to think and created a queasy feeling in my stomach. "How... how does it work exactly?"

Beth took a breath to answer, but didn't get far because at that very moment somewhere in the next room a door opened noisily and someone came in. It wasn't long before he stormed into our room, deep lines of worry on his forehead, sending an electric wave of tension and frustration ahead.

"We have another problem," Mick announced almost gruffly and only then did he realize that I was awake and looking at him. He stopped in his movement and for a moment, his relief in finding me conscious, made the distress disappear from his face.

"You're awake?" he repeated Beth's question from earlier and stepped closer to my bed, letting his glance quickly slide over my body that was concealed by a blanket, only to searchingly look to my face again.

"No, I'm just pretending to be," I repeated, still far too weak.

A small smile flitted across his lips, then the joyous expression disappeared again from his face and he looked at Beth.

"Does he know?"

She shook her head. "I was just about to tell him and..."

"The stuff they knocked you out with has turned you into a human, Josef," Mick said straight out and I noticed the two women by his side stopped breathing horrified, while I initially couldn't comprehend what my friend had just blurted out so mercilessly and was only able to stare at him perplexed.

"The drug is a concentrated form of the old compound and turns vampires within seconds into humans," Mick continued. "Most vampires can't tolerate it and die during the re-transformation. You're lucky that you're a descendant of Gabriel's blood line, for which the remedy was originally designed, and that you've had previous contact with it..."

Excuse me - what? I blinked, confused. "I... I didn't..."

"You turned me back into a vampire when I had been turned into a human by the cure," Mick reminded me. "You drank my blood, which had been enriched with the old cure. In that way you've already been vaccinated with it in some small way. Because of that, your chances of surviving the whole thing were pretty good from the start."

Survival... human... I was a _human_? I gasped for air.

"Josef?" Mick took another step toward me, while I finally managed to get into an upright position due to my panic attack and to suck the suddenly much-needed air into my lungs. This couldn't be true! This was just a nightmare... a very bad nightmare!

Two strong hands grabbed my shoulders to support me while sitting upright, which turned out to be needed since my whole system had gone haywire. My head was spinning. I felt nauseated and began to tremble again.

"Breathe easy, Josef," I heard Mick's now much softer voice and a different, smaller hand stroked my back. I did what he told me and tried to push the panic attack away, to calm down, and with some difficulty succeeded, at least in once again recognizing my friend's face before me.

"Human?" I brought out barely audible. I found it really hard to digest this, let alone pronounce it. Human... "Not... not like you?"

Mick shook his head and tried to give me a confident smile, as if it was a particularly wonderful message. "Only temporarily," he added, and this indeed gave me a little more strength to get my feelings back under control. "We can change you back once you've recovered somewhat."

Change back... What beautiful words! Yes, that was exactly what we needed to do, now - immediately. I didn't want to stay in this state a second longer!

"Then... then turn me," I uttered, grabbed Mick's arms that still clung to me, and presented my neck to him immediately. "Go! Do it!"

Mick surprised me, as he backed away from me, freed himself from my weak grip and then straightened. "Not now, and certainly not by me," he said emphatically. "August and Gabriel agree that your body needs to recover from the first turning before you can be turned back again. No one living being has ever survived turnings in such rapid succession. You have to wait a little, Josef."

"But I'm..." My goodness! Talking could sometimes be so exhausting. "I'm not cut out for this..."

Mick pulled up his eyebrows. "... for being patient?"

I shook my head. "... for being human," I replied and was totally serious. The idea of staying much longer in this state, even for a few days, frightened me terribly. I had decided a long, long time ago to escape from human life and have never regretted that decision. That I was now forced by fate to be a human, I didn't want to accept, just _couldn't _accept, even though I realized I couldn't do a thing about it at the moment.

The gaze Mick looked at me with was hard to define, but I was sure I'd seen a glimmer of anger in his eyes.

"There's nothing you can do about it right now," he said finally a little cooler. "We should try to make the best of our present situation and figure out what we need to do next."

"When can I be turned back?" I asked, even though I knew Mick had already wanted to start another topic. But he couldn't ask that of me, not after this terrible news.

"I can't tell you yet," he said now clearly tense. "Gabriel and August will have to decide on that."

"And when will they be here?"

Mick took a deep breath. Patience was probably something he currently didn't have a whole lot of either.

"I don't know. I don't know whether they can do it at all. They must first find a safe place, just as we did, because our last actions have caused a considerable uproar."

"What do you mean with '_whether_ they can do it at all'?" I was again gasping for air - was this normal for a human?

"Josef!" Mick uttered now clearly annoyed, and his eyes twinkled aggressively. "That means I have no idea about anything! I don't even know where we should go, if we're safe here, what happened to the others out there, and how to proceed at all! This great plan has raised half the world against us! And now you're throwing a tantrum like a toddler instead of being glad you're still alive! You're just human – not dead!"

"Believe me, it feels almost the same," I blurted out furiously. How could someone like Mick have so little understanding of my situation? He knew perfectly well how it felt to be made into something you never wanted against your will. But rather than calming down and recognizing he was wrong, he shook his head blankly, turned away with a dismissive wave of his hand and disappeared from the room.

I stared at him incredulously. Somehow he hadn't behaved the way I thought he should. As a best friend he should have stayed with me, comforted me and been concerned about me. For Christ sake! I was the injured person here, the sick one! I needed the support of the people around me!

"This... this is just stress," Beth apologized for him, gave me a brief, comforting smile, and then hurried after my friend. So the only one left was Simone, who was sitting by my side. Interesting to find out who your friends were in your time of need.

I let myself fall heavily into the pillow with a resigned sigh and shook my head now, too. The world around me had become so very different within a few hours and I didn't like it one bit.

"Don't be angry with him," I heard Simone's sweet voice and looked into her warm eyes. "He was so worried about you. He thought you were going to die. He just couldn't show that in front of you. And his nerves are shot..." She gave a little laugh. "Beth, Logan and I had to deal with it a lot in the last few hours. But we have thick skin, and hope it will stop when he finally gets to rest. Then he'll behave different towards you again, too."

I shrugged my shoulders and stared at the ugly pattern of the ceiling. Somehow I suddenly felt so exhausted and tired that I had a hard time keeping my eyes open.

"I don't care," I muttered now indeed like a little child who had decided to sulk; and when I looked up again, I noticed a smile had snuck up on Simone's lips. I could understand this, but I didn't really feel like smiling back. I hadn't been exaggerating to Mick. Being human was one of the worst imaginable things to me, and I really didn't know how I was going to get through the next few hours or even days, without becoming an ill-tempered, completely indigestible, wailing companion, whom I couldn't even stand myself. It would probably be best if I just slept through it until sometime in the future when one of the hopefully soon arriving vampires took pity on me and would bite me awake. I closed my eyes. Yes, I wanted to cling to this wonderful thought, at least as long as nothing worse snatched me from my sleep again. One thing was as safe as another: Bad things were currently our specialty.


	23. Collapse

_As always the new chapter for you. Yes, the poor Josef now has top suffer for a while. Can't change it… okay, I could, but I don't want to. Muahahahahahah… Thanks for your comments. You're the best. And I'll be back at Thursday again – as always. Have a great time, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

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**C****ollapse **

At some point it was enough. Eventually all your strength would simply be used up and nerves so frayed you just wanted to crawl into a bed, pull the blanket over your head and shut out the rest of the world.

Beth was longing for just that as she shuffled with heavy legs from Josef's room into the small living room of the apartment the five of them had to share. Perhaps _apartment_ wasn't quite right. Eddy, as Alejandro's friend and owner of the motel called himself, had just combined three of his rooms to a small apartment, so that it now had, besides two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. He used this flat every now and then to give refugees, Alejandro sent to him from time to time, shelter for a few weeks. Refugees, like they currently were.

It had been a terrible ordeal to escape from the laboratory in the basement of the hospital and to not know what to expect once they were out. Beth had considered everything: an excess of new enemies, a police force or even the military. For her, it was simply unimaginable that the massacre down there had gone completely unnoticed by outsiders. But apparently the laboratory really was far enough below the hospital to actually allow all of it to go unnoticed, and the only thing the hospital staff had been aware of was that the electricity had gone out and they needed to get it backup and running again. As for the Legion, they just weren't fast enough to get reinforcements there in time, because the only person waiting for them in the parking garage with the engine running had been Logan.

Gabriel had not gone up with them, but had only escorted them to the elevator and then instructed them to drive out of town and wait for new instructions from him. Coraline, Guillermo and Max had stayed behind with him, but Beth had had a bad feeling about it, letting the vampires stay down there while they fled without them. It wasn't just the fear of them still falling victim to the Legions reinforcements, but also because Josef had looked so alarmingly bad and she just wanted an experienced vampire at her side, someone who knew what to do next.

They had been quite helpless when Josef had had several very serious-looking seizures during the first twenty minutes of their turbulent flight in the ambulance, and had even given the impression several times that he wasn't going to make it. There had been a few heart wrenching seconds, seconds, where she was frozen with fear and could only watch as Mick held Josef's face in his hands, shaking him and shouting the words Beth had been forced to say far too often in her life: "Don't do this to me… Please! Stay with us… Stay with us!"

Words she had hoped she'd never have to say again that she never wanted to even_ hear _again. But in times like this, it was probably wishful thinking, and the battle in the laboratory had once again driven this point home to her very clearly.

Josef's condition had stabilized at some point during the drive, enough for them to be able to concentrate on their escape plans a little more. August had also called, had probably been informed of their situation and the serum Josef had been injected with by Gabriel and had been able to give them some helpful advice. When Gabriel had at last called, at least one of their biggest concerns had vanished. No one else among them had been badly injured and all they had to do now was make sure they became invisible to the Legion as fast as possible. Gabriel had referred them to Alejandro and he had indeed been able to successfully help them. And now, here they were, in a motel that really wasn't one, with a newborn human, who didn't want to be one, with a new leader, who didn't want the role and actually didn't have a clue where to lead them. Not to mention that he too was drained, with no real strength or nerves left to handle this, and - like every one else - urgently needed to get some rest.

Said leader was now restlessly wandering around in the living room and seemed to be searching hard for something, when Beth walked into the room. At least his eyes seemed to move back and forth as hectically as his, tense body. He urgently needed to calm down if he didn't want to collapse completely. Only Beth didn't know how she could help him at this point because her own strength was nearly exhausted and everything inside her rebelled against exerting herself even a little.

Mick's eyes became glued to her, studying her facial expression for a moment, to probably evaluate exactly what she wanted from him, and then he started to pace around the room again.

"I brought a bag in here earlier," he muttered, clearly not in a good mood. "Do you know where it is now?"

"The one with the blood?" she asked back, and he nodded briefly. It was only now that she noticed the slight nervousness hidden beneath his tension, the barely perceptible tremor, which ran through his body every now and then.

"In the kitchen in a small fridge…" she began, but the few words were already enough for Mick. With just a few steps he disappeared out of the door and into the kitchen. This had to be really urgent. Beth took a deep breath, trudged to the couch and collapsed onto it exhausted. But Mick didn't give her a lot of time to rest.

"Is that all the blood there was in there?" she heard him call from the kitchen and the impatience in his voice made her roll her eyes for a second. It didn't look like he was going to calm down so quickly.

"Yeah. Just four bags," she called back and knew good and well that this was a new opportunity for him to get upset again.

"It just gets better and better," she heard him mutter, then after a while when she hadn't heard anything else from him she took a few minutes of the silence to rest her head on the not so overly stuffed backrest of the couch and close her eyes. God was she tired!

She found it really difficult to lift her lids again when she heard Mick come back into the room, but she did it anyway. There was so much they absolutely had to clarify before they could rest for real.

Surprisingly, Mick, despite the supply of blood, was in no better mood. He was still alarmingly pale, looked tired and still continued to appear nervous. Something was wrong with him.

"Don't you want to come sit down with me?" Beth asked tiredly when he stopped a little undecided in the middle of the room.

He shook his head. "I have to go again, to the garage to see Logan."

She frowned. "Why?"

"Because there are still a lot of things left to do – that's why," he replied a little too snippy and his tone slowly began to anger Beth. She had been able to tolerate his attitude during the stressful situation for a while, but it was time he stopped and got himself together again.

"Can't that wait til later?" she asked and had real difficulty not showing her annoyance. "You really need to rest at least for a few minutes."

"I'll do it later," he responded, already moving toward the door. "There are a few things more important at the moment."

Beth took a deep breath and stood up. "Good. What's the other problem, Mick?"

"I'll take care of it," he dodged her and opened the door.

"Mick!" Her voice was a bit too loud and angry, but at least he stopped, and turned back to her, furrowing his brows angrily.

"What's going on?" she added. "Earlier you wanted to talk about it!"

"At this point, I hadn't realized Josef was going to need more than _one_ babysitter," Mick returned with clear mockery in his voice. "His tragic fate of being caught for a few days in the body of a human might even cause him to have suicidal thoughts. So it might be better if he has a few more people around him, who are not distracted by me!"

Beth stared at him with an open mouth and didn't know what to say. She had understood that both men had had a hard time handling Josef's transformation, but to hear such a statement out of Mick's mouth and to notice this complete lack of understanding for his friend not only shocked her, but made her angry as well.

"That's not funny," she uttered after a while.

"Isn't it?" Mick asked back and closed the door again. She didn't like the provoking look he gave her one bit. "I would describe this as the irony of fate. Each one of us was made against his will into the exact creature he despises so deeply." Mick uttered a fake laugh. "Well,_ I_ think it's very funny."

Beth looked at him more closely. At some point, not so long ago, he had exhibited the exact same restless, aggressive impression, had had the same unpleasant and frightening effect on her…

"Well, you don't look like it's so funny," she replied softly, with a serious look.

"Oh, that's only because everything else around us is in utter chaos," he replied with a smile that almost scared her. "But apart from that everything's quite amusing…"

"Stop it, Mick!" she shot back now somewhat stricter.

"Hey,_ you're_ the one who wanted me to stay," he said and stepped even closer. Beth really had to force herself not to back away from him. "If I had _my_ choice, I would already be in the garage with Logan."

"To take care of our new problem?" Beth asked and stemmed her hands onto her hips, more to support herself than to try and impress him.

"Exactly."  
"And what would this _terrible_ problem be?" She hadn't wanted to say it like that - as if he were grossly exaggerating everything - but now it was out and couldn't be taken back.

There was this typical belligerent twinkle in Mick's eyes. "That we're now, not only wanted by the Legion but also by the police - with photos sent to every patrol car in California. Is _that_ bad enough for you?"

Beth felt queasy and her mouth stood open for a moment. This wasn't just bad - it was a disaster! Since when did the Legion work together with governmental authorities? "How… what… but…" Beth was at a loss for words. "How… how did you find out?"

Her question seemed to ease him from his aggression a bit, because his posture relaxed slightly. Or it had simply felt good for him to be able to share his concern with another person. She didn't know. But that wasn't important.

"Logan hacked into the police database to find out if there were any reports on the small war in the lab and found our mug shots."

"_Our_? That means…"

"Yours, Josef's and mine. They didn't seem to be interested in the others."

Beth exhaled loudly and shook her head. "This isn't good. We… we'll have to wear disguises again. Even better ones than before."

"Or we look for a way to cancel their search for us," Mick explained, now noticeably calmer.

"Can Logan do that from here?"

Mick shook his head. "He says, he would need to hack into another security system and it's just too complicated to do that on the fly. He would need days, if not weeks to break in. We don't have that much time."

"What then?" Beth looked at him quizzically, because she got the feeling Mick already had a plan he just didn't want to tell her about yet.

"We need someone with enough authority to cancel it in an official way," Mick said after a moment's hesitation and Beth thought she saw his body twitch for a second - for some reason. "Someone we could do a favor for in return."

Beth frowned. At the moment her mind was just working too slowly to immediately grasp what Mick was getting at.

"Someone who might be willing to take a certain risk by contacting us…" Mick added and Beth uttered a sound of surprise when it finally dawned on her.

"Talbot," she brought out slightly shocked. "You want to contact Talbot?" She didn't need to wait for his nod. She already knew she was right. "He's not going to help us with this…"

"I think he will," Mick contradicted her immediately and briefly scrunched his eyes shut, as if his fatigue was now bothering him quite strongly also. "If we give him what he's wanted for a long time…"

"You want to meet with him." This wasn't a question but a statement and his serious face spoke volumes.

"But that… that's impossible!" she replied and internally began to fight this idea tooth and nail. That was pure madness, so soon after this escalation with the Legion and so entirely without help from the others. "This must be thoroughly thought out and planned."

"We don't have time for that," Mick shot back and squinted his eyes again as if he were having problems concentrating. "It's the only way to quickly get a grip on this problem."

"But there's no one with you, neither Josef, nor Gabriel, nor anyone else," she objected and inwardly sought desperately for other arguments, which might dissuade him from this risky project. She only slightly paid attention to the fact that Mick now moved his shoulders, as if to release tension in his muscles.

"It's only a conversation with a man who actually represents our judicial system, Beth," Mick responded and his posture changed visibly, clearly became tenser and more restless. "It's not like I'm going to be walking into the middle of one of the headquarters of the Legion…"

Of course – he just_ had_ to bring that up. Beth had suspected that Mick's persistent rancor was mainly due to her participation in the last action. But she wasn't going to be distracted so easily.

"Even Talbot has his own agenda," she returned now also pretty excited. "And now, that everyone is searching for us, he has every right to simply arrest you, Mick! And if you go there alone, the risk of him doing just that is extremely high!"

"You don't need to tell me about taking risks!" Mick snarled at her hotheaded and his body almost seemed to quiver with tension now. "You're the one who can't seem to stick to agreements _in_ dangerous situations which causes risks you can't even imagine!"

"But _you_ can imagine the risks with Talbot?" Beth now flared up as well. "At least _I_ didn't march off single-handedly, without a plan or the support of others!"

"Oh? You didn't?" Mick leaned toward her, raised his eyebrows in mocked surprise. "Then it must have been Simone's idea to go down into the cellar?"

Beth inhaled sharply through her nose and was barely able to rein in the burning anger that rapidly pushed ahead of her feelings of guilt. "At least we found out for sure that the laboratory is indeed under the hospital."

"And what did that get us – aside from Josef being a human now?" Mick asked, with angry flashing eyes and indeed managed to smile in a way that caused unpleasant goosebumps. His remark stung and Beth anger just boiled over.

"At least _my_ single-handed efforts haven't led to me falling into the hands of sadistic scientists and disappearing without a trace for over a year, which is more than _you_ can say," it burst out of her, and she knew instantly she had gone too far.

Mick seemed to freeze for a moment - although this impression was somewhat affected by the slight trembling of his body. In his eyes, there was a mixture of hurt, disappointment and anger and Beth waited with a heavily beating heart for the outburst that would certainly follow. But it didn't come. Instead, Mick's gaze suddenly seemed to turn inwards and a growing fear now mingled in his eyes. Then there was that twitching, followed by a now much more visible tremor that started all over his body. Beth stumbled, trying to sort her confused thoughts, as Mick turned and walked away from her. But he wasn't running to the door, just took a few undecided, staggering steps across the room, causing Beth's intestines to convulse instantly. Oh God, please, don't let it be one of these fits! Please not now! That would complete their misery!

"My… my jacket, where is it?" Mick uttered and again screwed up his eyes. His body jerked again and this time he cringed a little, gave a slight gasp.

Beth didn't answer, but with a wildly beating heart, stormed into the bedroom, where she tore open the closet and pulled the jacket from its hook.

"Where… where is it?" She called loudly and as she turned Mick had already staggered into the room behind her heading for the bed.

"Inner pocket," was all he could manage to say before he sat down heavily, now significantly affected by the onset of cramps.

Beth frantically followed his instructions, grabbed the bag that was in his pocket and pulled it out. With just a few steps she was with Mick, sat down beside him and with flying fingers, opened the small bag. There were several syringes and needles, along with three small vials of different colored liquids in it. God, oh God… needles!

Beth nearly jerked when Mick uttered an anguished sound and again writhed, sucking in air with a hiss through his clenched teeth.

"Okay, what… what do you need, Mick," she stammered helplessly.

For a moment there was no response and she carefully laid a hand on his shoulder, feeling the effect of the spasm slowly subside. Mick lifted his head, breathing heavily, trying to straighten up again and reached for one of the vials. He had difficulty focusing, blinked a few times and managed, despite this impairment, to take one of the syringes with his trembling fingers and put the needle into the top of it. But that was all. The next spasm was so severe that he was not only writhing again, but also slumped to the side and slid off the bed onto the floor.

"Oh, God, Mick!" Beth was immediately next to him on her knees, resisting the urge to pull him into her arms and instead bravely picked up the syringe, which he had dropped. To remove the vial from his cramped fingers was even more difficult, but she finally managed it.

"Oh, God, oh God," she continued to repeat as she drew up the syringe with trembling fingers and Mick's pained moaning and fitful breathing caused her own stomach to cramp painfully.

"You can do it, you can do it," she told herself, and then turned to Mick whose cramps were continual now. His whole body had contracted right up to his fingers and Beth stopped helplessly for a moment. She felt totally overwhelmed. To _play_ a nurse was one thing but to _be _one was completely different.

Footsteps behind her caused her to fling around. It was Simone who rushed into the room and tore open her eyes in horror when she realized what was going on.

"Oh, my God!" she uttered shocked and immediately wanted to help, but Beth quickly shook her head. She had another idea.

"Get Logan! Quickly!" she uttered. Simone nodded and hurried off at once.

Beth took a deep breath, grabbed Mick's arm and tried to stretch it to get to his vein. But that proved to be extremely difficult because Mick's muscles were so tightly cramped by now that she had almost no effect on moving his arm with her limited strength.

She suppressed a sob, bent forward to Mick, stroked with trembling fingers over his twitching face. "Mick… you, you must try to relax your arm. At least a little bit… otherwise I won't be able to help you. Please, Mick…"

He uttered another pain-stricken sound, squinted his eyes and clenched his teeth. His arm was indeed moving, tried to stretch out and Beth took it encouraged, pulled at it with all her strength and lifted the hand with the syringe at the same time. But it wasn't enough. She simply couldn't get to the crook of his arm.

"Holy Shit!" someone suddenly uttered from behind her and Beth winced so hard that she let go of Mick's arm. It was Logan, who got down on his knees next to her with a deeply worried expression. Sometimes the incredible speed of vampires was truly a blessing.

"Man, you really have a knack for keeping people on their toes," he muttered and grabbed Mick's arm. Even for him it wasn't that easy, but eventually he managed to stretch Mick's arm out far enough for Beth to finally get to the crook of it.

Everything inside her cringed as she moved the needle to the spot over Mick's twitching arm where his vein showed most distinctly. She had never done anything like this before and really didn't know exactly how to do it. She felt terribly sick and her racing pulse ensured that she was slowly even starting to feel dizzy.

"You have to get the air bubbles out first," Logan uttered with effort and you could see just how difficult it was for him to hold Mick's arm, because the cramps seemed to be getting worse.

Beth pulled herself together, quickly held up the syringe and squeezed the air out, then bent over Mick's arm again with a wildly pounding heart. "Here?" she asked with a trembling voice, as she tried to set the injection.

"Yes, just jab it in!" Logan told her impatiently.

Beth swallowed hard. Jab?

"You need pressure, otherwise you won't penetrate the skin," she heard someone behind her say and Simone appeared somewhat breathless on her other side. Beth looked at her doubtfully and her friend reached out her hand and nodded to her briefly. Beth didn't hesitate and quickly gave the young lawyer the syringe. It took only a split second and the syringe stuck in Mick's vein and was slowly emptied through the gentle pressure of Simone's skillful hands. Beth was confused, but she didn't have any nerves left to ask her friend where she had learned to do this. For the moment it was enough to know that the medicine was now in Mick's body and would soon have its effects.

Logan let go of Mick's arm carefully and for a moment they all just sat there looking at Mick full of worry. It was causing Beth almost physical torture to see him suffer so much, and she slid even closer to him, reaching out for him and gently caressing his twitching face. Why couldn't it finally stop?

"It'll be over soon," she whispered, and fought bravely against the tears welling up in her eyes. Feelings of guilt boiled up inside her, increasing the cramping of her intestines, the slight nausea, which had taken possession of her ever since she held this terrible syringe in her hand. Why had she not seen this coming? Why hadn't she noticed the first signs? Mick had not even noticed it himself in time. They both knew that this could happen, especially when Mick had remained in his vampiric condition for such a long period of time and had not ingested enough blood. She should have known it and should have taken steps to prevent it. Instead, she had argued with him, in spite of the stress he had been exposed to down in the laboratory and by Josef's transformation, had just seen red, had forgotten that one could not treat him as if he were a healthy person. He _wasn't_ healthy, still needed medical care, needed Frank, whom they still had not been able to hand back to him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as her fingers continued stroking his face. It seemed to her as if the spasms were slowly subsiding, and the twitching had decreased.

"It's starting to work," she could now hear Logan sigh relieved beside her and she closed her eyes briefly, finally dared to take a deep breath and let go of her own tension. When she lifted her lids again, Mick himself had closed his eyes exhausted. He was still breathing fast and fitfully but not as pressed anymore.

The burning in her eyes became stronger and she straightened her shoulders, trying hard to regain control over her troubled feelings, to ignore the buzzing and humming in her own head.

"Logan, can you help me lay him down on the bed," she quietly addressed the young vampire, who immediately nodded willingly. Beth sat up and tried once to get to her feet, but that was easier said than done, because her own circulation didn't seem want to cooperate at the moment. A low whistling resounded in her ears, the room began to spin around her and she staggered backwards. Several hands reached out for her, keeping her upright, because her knees all at once had a will of their own and clearly gave way. Beth blinked, confused, and tried through the now very loud whistling and pounding in her ears to understand what Simone was trying to say to her, but her mind wasn't working so good. But her friend didn't seem to want to wait for a response from her anyway. She just pulled one of Beth's arms around her shoulders and moved her out of the bedroom with visible difficulty.

"No, wait, wait…" Beth stammered and struggled with all her remaining strength against this. But this time, Simone was superior to her and brought her to the couch to then settle there with her together.

"I… I need to go back to Mick," it slipped not really convincing from Beth's lips. God, it felt so good to finally sit down on something soft again.

"You don't," Simone disagreed. "Logan will get him into the bed and then he'll probably sleep for a while. In any case, that's what he better do…"

"But he… he still might need something," Beth countered and felt a tremor running through her exhausted body.

"Logan can handle that as well." Simone looked at her sternly. "If you don't take care of yourself, Beth, then you'll break down completely and then you won't be able to help Mick for quite a while! You should see how you look. You're ashen and your hands are ice cold."

It was only then that Beth had noticed her friend had taken her hands and was still holding them. She wiggled her fingers, and now felt for herself how numb they were and for the first time noticed that she had broken out in cold sweat and her whole body was shaking. And this nausea simply wouldn't go away.

"You urgently need to rest," Simone added. "Mick isn't the only one who constantly tends to go beyond their limits."

Beth hesitated a moment, then nodded insightful. "I think it was just too much for all of us…"

Simone gave her a small smile. "Fortunately, not everyone here mutates into such a grumpy monster like Mick."

"But _we_ don't have to struggle with all the trauma he's been through," Beth just had to defend him, even though she herself had been quite angry with him several times in the last few hours. But her anger had now evaporated and made way for her concerns and feelings of guilt.

Simone wanted to say something and inhaled, but stopped when she too realized that there was nothing more she could say to counter Beth's words. It was simply a fact that Mick had a special status among them, and one could not treat him the same way as anyone else – although his seemingly normal behavior often led them all to forget again and again, what had been done to him in the last year.

"Was your quarrel very bad?" Simone probed now sympathetically and Beth looked at her in shame.

"Were you able to here us from the other room?"

"Josef didn't," Simone smiled. "He fell asleep again almost immediately after you left. He didn't even have time to drink his fruit tea."

Beth let out a little laugh. "Well, at least it was worth a try…"

Simone also had to laugh now, but the cheerful mood evaporated fairly quickly and Beth leaned back on the couch with a deep sigh. She shook her head.

"I should have known this," she clad her growing feelings of guilt into words. "The exact same thing happened after the fight in the desert. And after the incident in the nightclub, he was close to it then as well. But he had noticed it in time then and was able to do something about it. His body can't really cope with being a vampire for too long and suffering a high loss of blood at the same time." She shook her head again. "And the signs were there. I just didn't want to see them, had been too busy with my own anger…"

"You're only human, Beth," Simone replied. "And Mick is responsible for himself. You can't look after him every minute…"

"But that's exactly what _he_'s done for _me_, Simone," Beth now replied in a husky voice and the tears were back again, just like the lump in her throat and the pressure in her chest. "He's done it since I was four years old… And I… I've failed after only a few months…"

"Oh, come on, Beth! You…" Simone broke off as Beth could no longer hold back her tears and let out a muffled sob. Instead she silently slid closer to her and simply pulled her into her arms. Beth clung to her and let go of her emotions, let out all the stress, the fears and concerns of the last hours and cried quietly into Simone's shoulder. Her friend caressed her back, rocked her gently back and forth and gave her the support she needed to find her balance again, to regain her strength. How good it felt not to be the strong one for once, to have a real friend by your side, who was there just for you.

"You're not a super heroine, Beth," Simone whispered softly. "Even _your_ strength and nerves have limits. And Mick knows that. I can't imagine him blaming you for anything. Quite the contrary. He'll probably blame himself for his own behavior when he feels better again."

Beth raised her head exhausted. "But… but he shouldn't," she sniffed. "We were both wrong…"

"Because you're both dealing with frayed nerves," Simone replied. "And you should tell him, Beth, and not bury yourself in feelings of guilt and push yourself to limits even more. In this regard, both of you should start looking after each other better and not encourage each other to go to the hilt. This will only cause you more pain in the end."

Beth sighed once again deeply and heavily and felt again forced to nod. Her friend was right with every word. Only she had no time to tell her, because at that moment the door opposite the couch opened and Josef's pale face appeared in the crack of the door. He blinked a few times, probably because he too was still struggling with his circulation and then cleared his throat. "Did… did we have gotten a new report of a catastrophe?" he asked, confused. Simone let go of Beth and hurried to the door.

"You need to stay in bed," she said and deep concern was heard in her voice.

Josef lifted one finger a little sleepily and had visible problems focusing on what he wanted to say. "None of you has told me that exactly," he muttered as Simone opened the door wider, turned him around and pushed him back into the bedroom. She cast a helpless glance at Beth, who showed her with a short wave that she was okay with that.

"I'm okay now," she said. "Take your time."

Simone closed the door behind her with an apologetic smile and Beth let herself fall once again tiredly into the cushions. She felt all at once so drained and tired that she had the feeling she could fall asleep straightaway. But this time it was a noise from _behind_ her that stopped her from doing so. She turned her head around a bit and wasn't surprised to see Logan approaching her. The young vampire gave her a comforting smile, walked around the couch and slumped into the cushions close to her, uttering a sigh that was even deeper than hers before.

"My gosh! What a day!" he said and shook his head. "I hope that's all the emergency situations we have for now."

"How is he?" Beth asked wearily.

"Quite good, I think," said Logan and Beth could tell by his eyes that he was telling the truth. "The cramps are gone and he's now sleeping soundly. Sleep he badly needs."

Beth nodded understandingly and immediately felt her muscles relaxed even more. When she looked at Logan again his eyes were full of warm sympathy.

"You really don't need to worry anymore," he said gently. "And next time call me sooner. Logan will work it out somehow…" He winked at her briefly and she actually gave a little laugh, and out of a deep need, threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," she murmured and felt him tentatively put an arm around her and awkwardly pat her back.

"No… no problem," he stammered as she moved away from him a little and gave her an embarrassed smile.

Beth leaned back again, halfway into his arm and enjoyed the feeling of not being alone for the moment. Maybe Logan and Simone were right. Maybe she should start to rely on her other friends for little help when it came to problems with Mick. She was just so used to handling everything by herself and only ask for Josef's help that it became terribly difficult for her to consider any other possibilities.

"Well," Logan said after a while of consensual silence between them, "I guess this proves it. In the end only the strong ones are left…"

Beth looked at him, frowning, and the overly serious expression on Logan's face made her laugh again.

"Great," he smirked, "if you can laugh again, it must mean you're feeling better…"

As if by some secret command, Beth's stomach gave a loud rumbling at that very moment. She held her breath embarrassed, but Logan just laughed.

"Except for the small, impatient lion in your stomach," he added amused. "When was the last time you ate something?"

Beth really had to think about it. "This morning?" she suggested somewhat uncertain and Logan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, no wonder you almost collapsed," he said, moving away from her a little to look her in her face with inquiringly raised eyebrows. "What do you think of me slipping into the currently vacant role of your caretaker and asking Eddy if he could scrounge up something for you to chomp on?"

A beam slipped over Beth's face. Now that Logan had brought it up she finally felt how hungry she was and the thought of eating something put some life back into her again. "Then you would be my new hero," she sighed and Logan gave a slightly bashful impression as he rose up from the couch surprisingly awkward for a vampire.

"I'll be right back," he promised, and had already disappeared out of the door, leaving Beth on the couch with a growing sense of anticipation.

* * *

It did Beth really well to get something into her stomach and rest a bit. The nausea and the pressure in her belly evaporated and her circulation also stabilized, enough for the tremor and vertigo to completely disappear. And there was something else that did her incredibly well: To finally be able to spend a little time with Logan once again and to talk about trivial things like computer games, music and movies. Logan really had a knack for distracting her and to create a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere in which she could finally be at peace. It had also been like this during the few weeks of separation from Mick and she had enjoyed it back then as well. She had missed the guys and was real pity Seth wasn't with them too. She knew Logan missed him a lot, but didn't confront the young vampire with this, just as he tried to avoid issues that weren't so pleasant for her. Yet she wondered why Gabriel needed their friend at the moment and when they would finally see him again. Somehow their little circle wasn't really complete without him.

After Beth had finished eating and showed clear signs of fatigue, Logan departed with the excuse he had to work on some important things on his computer and then disappeared as quickly from the apartment as he had come. Beth was grateful for this, for she could now clearly feel the fatigue pulling on her body and she couldn't fight it any longer. For a moment she thought about just lying down on the couch, but a little voice inside told her to go to the bedroom and claim her right to sleep in a regular bed, no matter if Mick was asleep, awake or still mad at her and maybe not wanted her around him even. But the thought of a warm, cozy bed was enough to push all doubts and conflicts aside and just go into the bedroom.

Mick was lying motionless on the bed and seemed to be sleeping soundly, but when she closed the door softly behind her he moved and she was sure he had lifted his eyelids a little and looked at her, although she couldn't see that well it in the dim light of the room.

Beth didn't hesitate, headed with determination for the bed, climbed tiredly towards Mick and with a deep sigh slumped down halfway onto his chest causing him to give a faint "Oomph!" She simply had no strength left to hold back, to worry or to do anything else well thought out. And as Mick was neither moving away from her nor pushing her away, but only took one deep, relatively relaxed breath, she dared to advance a little further.

"Are you still mad at me?" she murmured against his chest, without looking at him.

He uttered a sound that sounded something like "Um" and she raised her head a little so she could look at him, her chin resting on his chest. His eyes were still closed, but she knew he was still awake.

"'Um' as in 'yes' or 'Um' as in 'no'," she probed.

Mick said nothing. Instead, he turned a little more to her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him so she indeed came to lie with half her body on him. His nose pressed into her hair and he inhaled her scent deeply, showing her this way that there was nothing that stood between them. Beth wrapped her arm around his waist, snuggled up to him and closed her eyes. The sigh she uttered came from the heart and blew the last bit of tension from her body. Why couldn't all problems be resolved this easily?

The fatigue penetrated her body now with a vengeance. However, Beth still didn't want to give in to it yet. Something was still missing from their little idyll. Something was needed to make her reconciliation with Mick perfect… Oh, yeah!

"Mick?" Beth mumbled at his neck, without opening her eyes.

"Umm…"

"Actually, we should now be having make-up sex," she continued, still with her eyes closed.

"Um…"

Silence. All that was heard from Mick were his calm, relaxed breaths.

"Mick?" Beth said again and this time she had to smile, because her need to pursue this idea was just as 'huge' as Mick's.

"Okay," he now brought out muffled and his warm breath blew over her forehead. "You go first…"

Beth uttered a sound that came quite close to a laugh. "As you wish," she replied as the cozy darkness around them called out for her more and more temptingly. "In a moment…"

Moments could sometimes last so wonderfully long…


	24. Disturbances

_I'm back with the new chapter. Thank you so, so much for your last comments. Great, you loved that chapter. And no, Mick and Beth didn't have their make-up sex. They were too tired and exhausted to implement this thought. Hope you like this chapter too and maybe leave me a little comment again to feed the muse. Will be back at Sunday, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**D****isturbances**

It was incredibly painful. Not only the feeling, as the sharp, hard stake was driven through his flesh, slipped through muscle tissue, tendons and veins and eventually dug in his heart. No, it was rather the sight of the face before him, the sharp fangs of his opponent that proved him to be a brother, a fellow-sufferer, because it felt like betrayal every time, when it was a vampire who staked him. And this time it was also joined by panic and the feeling of having failed, because Mick knew that Marisa would be defenseless without him and at the mercy of the other vampires.

The fear for her was the most painful, impotent feeling in his chest as he fell limply to the ground, not being able to utter anything more than a horrified gasp for air. Completely motionless, paralyzed, powerless. And yet his senses were still capable of perceiving everything else around him: The malicious laughter of Frederico Sanchez's men, Marisa's horrified sounds, her movement towards him which was stopped by one of the vampires, only to then be pulled into Mick's field of view, pulling her head backwards by her hair and exposing her throat in doing so.

Mick's insides cramped painfully, the panic and desperation grew just as it did in Marisa's eyes. But as much as he struggled with himself - he could not move, could do nothing.

"You should never tangle with the _Hijos de la luna_ my friend," said the vampire who held Marisa so rudely that her face was distorted in pain. "You should consider yourself lucky that Joseph Konstantine is one of your friends or you'd be dead by now! But you'll understand that we cannot just let you get away with your little rebellion against Frederico." His gaze fell on Marisa's neck, whose eyes widened in panic. "And you like your little Freshie so much…"

One of the other vampires let out a hoarse laugh while Mick again tried to move and at the same time send out a silent prayer that somebody would show up at the right moment to intervene and save Marisa - because _he_ could not do it. But that did not happen.

It felt as if a glowing sword was stabbed into his chest as the vampire dug his fangs mercilessly into Marisa's neck causing her to utter a gurgling scream. She still struggled, fought and tore at his clothes, but the vampire just bit even harder and with greedy gulps was sucking the life out of her body.

Mick screamed inwardly with all his might although no one could hear him and threw himself forward. He could suddenly do this but only as far as the chains to which he was bound allowed. He stopped breathing heavily. Everything around him was dark, had changed. And suddenly there was a smell so familiar; sterile with the smell of medicine and disinfectants. But the Mexican was still there, was still holding in his arms the moaning woman who was struggling for her life while he sucked her blood in. Only the woman was no longer dark haired, but had silky, blonde hair.

Mick could not breathe for a moment. An iron fist had grabbed his heart and squashed it with all its might. Beth…

He came to his feet and threw himself against the chains with such force that the bones in his wrists cracked and sent a sharp pain throughout his body. But he did not care. He roared like a beast, pulled and pulled and still couldn't get free from his bonds. He was forced to watch as Beth's movements slowed and her body became limp and lifeless in the arms of her murderer. Something broke inside Mick, leaving a hollow, paralyzed feeling and yet he could not stop, could not give up.

Another person stepped into his field of vision looking at him full of regret and remorse. Alejandro. "I'm so sorry," the old man whispered with tears in his eyes as he lifted a heavy weapon, swung it and hit him in the face with the butt.

* * *

Mick awoke with a start and a stifled cry. His heart was racing so fast that he felt dizzy and it caused a hard throbbing in his temples as he struggled for breath. This hot pain, this overwhelming despair inside him threatened to shred his chest. Everything destroyed… destroyed… over… lost…

"Mick?" Her voice was very quiet and drunk with sleep, but it was Beth. _His _Beth. Alive, healthy, unharmed. Mick acted out of a pure impulse. He turned on his side, grabbed her and pulled her warm, limp body as close as possible to him and wrapped his arms firmly around her. He buried his face in her hair and closed his eyes focusing on her heartbeat and her breathing, every single sign her body was giving to confirm to him that she was here with him in his arms, safe and alive.

"All… all is well," she whispered at his neck and now put her arms around his waist caressing his back gently. Very slowly, his heartbeat calmed down, the tremors ceased and his breathing returned to a normal rhythm.

"It was only a dream," he heard her say. "No one has been harmed."

Mick uttered a deep sigh and only after a period of comforting words and soothing caresses was he able to pull back a bit from Beth and to look into her face. She looked a little puffy as she blinked at him tiredly, but he saw concern in her eyes and that deep sympathy for him that made her lift a hand to his face and gently stroke his cheek.

"Better?" she asked cautiously, and tried a small smile. He just nodded and touched her face with his hand, following the soft gentle contours that had been burned forever into his memory. There was a burning in his eyes, a hard lump in his chest that did not want to go away. The feeling of losing her, even if it was only in a dream, had been unbearable. More painful than anything else that he had ever experienced before. Without her there would no longer be anything that was worth living for. He could not think about that, would not think about it.

"That won't happen, Mick," she whispered and her voice seemed to tremble slightly. "No vampire will touch me. Gabriel has made sure of it."

Mick wanted to believe her, wanted to nod, but somehow he could not. Also, Gabriel was not all powerful and the _Cercle du Sang_ was more dangerous than many other organizations in the world. Compared to them the _Hijos de la Luna_ were only a gang of children. Beth could not know it… could not know… Mick hesitated, even moved a little more away from Beth and frowned.

"You… you know what I was dreaming?" he asked in disbelief as Beth, who gave an almost caught in the act impression, inhaled but said nothing.

"Did I talk in my sleep?" he asked, inwardly hoping that it was just that.

Beth hesitated, but then she shook her head. "I always wanted to talk to you about this, but I didn't know how to tackle it."

Mick's heart began to beat faster and he sat up, ran his hands over his face and tried to blink away the fatigue that was still paralyzing his body and mind. He had felt that his connection to Beth had become stronger since he had become so changed. He had repeatedly noticed that he could reach her mentally in some way, had even used it deliberately a couple of times, but this… this was something that withdrew his control and he was somehow scared.

"It only happens sometimes," Beth said softly and sat up as well skimming the tousled hair out of her face. "I don't know why or how, but I… I can see what you see."

"You mean you see my dreams?"

She nodded. "I… I'm you then and experience everything from your point of view."

"Oh, God," Mick closed his eyes and shook his head. Memories came to him. Memories of things that Gabriel had told him, had explained to him, of skills the Ancients had. He had not wanted to believe that even he could have them and had repressed many of the things that could make him even more different than previously, had pushed them out of his mind.

A hand gently touched his arm and he opened his eyes again and looked into Beth's worried face. "That's not bad, Mick," she said. "It's even helpful."

"Helpful?" he repeated upset. "How can _that_ be helpful? These are nightmares, nothing but nightmares, Beth!"

"But this way I understand better what's going on inside you," she interrupted him immediately. "And I _want_ to know what moves you, how you feel, how I can help you better."

Mick avoided her urgent gaze and shook his head again. He knew exactly what she meant, knew that there was so much more she wanted to know but did not dare to ask. He knew that each one of his friends found it infinitely important that he spoke about what had happened to him during the past year in order to get rid of his burden. But he could not open the door to his so gruesome memories, did not want to. Displacement was the best way. Repression and forgetting. It was bad enough that the door opened in his dreams always on its own. He did not want to do this on purpose when he was awake.

"In addition, this… this connection has made it possible for us to find you, Mick," Beth added now and he looked at her again in surprise, almost shocked.

"What do you mean?"

Beth took a deep, slightly tremulous breath. "We thought you were dead because the Legion had crossed off your name on their list. And then I had this dream. I saw that you were trying to escape from the lab and somehow I knew from that moment on that you were still alive. I knew that we must continue to seek you, even more intensely than before, that we must not give up."

"When was that?" Mick asked tense and his thoughts tumbled. Twice he had tried to escape alone. Twice he had failed.

"A few days before we actually found you. You were in a hallway and when they tried to catch you again…" She stopped and Mick knew that she had no words to describe the cruelty with which he had killed the soldiers. "I could see Frank and this… this cruel man."

"Gallagher," Mick got out only with effort and gritted his teeth, fighting down the memories that were welling up in him at once. He closed his eyes again, trying to breathe deeply and evenly and to focus on the warm hand that was gently and calmingly running up and down his arm.

"I know that this… all this upsets you very much," he heard Beth say softly. "That was the reason why I never mentioned it. It indeed frightened me as well at first. Mostly because I still don't know why this is happening."

Mick looked at her again, trying to collect himself a bit more, and ran a hand over his chin. "Gabriel has this ability to mentally contact other persons to submit images or short thoughts to them. Maybe this is something similar. He tried to explain it to me, but I didn't really understand it. I just know that it has to do with energy and with the ability of the ancient vampires to activate certain areas of their brains other vampires and above all normal people do not have access to. This only works with persons with whom one has a special connection. And the closer a person is the more extensive and explicit such mental messages can be."

"And they've implanted in you cells of an ancient vampire," Beth added in wonder. "That makes sense."

Mick's reaction was a mixture of a nod and a shake of the head. "Partly. Except that Gabriel has never spoken of so long-lasting connections and…" He hesitated, because the following thought gave him great discomfort. "I… I don't do it consciously, Beth."

She nodded. "I know. But perhaps your subconscious mind is looking for help sometimes."

He avoided her eyes staring for a moment only at the pillow beside him. "I'm sorry you had to see these… these… things," he said softly and noticed from the corner of his eye that she was already shaking her head. But he had to go on, had to look at her again. "Now I'm not only burdening you when I'm awake, but also in your sleep."

"No," she protested immediately with a further and now much more explicit shake of her head and between her eyebrows this charming, vigorous line was building. "You don't burden me! You should never think that! The situation we're in, the Legion and all the things that are linked to this evil organization burden me and the others. But not you - never you!"

For a moment Mick only looked at her, touched. Then he gave a little laugh, not sarcastic or cynical but warm and full of love for this incredible woman. He covered her face with both hands, leaned forward and kissed her, gently and lovingly trying in this way to show her that he believed her, even if in fact he didn't.

When he released her lips again, the expression in her eyes had changed. The concern had almost entirely disappeared, instead, such a deep love shone in her eyes that such a warm glow awakened within him that it was able to rip him out of the deepest, darkest depression and this time easily scared away the oppressive feeling in his chest within seconds. He could not help it, he had to kiss her again, had to pull her delicate body to his, feel her warmth, which encroached on him so wonderfully and carried him still further away from the gloomy, hollow hole that always tried to suck him in. Her lips were so soft, so seductive, answering his caresses so tenderly that he couldn't get enough of it. Warmth spread out now in his body, followed by that well-known tingling which moved very quickly into the deeper regions of his body, causing stirs there that went in a completely different direction.

It surprised him that Beth at once struggled free from him and escaped his urging lips with great reluctance, although she had previously willingly nestled up to him and had wrapped her arms around his neck. He gave her a questioning gaze.

"Don't you want to… talk about this anymore?" she whispered a little breathlessly, and her gaze roamed treacherously to his lips.

"About what?" he asked in a somewhat scratchy voice and could not help but capture her so close lips with his again.

The soft sound Beth uttered fluctuated between protest and pleasure, but she put her hands against his shoulders and interrupted the kiss again.

She took a deep breath. "About our connection," she said barely audibly and in her eyes now glowed the same desire which had seized him.

It was hard for him to focus again. The intimate physical contact with Beth fueled his desire and let the importance of this issue fade away quickly. There were so many unpleasant things linked to it. He did not want to deal with this anymore, at least not now.

"Later," he mumbled against her lips and took possession of them again. Beth seemed to have no objections, because she returned the kiss with passion, opened her lips and let out a low moan as his tongue found hers, challenging her to the heated game that finally switched their minds completely off.

Mick's arms instinctively closed more tightly around her warm, soft body. His need to feel her closer, to join with her grew more intense rapidly. The clothes they both wore had become a disturbing factor which had to be eliminated as soon as possible. Mick's hands wandered down her back, seized the hem of her shirt and pulled it up. He released her lips and Beth raised her arms willingly, helping him to take off the shirt as quickly as possible, only to then wrap her arms around his neck again and now challenge him to another breathtaking kiss. He moved forward, sank down with her on the mattress, propping himself up with his arms a bit. Their body contact gained in intensity, because she immediately opened up to him, snuggled into him, showing him how excited she was. He felt her rapid heartbeat against his chest, the soft curves of her breasts, the hard nipples pressing through the delicate fabric of her bra and through his shirt, felt the warmth between her legs she now wrapped around his hips. Her hands were digging into his back, pressing him to her. He let out a low moan, released her lips, let his lips roam down to her chin instead, let them slide down to her neck. He heard her trembling inhalation as he pressed his lips against her soft skin, felt with his tongue for her pulse that was beating so seductively beneath his lips seeming to call to him. Fast, faster than usual, it was there, the other dangerous need, this thirst for her sweet, warm blood. And it was so strong, so tantalizing. He began to suck at her skin, to prepare her for the bite, without really wanting it and made her utter another joyful sound, made her lift her pelvis and in doing so asking him to take her in every imaginable way. But he wasn't allowed… wasn't allowed… yet he felt the transformation begin, felt that old familiar tingling in his body, this burning in his upper jaw.

It was Beth herself, who insured that he broke away from her neck and then came to his senses a bit. Not because she had noticed what had happened to him and had become frightened, but because she had grabbed his shirt and pulled it up over his shoulders and finally over his head. It was his other cravings that made him lift his head and upper body automatically and make it easier for her to take off the shirt. A few seconds were enough to push back the vampire in him, to prevent him from winning what he longed for so greedily.

A little voice deep inside him cried out to totally break away from Beth, to stop everything, because the risk that the vampire would appear again was too great at this moment. He had taken in just too little blood, could remember too well how Beth's blood tasted and what a wonderfully unique, soothing, deeply satisfying effect it had on him. But Beth herself made it incredibly difficult for him to listen to that voice, to obey it. Her lips had again pressed to his, her tongue again sought his, and he could do nothing but give in to her. His need for this kind of fondness was just too great and had to be satisfied.

Her fingers slid back down his back digging into his muscles while she pressed her body against his, showing her own desire for physical union in a very intense way. There it was again this exciting, well-known demand of her hips, the pressure of her warm womb against his erection that made him inhale with a hiss and answer her in the same way. Beth's hands slid down to his jeans and started to open them while his lips pressed to her neck again. This time he managed to ignore the pounding of her carotid artery and his lips continued to move down to the soft skin of her cleavage approaching the enchanting valley between her breasts. How velvety her skin was there and so warm.

His fingers grasped the strap of her bra and pulled it down freeing one of her breasts from the silky fabric and enabling him to close his lips around the seductively hardened peak, to suck at it, to feel it and circle it with his tongue. Beth let out an ecstatic moan which caused a strong pulling in his lumbar region and her upper body arched towards him instinctively, bringing his blood to boil even more and causing him to become more impetuous and impatient. He sucked harder at her nipple, addicted to the sensual sounds she was making, teased it with his tongue, the gentle pressure of his teeth until her nails dug almost painfully into his hips and a pleading "Mick…" slipped from her lips. Then he let go of it, slipped a hand under her bra and opened the clasp and freed her completely from the annoying piece of cloth. Now it was he who gave a deep groan, not only because her soft breasts pressed so provocatively against his heated skin, but because one of her hands had slid into his boxers and now closed around his erection, starting to caress, to massage him in a quite demanding way. Mick pressed his lips to her neck, panting, sucked at her skin, taking in her taste, while the pounding of his manhood under the urgent caresses of her fingers became almost unbearable. The desire to take her, to merge with her in every way grew again. His own blood seemed to rush through his veins in the same rhythm as hers causing him to forget everything around him. He barely noticed that the tingling in his upper jaw came back, that the vampire within him stirred again.

But he felt Beth's hand as it released him, as she grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled it from his hips, then suddenly stopped.

Don't stop… not now… He released her neck and fought against the urge for blood for another reason, wanting to stay a little longer in this sweet torture. Instead, he shifted his weight, pushed a hand between their bodies and tried to open her jeans. He was surprised when Beth held his wrist.

"Mick… wait!" she said out of breath and very slowly he noticed that her body had slightly tensed and heard very softly the reason for this: The dull hum of the vibrating ring of a mobile phone.

He raised his head, still not really able to think straight, and looked inquiringly at Beth.

"That's certainly important," she said quietly and he knew she was right. This could only be August or Gabriel or Alejandro. They were the only ones who had this number and since they were calling at this time, it had to be something very urgent.

It took a lot of strength and willpower for Mick to sit up, to adjust his pants, hurry over and then pick up his jacket from the floor to get the still buzzing cell phone. He could not prevent his voice from sounding a little scratchy when he uttered a short and not very friendly "Yes!"

"I'm sorry if I woke you, but there are a few important things that cannot wait and absolutely have to be clarified immediately," Gabriel's deep voice pierced his ear without further greeting. He sounded tense and in the background was heard the faint hum of an engine. So he was probably on the way. "I just talked with Logan. You want to meet with Talbot?"

Mick at first did not know what to say. He had not reckoned that Logan would crack so quickly and would talk with Gabriel about their half-baked plan without a further consultation with him. "I think…," he began, but Gabriel did not let him finish.

"I think it's a good idea and in fact the only way to get your mug shots out of the network of the police in a trice. I also think that Benjamin Talbot could be a useful ally. But you should be cautious and above all you have to act quickly so that your photos do not get spread any further."

"What is _quickly_ to you?" asked Mick and noticed from the corner of his eye that Beth slipped into her shirt and then to the edge of the bed looking at him with great concern shown on her face.

"As soon as you feel strong and awake enough for this. Alejandro will arrive in a few hours and help you to organize the whole thing. You will not go to this meeting alone. I doubt that Talbot will go for that. Take Beth with you. Women often have a calming effect in such situations."

Mick shook his head and wrinkled his brows distractedly when he realized that Beth had nodded eagerly as if she had heard what Gabriel had proposed. But that could not be. The vampire had spoken too quietly.

"I also want you to hand Talbot a CD that is in my bag in the ambulance. He's to pass it to his uncle. Tell him it comes from Haniel de l'Entant and that the matter requires exceptional urgency."

Mick frowned again in confusion, but wasn't able to think any further about these strange instructions as Gabriel went on again far too quickly.

"All the others should remain in the motel until the matter's settled. In particular Josef, which brings me to my second concern. I hope August has already told you that Josef's not allowed to drink your blood in any case. Are you listening? We've no idea how your changed genetics or your changed blood will effect other vampires or humans. Until now you're the only one who's survived the experiments with the ancient blood, the Nigong genes and the cure. It's entirely possible that your blood is very dangerous to others. Lance said that it weakened him drastically in your fight and that he'd had only minimal contact with it."

This time Mick nodded reluctantly. "August has already warned me and I wouldn't get that idea anyway."

"Good," Gabriel said satisfied and sounding relieved. "I can imagine that Josef isn't fond of his new state and has certainly hassled you quite strongly already to change him back."

"'_Hassled me_' is an understatement," sighed Mick and heard a chuckle from the other end of the line.

"He'll have to suffer a few more days, I think," said Gabriel lightly amused. "And now to my last point. Is Beth in your vicinity?"

Mick hesitated. The question was odd. "Yeah," he answered frowning and noticed that she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Can you then please leave the room and ensure that she doesn't follow you?"

This request was even stranger and Mick hesitated to oblige.

"This is really important," Gabriel added.

Mick took a deep breath and whispered to the astonished Beth a scarce "I'll be right back" and then left the room closing the door silently behind him. The living room was covered in darkness exactly like all the other rooms, but through the window fell the dim light of dusk showing that the early hours of the morning were advancing. He had slept quite a long time by his standards.

"I'm listening," Mick told the old vampire. He heard a whisper and realized that Gabriel was now speaking to him in an ultrasonic frequency and this caused him to focus. He found it difficult this time to not transform while drawing on the abilities of his vampiric side, but eventually he was able to understand the ancient vampire in his human condition.

"Openness in this respect is of great importance," Gabriel said now and almost sounded a little bit strict. He paused, giving Mick time to think and answer.

"I think if this openness is on both sides, I'll have no problem with it," Mick replied, and somehow could not shake off the feeling that their conversation would go from that moment on in a rather dicey direction.

"Good," said Gabriel again. "But first, there's an important thing I need to know. When did Beth came into contact with vampire blood?"

There it was all at once, the pressure in his stomach and the pulling in his chest. He did not answer but bristled inwardly against dealing again with his concerns regarding this issue.

"Did she bite you in the state of arousal?" Gabriel dug further and caused anger to flare up in Mick.

"No," he growled. "I thought you were there. Logan told me that you were a witness when Hendrik attacked her."

"Hendrik?" Gabriel repeated tensely. "It happened back then?"

"You didn't see it?" Mick was now completely confused.

"No, I arrived quite late," the old vampire admitted thoughtfully. "Did he try to turn her?"

"No, but she seemingly bit him."

For a few breaths there was silence at the other end of the line and Mick's sorrow grew from second to second. Gabriel's behavior scared him because it told him that he was right with his presumption that something had indeed changed in Beth's blood.

"That's quite a long time ago," Gabriel noted quietly. "Amazing."

"_What_ exactly is amazing?" Mick probed tautly and noticed only now that he had started to pace worriedly up and down in the room.

"Does she appear changed to you now?"

"In which way?"

"More sensitive, more receptive to things that escape most people?"

Mick thought hard, forcing his mind to concentrate, recalling memories which could give an answer to this question.

"She owns markedly well-functioning senses, but I don't know if it wasn't always like that…" If he was honest, he knew it indeed, knew that this was new. "And our energetic connection has somehow become… more intense. I can now feel her over even longer distances."

"Did you drink her blood lately?"

Mick gritted his teeth. This was not a question that he wanted to hear and was even less happy to answer.

"Mick, this is important!"

"Yes," he growled.

"Did it taste different?"

Mick's cheek muscles twitched with tension. That was just too private, too unpleasant. In fact, it was nobody else's business.

"I interpret this as a 'yes'," Gabriel answered the question himself. "What about the healing? Does it proceed faster than usual?"

Mick closed his eyes briefly and shook his head very slightly. Why had he blocked this out for such a long time? Why had he put his own sense of well being over Beth's fate?

"Yes," he said this time very softly. "You told me once that people with her blood type either transform immediately into a vampire or never, but show such signs for a while. I thought it was no really dramatic…"

"It isn't," Gabriel replied to Mick's mind much too quickly. "It's just unusual that they are lasting so long. Actually these effects ought to have died away long ago, but instead, they seem to still be growing. And I wonder what the reason is for that."

Mick's stomach did an unpleasant somersault. "Can she still transform?"

"I think that's almost impossible," Gabriel responded immediately. "Not with her blood type. As I said, there's only either - or."

"So this means we can safely assume that she's a carrier of the blocking agents?"

"We can, and probably to a higher degree than has been the case for centuries."

Mick took a deep, heavy breath and tried to collect himself, to bring a little more calmness into his upset innards. "That also means that no one should know about this."

"Exactly," the old vampire agreed with him. "And she should protect herself a bit more in the presence of other vampires; otherwise they may quickly realize that something is wrong with her. This means that you really should talk to her about everything, Mick."

Mick ran one hand over his face, trying to get rid of at least some of his growing tension with that gesture. "I will," he said, suppressing his reluctance and the growing resentment against Gabriel with a vengeance. It seemed as if the ancient vampire now wanted to end this talk quickly and leave him alone with all these unpleasant orders, upset feelings and the many unanswered questions. But Mick was not willing to let him escape so easily this time. There were a few things that could wait no longer.

"There's only one question I would like to have answered," Mick said quickly. "The blood group A0 negative is normally found in one person within a million people. How is it that not only Beth has this blood type, but Coraline and me as well? How is it that _we_ of all people came into contact with vampires who apparently need this blood type in order to make their cure? Coincidence? Fate?"

For a few seconds there was silence at the other end of the line. Mick then heard a faint breath. "What do_ you _think?" he actually dared to ask.

Mick gave an angry laugh. "Coraline said she had chosen me. Had she done this with Beth as well? Did she choose her? What for?"

"Did she say that?" Gabriel asked with quite a strange undertone that Mick could not immediately grasp because he was much too angry.

"Yes, she did. Where did she know my blood type from?"

"You need to ask _her _that question." It was the first time since Mick met Gabriel that he felt that the old vampire had awkwardly evaded him and it confirmed his bad suspicion, his feeling that Gabriel was more deeply enmeshed in this whole story and knew more than he had confessed up to now and now felt quite caught.

"Is there a list in the vampire society?" Mick voiced the next terribly uncomfortable question that had plagued his mind since Coraline's small 'slip'. "A list of people who have this blood type?"

The silence at the other end of the line now lasted much longer than before and stirred not only Mick's anger but also the oppressive feeling in his chest.

"I think this is not the right time to answer these questions, Mick," Gabriel finally returned. He did not sound dismissive, like Mick had expected, but rather exhausted and a little frustrated. "And a phone is also not the appropriate medium to discuss such a topic. We should sit down together as soon as possible and talk about everything. But please promise me one thing: Don't make any person an enemy of yours as soon as there are some inconsistencies around them. That way you'll only isolate yourself."

"Will I?" Mick asked back irritably.

"Yes," was the immediate reply. "Did I ever not give you the truth in the end, if you asked me straight for it?"

Mick gritted his teeth. The ancient vampire was right. Above all, in the four weeks they had spent and trained together Gabriel had been almost mercilessly honest with him. It had been Mick himself who had not wanted to ask certain questions, who had pushed experiences, important ideas and thoughts out of his mind because he had been afraid of their extent, particularly of what they would entail. But he was not willing to admit this in front of the old vampire yet.

"I'll try to be with you the day after tomorrow," Gabriel added. "Until then we can continue to talk on the phone only about everything important. Can you wait that long, without letting the most insane conspiracy theories build up in your head?"

Mick found it really difficult to pull himself together, but the old vampire's offer appeased him at least a bit. He took a deep breath and then nodded, even though Gabriel could not see him. "Yeah," he added, almost reluctantly.

"It's really important that you're concentrating on what you need to do now, Mick," said Gabriel. "Even when things are often not as they seem at first glance, what lies behind them is usually not very much worse. And sometimes a change of perspective also helps you to understand everything much better and so accept your fate better."

Mick said nothing. Not only because Gabriel's vague hints annoyed him once more, but also because a noise from Josef's room distracted him. It sounded as if someone was stumbling to the door.

He was right in his guess, for only seconds later the door opened and a rather pale, very upset-looking Josef staggered out, pressing both hands on his belly and breathing hard. Relief seemed to wash over him as he recognized Mick in the dark and he staggered up to him immediately.

"All right?" Mick heard Gabriel ask.

"Josef's awake," Mick replied coolly. "I cannot talk to you anymore." With that he cut the connection with the old vampire and threw the phone on the couch next to him so that he could catch his stumbling friend halfway and then put him back on his feet. Concern flared up in him. Josef did not look well.

"What is it?"

His friend narrowed his eyes and grimaced as if he was in pain. "Something's wrong…," he said sluggishly and the fear in his eyes told Mick that he was really serious.

"Okay." Mick looked around a bit helplessly. "Maybe you had better sit down first."

He pushed Josef carefully to the couch and helped him to settle on it. It was so strange to see Josef so weak and helpless, so… human, that he didn't feel particularly comfortable in his skin all alone with him. His gaze slid over to the door of his bedroom. If he was right about Beth she was definitely not sitting dutifully on the bed but had stood for quite a while now at the door and listened. He had felt her presence the whole time, but he would have even if she had stayed in bed. It was worth a try anyway.

"Beth?" he asked softly.

For a moment nothing stirred but then the door handle moved and the door opened, revealing a smiling and a little bit embarrassed looking Beth. But the smile disappeared quite quickly from her face when she realized that Josef did not feel very good and she hurried over to them.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

Mick did not answer. Instead, he went into a crouching position in front of Josef and looked up into his strained face. "Josef?" he asked, and his friend's anguished gaze turned to him.

"It… it feels so weird," he stammered. "Everything's so cramped."

"Are you in pain?" Beth asked and Josef nodded, barely coping with his own words.

"Where exactly?" Mick probed.

Another noise was heard from Josef's room and then Mick heard a terrified voice: "Josef?"

Simone was also apparently awake.

"Over here!" Beth called immediately, while Mick was still looking at his friend inquiringly.

"My belly," Josef uttered exhausted and he closed his eyes languidly. "It feels as if… as if everything contracts and knots together… and… it won't stop."

Mick hesitated. That sounded quite familiar to him. From the corner of his eye he saw Simone stumble into the room almost as panicky and shaky on her feet as Josef.

"God! What happened?" she asked in horror, but Mick raised his hand quickly without looking at her and tried to signal that all this wasn't as bad as it looked. If he was not mistaken, it was fairly easy to get a grip on this problem.

"The pain – is it more in the upper abdomen or the lower area?" he asked more precisely and was not surprised when Josef's hand moved directly to his stomach as he grimaced theatrically.

A whole mountain range fell from Mick's heart and he took a deep breath. "Then it's not that bad," he said.

Josef's strength seemed sufficient enough to be able to furrow his brows somewhat offended. "You cannot know this. You… you're not a doctor. At least not a real one. "

"No, I'm not," Mick replied and found it really hard to suppress the smirk that welled up in him, "but shortly after my first re-turning into a human I had exactly the same problem as you have now. And it took me a while before I came to see what it was."

"And… what is it?" Josef asked now with a suspicious frown.

"You're hungry. Your stomach is growling." As if in confirmation of Mick's words his stomach now gave a loud rumble and caused Josef to jerk back, frightened. For a moment he just stared at Mick perplexed. Then he shook his head. "No. It doesn't feel like that. That was never so painful."

"Josef, the feeling of human hunger was with you about three hundred and eighty years ago," Mick said with a smile. "Do you really think you can still remember it rightly? In addition, your stomach is not really used to being… re-used. So it's quite normal that it would have more trouble with that than usual."

Josef's facial expression changed from concerned-disbelieving to horrified-disgusted. "I… I'm…_ hungry_?" he asked again. "Does that mean I have to…" He swallowed hard. "I have to _eat_?"

Mick had to bite his lip not to laugh, but he nodded, causing Josef to shake his head sadly. For a former vampire like him, it seemed almost degrading to now need to rely on human food resources. How often he had railed about the 'muck' humans were 'gulping' today.

But the other two people in this room who received Mick's finding were similarly relieved like him, for he could hear both Simone and Beth take a deep breath.

"So it looks like we all will have to take a fairly early breakfast," Beth added to her nonverbal reaction with a mixture of regret and light amusement and Mick stood up, giving her an apologetic smile. She shrugged her shoulders and probably thought the same thing as he did: Sometimes you had to put certain thoughts immediately into action; otherwise it could take quite a while to find time for it again.

"_Eat_…," Josef repeated once again paralyzed and Mick could no longer hold back, no matter how angry his friend would be with him because of it or what really serious problems they still had to face and what unpleasant conversations were still waiting for them: He had to laugh.


	25. Adversities

_Hi there! Here's the next chapter – a shorter one this time but the following will be very, very long again so I think it compensates this one. Thank you all so much for your reviews again. It always feels like getting little presents and I really suck each word in. So feel hugged! I'll be back at Thursday – as always. Have a great time until then, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Francis_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**Adversities**

* * *

_"Our discontent will not let us starve. After all it wants us not to lose our appetite for more."_

_Ernst Ferstl_

* * *

It shouldn't look like this – nothing like this. Especially after more than three hundred and eighty years of food evolution. And it certainly shouldn't _feel_ this way: Flabby, soft... no, rubbery. The bread crust wasn't supposed to smoosh this way with your finger, shouldn't spring back to its original form like a sponge. It should crackle and crunch when a knife cut through it, should crumble and break and only very reluctantly disclose its soft, light interior to the eye of the beholder. And it definitely should be warm and smell divine.

I breathed deeply through my nose. No, nothing, certainly no smell that promised anything good. My senses may not work as well as they did when I was a vampire, but the musty smell within these… walls hadn't escaped even me. There were all kinds of new smells around, but none that even remotely smelled like fresh baked bread, at least not the aroma of the freshly baked bread I remembered in the 17th Century. 'Fresh' - there was no way this bulky thing on my plate was fresh and I was really beginning to doubt whether it was pastry at all.

Once again I poked at the strange thing with my finger and observed with a mixture of disgust and fascination as it sprang back into its original shape. I heard a sound of irritation next to me and raised my head to peer into the eyes of my best friend, who looked at me as he shook his head.

"If you keep this up, it'll be evening before you finish breakfast," he said clearly annoyed and then bit into the second half of his buttered and generously loaded cold cut sandwich. That I couldn't count on sympathy from him for my urgent needs right now, he had made quite clear on numerous occasions. It had quickly vanished ten minutes ago and along with the initial loss of sympathy, a noticeable weariness had emerged.

"I remember breakfast being a little different," I replied, and could hardly conceal my disgust at what was spread out before me on the table, sausage in plastic, cheese in plastic, butter in plastic, bread in plastic. It wouldn't have surprised me if somewhere was even plastic in plastic. Certainly no one nowadays would even notice if they accidentally forgot to take the food out before eating it. Just the way the meat looked, it had to taste as artificial as the packaging.

I knew my friends meant well when they set up a small table in an alcove off the living room and prepared, at such an early hour, a hasty breakfast just for me. But as touching as this gesture was and as much as my stomach rumbled and ached, I just couldn't bring myself to eat it.

"Wa don you wike abou the woll?" my friend mumbled with his mouth full and once again I pushed demonstratively into the foamy thing on my plate, giving Mick an exaggerated smile.

"I would've liked it a little more dehydrated," I added a bit sourly. How could he even _offer_ me something like this to try to ward off the hunger pains in my stomach? It bordered on sadism!

"It's six o'clock in the morning, Josef," Beth now joined in, who sat opposite me, giving me a pretty tired impression. "And there aren't any bakers around for miles."

She had already bravely finished off her first and was now adding cheese to her second roll but much less enthusiastically than Mick… or was that sausage? They weren't really that dissimilar in color and shape. Fortunately, my feeble human senses couldn't really tell what horrible smells this stuff must certainly be emitting.

"And where did you get this… 'food' from?" I asked with raised eyebrows to distract from the embarrassing rumbling in my stomach.

"From Eddy," Beth said and then bit into her sandwich with an enthusiasm I couldn't quite understand.

My eyebrows wandered even further in the direction of my hairline. Hey, at least _they_ still worked well as a human being.

"He's the man who's accommodating us," said Simone softly, sitting next to me at the table still struggling with her first baked sponge. "Alejandro's friend."

"Eddy, hugh…" I repeated in a tone that clearly told my friends just how little confidence I had with the name in terms of food choices. "Eddy doesn't seem to think too highly of organic food."

I picked up one of the packaged cold cuts gingerly and turned it over, leaning in to check the fine print on the back.

"Oh, and it's only two days past the expiration date," I stated with mocked joy. "How wonderful!"

I heard Mick let out a deep breathe beside me one more time, but this time I didn't bother looking at him, just leaned back in my chair, and crossed my arms over my chest clearly indicating my refusal. I certainly wasn't going to aggravate my miserable life as a human any further by risking food poisoning. Humans' waste was so disgusting…

"Most foods last longer than what it says on the packaging, Josef," Simone patiently explained to me, took the package in her hand, opened it and sniffed at it briefly. "It still smells pretty good," she said and offered the ham to me.

I shrank back from her in disgust. "_Pretty_ good?" I repeated skeptically and then raised a hand defensively. "No thanks, I'm not hungry anymore."

Unfortunately, my stomach chose that very moment to growl loudly and shamefully gave me away. I wasn't just hungry - my body begged for food and the urge to pounce on these disgusting things and devour them was growing by the minute. My mind found it all terribly revolting - it didn't stand a chance against a body that hadn't ingested solid food in over three hundred and eighty years and was now craving it like never before.

"Well, that's _your_ decision," Mick said in this strange tone of voice that in the past always told me he must have an ace up his sleeve and now I reluctantly had to look at him. His piece of bread was completely gone and he now grabbed mine, put it, under Beth and Simone's wide eyes, on his own plate and cut it in half.

"Just so you know Josef: your refusal to eat will only make you weaker," he continued, reaching for the butter to smear it on the first half of the bread. "And as Gabriel and August have so beautifully mentioned: As long as you're weak, no one can turn you back into a vampire…"

There it was, that nasty ace. And of course it hit the bull's-eye, directly at my worst fear. I reacted almost out of reflex, ripped the buttered sandwich from Mick's fingers without another word, closed my eyes and bit into it. The texture was as bad as I had imagined: soft, chewy, odd. But it didn't taste as bad as it looked – as I soon found out when I started to chew and then my tongue absorbed the taste of butter and bread. Taste… My eyes opened in silent astonishment and turned to the rest of the sandwich I held in front of me as if I had discovered a new wonder of the world. It wasn't that the stuff had tasted all that good, but to taste anything at all, to feel my sense of taste coming back to life again, to get used to human food again was just an unbelievable feeling. Incredible, fascinating, wonderful. I chewed more eagerly and sank my teeth once again into this unhealthy and unnatural thing, while my stomach gurgled satisfied.

"So?" I heard Mick's voice and knew he was smiling happily, even before looking at him.

I gulped down the bite I had in my mouth and took a deep breath. "Disgusting," I replied and couldn't help a wide grin from appearing on my lips.

Mick gave a little laugh and I could see in his eyes he knew exactly what I meant. "And it's going to get even more disgusting," he said as he added ham to the other half of my sandwich.

It almost shocked me when I crammed the rest of the first half greedily into my mouth and readily took the second half from Mick. It was funny, but to taste something that _didn_'t taste that good was better than not tasting something at all. Slowly, I began to understand why Mick would gobble down everything that was put in front of him. He was testing himself, enjoying his re-acquired skill of dividing food into 'good' and 'poor'. I had to admit it - this really was a great feeling, as long as the Salmonella remained hidden in other food and left me in peace…

"Are you going to drink your coffee now?" Mick asked me, still smiling and pointed to the steaming cup beside me, which I had previously rejected with a derogatory sniff stating: "I don't drink instant coffee."

I looked at the brownish broth with great skepticism. The last time I drank coffee, was in a country famous for making this exquisitely aromatic beverage. So I wasn't too sure if I wanted to shock my still so virginal palate with this really cheap stuff.

My gaze wandered over to Beth, who was just now taking a sip and then remained on Simone's relaxed face, who nodded at me encouragingly. She herself had only taken a few sips of her coffee up to now which wasn't very encouraging. Nevertheless, I bravely raised the cup to my lips and drank. The stuff was bitter, thin and not at all what I imagined decent coffee being. I screwed up my face in disgust and put the cup down so fast that some of the brown 'dishwater' spilled.

"God awful," I uttered with a shake of my head and couldn't believe it when Mick himself took a generous sip of his coffee.

"How do you get this stuff down?" I turned in disbelief to him and Beth.

"Well, at least it wakes you up," replied Mick while Beth murmured at the same time a faint "Vicarious satisfaction". She probably thought my human hearing wasn't good enough to hear her little sarcastic remark. But there she was greatly mistaken. My eyes went over to her immediately and my eyebrows twitched upwards as if they had a mind of their own. Beth looked at me, hiding behind her coffee cup, knowing I'd caught her, while from the corner of my eye I saw Mick giving her a small smirk. My mind searched at breakneck speed for an apt comeback something that would make my two friends blush, but in my still quite groggy state of mind I just wasn't quick enough, for there was someone who was faster by a few seconds: Logan. At that very moment, the young vampire opened the door to our apartment and stormed into our little breakfast club with an excited flickering in his eyes.

"He'll do it!" he uttered almost breathlessly as he stopped in front of us and gave us all a small happy smile. Confused I blinked a few times, while Mick turned to him and responded to the little freak with a specific counter-question.

"You've already been in touch with him?"

Logan nodded eagerly, his chest swollen with pride.

"And he's going to do it on our terms?" Mick asked further.

Logan nodded again, but his nod quickly slowed then stopped. "Well, sorta, there's one little catch…"

"Which is?" Mick asked and I couldn't do anything but continue to look from one to the other confused. Apparently I had missed a few very important things during my 'time-out' and I didn't like that at all. Normally, I was the one who planned all the activities - at least those we carried out on a smaller scale.

"He won't come alone."

Mick's eyebrows moved a little towards each other, while I still wondered whom this mysterious "_he_" could be. Gabriel had a name by now, so it wasn't him.

"Who is it he wants to bring along?" was my best friend's somewhat tense question.

"This Lieutenant Davis."

"Carl?" exclaimed Beth amazed and very slowly it began to dawn on me just what had been planned here behind my back. I couldn't believe it.

"What does _he_ _have to do with _the whole thing?" Beth asked uncomprehendingly.

"Apparently, he works fairly close with Talbot," Logan said with a shrug.

There it was, the name I dreaded hearing and breathed in audibly enough to draw the others attention back to me at least for a split second.

"You must be kidding!" I exclaimed quickly, before Mick could manage to ignore me again. Now he had to turn towards me and I could tell he didn't like it too much. He knew me well enough to know that this conversation could quickly turn very uncomfortable. But that didn't keep him from seeking a confrontation with me.

"No, I'm not," he replied in a tone that clearly told me how much he had already become attached to his new 'great' plan. "Because we don't have a choice!"

"The police are now officially looking for us," Beth now came to his aid and I gave her a dirty look, trying hard not to let the disturbing content of her words penetrate my mind.

"We really have no choice, Josef, not unless we want to just flit from hideout to hideout. Ben is the only one who can remove us from the police database…"

Logan cleared his throat a little. "Well, yes, maybe just a little faster than I could. And speed is crucial at the moment. But apart from…"

"Stop!" I commanded and raised my hands in a braking gesture so that all my friends actually paused. Apparently I still had enough authority as a human. At least that was _one_ thing I hadn't lost. I screwed my eyes and tried to concentrate, although with all the stress and tension I was under this damned headache had returned. How could Mick stand being human? It was just one long pain in the ass!

"You're trying to arrange a meeting with Talbot?" I repeated what I thought I had just heard and Mick nodded. "When?"

"Today," was the honest, but very unpleasant answer and I had to take a deep breath so as not to burst immediately. Why had they concealed such an important fact from me all this time?

"In three hours to be precise," Logan added and something in his voice told me he was happy with the fact I wasn't the initiator of this daring venture, and had been relegated only a marginal role.

Again it was a deep breath of oxygen that helped me to not lose my temper. "And who's going exactly?" I asked, annoyed.

"Beth and I," Mick confirmed my worst fears. "And Logan will cover our backs."

I let out an incredulous laugh. "This is surely a bad joke!"

"Hey!" Logan protested against the fine criticism of his 'fighting ability' and gave me an angry look, which I studiously ignored.

"We still don't know for sure if it's true that this man isn't working for the _Legion_," I simply continued. "He could be luring you into a trap!"

"But Alejandro is the one who selected the meeting place," Logan interrupted again and this time tried to impress me with his angry look.

I paused indeed, but more because of the information he had given rather than his assorted facial expressions. "Alejandro is involved in the planning?" I wanted to know from Mick and his nod satisfied me a bit.

"And Gabriel too," he added. "We've not planned this completely headless…"

I raised a slightly skeptically eyebrow toward my best friend. "Well, then please enlighten me. I'm dying to know your plans…"

I had probably addressed the wrong person, because it was Logan who now cleared his throat next to me.

"May I?" he turned to Mick, who nodded in agreement, while I leaned back in my chair and eyed Logan.

"One of Alejandro's co-workers has a small factory on the outskirts of L.A., where he has accommodated refugees from time to time. It has a number of escape routes. In addition, the site can be watched close enough to allow time for an escape and there's a monitoring system outside that can give us an advance warning if unwanted visitors show up. Also Gabriel has called on a few more vampires to keep a look out for suspicious movement from the _Legion_ in and around L.A. and they're ready to report if they notice anything suspicious."

I nodded understandingly, even though I wasn't sure yet how Gabriel's safety net was going to work exactly. That it worked the last time had clearly been proven, otherwise the Legion's reinforcements would have quickly showed up at the clinic and we would have had no chance of escaping.

"And Talbot has agreed to go there?" I asked again.

Logan nodded affirmatively. "I contacted him via WoW and he'll be there. But only with this Davis guy."

"Did he say why?" Mick now asked, as this little detail didn't seem to please him at all.

"From what I understand, the guy is supposed to be his safe guard." Logan shrugged his shoulders slightly undecided. "Furthermore he said Davis could help him elude the group of the Legionaires that are tailing him."

Mick shook his head lightly. "I think he just wants a witness to this conversation. And maybe he really does feel protected with a policeman at his side."

"Do you consider the man trustworthy?" I asked and Mick handed the question over to Beth with a quick glance.

"Actually yes," she replied. "He's always been very thorough and conscientious but also cooperative. And we've been quite helpful to him on some of his cases. He owes us a lot, actually."

"But you can't be a hundred percent sure he doesn't belong to the enemy," I concluded from her words.

Beth hesitated significantly. "I… at least I hope this isn't the case," she said, looking at Mick now indecisively. "I think his loyalties are to Talbot most likely. I just can't imagine Carl being part of the _Legion__."_

Mick nodded thoughtfully. "I don't picture him that way either. But you never know…"

"And you still want to go there?" I asked.

Mick and Beth communicated briefly by glances only and it didn't surprise me when they both nodded almost simultaneously. I, however, could only shake my head.

"Josef, the meeting with Talbot was on our agenda anyway," Mick tried to calm me down a bit. "What's wrong with doing it now, in a situation where Talbot's help is really needed?"

"Maybe the fact that we've only just escaped the _Legion_ _by a narrow margin_," it immediately burst out of me. "And maybe because the _Legion_ is in a total uproar over it and will have their eyes and ears out everywhere! That it's simply madness to go anywhere near L.A.! That we still don't really know for sure what Talbot's reasons are for this meeting! That in the last few days you've hardly been able to get any rest and barely have the strength or nerves to endure the whole thing." I took a deep breath because the emotionally affects were more than I could tolerate. "And because I'm no longer a vampire and can't help you, Mick," I added a lot quieter and was annoyed by the fact that as a weak human I found it much harder to hide my emotions from others.

My words were followed by depressing silence for a few long seconds. My arguments were good and I could read in their faces they weren't new to them. They'd most likely had the same thoughts already and had probably struggled with these same concerns for a while now.

"The only other alternative would be to sit back and do nothing, to just wait and see what happens," Mick finally said just as softly. "And if you know the _Legion_, you know that wouldn't be a good idea."

Unfortunately he was right. The _Legion_ was known for their rapid and rigorous actions. This was probably the reason both Alejandro and Gabriel stood behind Mick's decision and supported him. The _Legion_ was counting on us crawling into a hole, hunkering down, like most vampires had done in the past when open season was declared on them. Irrational behavior was currently the best method of surprising and confounding this cowardly gang and the best way to get an upper hand on the situation. Besides, Ben Talbot had clearly hinted in our last conversation that he was interested in collaborating with us and was in no way going to cooperate with the _Legion_. And so far he had done nothing against us, he had even wore the transmitter we slipped him. He could very well be an important ally if he was really as trustworthy as we all wished him to be.

But wishes weren't facts and we could easily be disappointed. My greatest fear was that Talbot would suddenly and completely change once he finally got what he was after: Mick. It was quite possible that his willingness to cooperate would abruptly end if it all went badly. He could then try to arrest my friend later and take him someplace safe to try and squeeze the information he wanted to know out of him. On the other hand, we could learn more about his motives if we actually took the risk of meeting with him. It was the only way we were going to get to know him better and see if he was friend or foe.

The thought made my stomach contract painfully - or was that rather my persistent hunger? I drew in a deep breath through my nose. "You say this factory is safe," I addressed Logan. "How do you know for sure?"

"There are multiple exits and even an underground tunnel, which has been specially created for an escape and it leads far away from the factory," Logan explained quickly. "I'll position myself at the exit in a van. If all goes well, I'll just pick up Mick and Beth in front of the factory and if not, I'll be waiting for them at the end of the tunnel."

I nodded and indeed felt a little better with this information. That way, it would even be possible to escape from a helicopter. No one would see from above that my friends had even left the building.

"And then there are hidden cameras and motion detectors all over and around the area," Logan continued. "Alejandro gave me the codes to them and I can control everything from the van."

"And why can't Alejandro himself come with you?" I asked, even though this plan they had hurriedly developed, actually seemed surprisingly good.

"He trys," Mick said. "Gabriel said he would be arriving here soon."

"Uh… that's not a sure thing yet," Logan interjected, to my regret. "Something's come up for Alejandro. I just contacted him. He said he'll try to make it, but he's not sure whether he'll make it in time."

"That means it'll just be the three of you," I noted. "In that case I'm coming with you."

Mick stared at me for a moment a bit perplexed then shook his head. "No way!"

"You're not going there with only two other people," I contradicted him just as vigorously.

"You're a human, Josef!"

"Then just get me a gun! Logan certainly has one in the van!" I knew it sounded a little silly, but I just couldn't let my friends go to war alone.

"It's just a meeting with Talbot, damn it!" Mick flared up. "_Nobody's_ gonna need a gun!"

Well, since it's not a war but a verbal battle. Even better…

"You see…," I gave back a little calmer. "… a conversation won't be that dangerous for a human like me."

Mick let out a frustrated groan and ran a hand across his face.

"Actually, August said you should stay in bed and rest," said Beth and I noticed Simone nodding timidly beside me.

"August…," I repeated derogatory. "The man can only be trusted as far as you can throw him."

"With vampire or human strength?" Logan asked and I gave him such a lethal look, he immediately raised his hands defensively.

"Gabriel trusts him," Beth replied and made my anger grow a little more. Of course, the old vampire trusted the man - after all he didn't betray and spy on him, just me. This reminded me again that I had actually wanted to get to the bottom of this link between the two men some time. With all this stress one forgot so many important things.

"And he's a competent doctor," Mick added. "He can't replace Frank, since he lacks knowledge about the research, but he's been able to help me a lot and has always made sure I acted responsibly when it came to the limited amount of cure I have left."

That was another thing I had forgotten about, the scarcity of Mick's remedies. We absolutely had to continue our search for Frank Peterson and we could only do that once we were able to move relatively free around the States again. This meeting with Talbot was indeed inevitable.

"Well then," I said and moved my shoulders a bit to shake off some tension. "August may be a capable doctor, but he's not here at that moment so he can hardly say whether I'm fit enough for this action or not. But _I_ can and I say: I'm perfectly fine!"

That was a lie, because I was having major problems with my blood pressure, my muscles and my head still ached and on top of all that, this hunger was torturing me - but the others didn't need to know, right?

"A few hours ago you were barely able to sit upright, Josef," my friend replied with this critical eye that told me he didn't believe a word I'd said. "You're not going under any circumstances!"

"Do you think the decision is in your hands, huh?" I asked irritated and almost winced, when a warm hand slipped into mine. It had been a long time since I'd felt such a simple touch so intensely and my confused gaze wandered towards Simone.

"We're just worried about you, Josef," she said softly. "If you collapse during the action, then we'll have to call the whole thing off."

"I'm not going to break down," I replied indignantly. "I've always been a strong person." Good thing no one here knew my past as a human!

"But you've only just been turned," Simone said back and the concern in her eyes was unmistakable. "Your body needs time to process all this first."

"And I say it already has," I replied with a fake smile.

"And what if you're wrong?" Mick dared to ask now and didn't even wait for me to respond. "What if your cardiovascular system collapses? You'll not only endanger our actions but you'll then have to wait even longer for your re-transformation."

Again this nasty ace! My dear friend had absolutely no qualms about using it against me. My resistance hadn't just _crumbled _from these words, for the most part it_ collapsed_. I didn't want to be a human any longer than I had to. This state was keeping me from fighting at my friends' side. And that Mick was going to keep me out of _everything_ while I was a human, I could tell by the determined expression in his eyes. He was back in his beloved role of 'great protector' and wasn't going to doff it so quickly. But I didn't care for the counterpart - the weak, little creature looking up to him, who let himself be guided willingly - at all!

For a while there was silence at our table. They were all waiting for a response from me and they finally got it. I inhaled deeply.

"Well, all right then," I said reluctantly, looking down at the half eaten sandwich on my plate, "since this mission doesn't appear to be all that dangerous and seems pretty secure, I'll refrain from participating, this time, but only because I in fact don't really feel that comfortable in my new state. But I just want to make one thing perfectly clear…" I raised my eyes now, looking sternly at each of my friends. "I don't want _anyone_ here planning missions behind my back again nor to find out by accident that there's a new mission currently taking place. I may just be a human – but I'm not _mentally_ handicapped!"

My eyes lingered on Mick's face until he reluctantly gave me a light nod. Then I got up and took my plate, another roll and a couple of cheese slices still in a plastic coat.

"So, if you'll excuse me now, I'd rather be alone for awhile," I added, turned and walked back to my room. Acting like a prima donna wasn't very mature or adult like and certainly for Josef Kostan not any more appropriate than being a wimp, but I needed to make it clear to the others that I wasn't going to go along with their decision without _some_ kind of protest. It really sucked to be relieved from the much better role of leader and then demoted to the weakest member of the troop. Never again in my life did I ever want to be this sick weak individual and since becoming a vampire, I never expected to. The thought of having to bear this even a few days longer, to feel like I was no longer a contributing member of the battle against the Legion, was unbearable. I simply wasn't going to accept it and now that Mick and the others had left me alone, I would at least have the time and space I needed to develop a battle plan. A plan to acquire vampire blood quickly and discreetly, to transform myself, whether anyone wanted to help or not. It was time that I started to fight against the odds fate had dealt me - with all means available. They may have taken away my superhuman powers, but not my freedom.


	26. Answers

_The next chapter! 25 pages in my file! I'm really proud to have written and translated this. And I of course hope you'll like it. Thanks for your last reviews again. *Hands out cookies and chocolate* I loved to read them! More… more… *grabs greedily around* I'll be back at Sunday again and hope to hear from you until then. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna/Lilith _

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**A****nswers**

* * *

"_Anyone who asks questions must also reckon with getting answers."_

_Cameroonian saying_

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Beth had great difficulty not wincing when Mick's warm voice ripped her out of her deep thoughts and she looked into his questioning, dark blue eyes. It was no wonder she currently wasn't able to concentrate on what lay before them and had again sunken into a deep rumination - just too much had happened in the past few hours and the way it was looking, it was going to continue like that for a while. After it became clear that Alejandro wasn't going to make it to the meeting with Talbot, they had set off without him and were now sitting in the 'new' van Eddy had gained for them. They had stopped not far from the factory building and were now busy with final preparations for the meeting.

Beth nodded quickly because Mick was still waiting for her response and tried to put on as confident a face as possible, but she probably hadn't been so convincing, because Mick raised a hand to her face and skimmed his fingers gently over her cheek.

"It's going to be okay," he said firmly, trying to give her an optimistic smile in return, she immediately replied with another nod. She took his hand before he could pull it away and squeezed it briefly, letting him know that she really wanted to believe in a positive outcome. Mick's face became soft and tender and just a second later his lips were on hers, to let her feel once again how good it felt that she was here with him. All too soon the contact was over. Mick's thumb gently stroked her cheek again, then he turned to Logan, who was pretending to be utterly busy. For a few minutes he had been attempting to fine-tune his controls to the security system of the factory.

"And? Are you in now?"

Logan nodded hesitantly, his forehead building deep wrinkles with concentration. "Well, I'm now connected directly to the cameras inside the building," he said and typed a few more commands in on his keyboard. His face brightened considerably, as more images from the video cameras appeared on his laptop. "As well as to the external cameras," he beamed at Mick and Mick patted his shoulder with an approving smile.

"And do the motion detectors now work on your computer too?" Mick asked, staring at the screen, concentrating, and Beth moved a little closer to try and gain a little more confidence. She didn't know exactly why her fears concerning their action were growing. She just knew she had to fight these feelings if she was going to be of any help to Mick.

"Jupp," Logan grinned at the question and opened another file. "If there's anything going on outside that shouldn't be, it will immediately set off the alarms here. Actually, nothing can go wrong with a set up like this."

Mick nodded satisfied. "Then show us again our means of escape."

Logan's fingers flew over the keyboard and a split second later a floor plan of the factory opened up in front of their eyes. Beth noticed it was a three-dimensional rendering of the building and as Logan moved his mouse a little the floor plan changed shape, the walls and even the cellar became transparent.

"Well…," Logan began a bit pretentiously and let his mouse roam a second time. "Here… here… here and here…," different parts of the building lit up in red at his words – from what Beth could tell they looked like doors, "are regular exits. And here…," the building rotated, showing the lower level a little more clearly, and finally a door in the wall of the cellar, "…is the entrance to the secret tunnel." Logan clicked on the door, so that it opened and the picture changed again. The building's image became a bird's eye view and shrunk further away, while a red line wandered through the hinted forest and then ended at a distant point again.

"The tunnel comes out here," Logan went on with his explanation. "If someone shows up, that's a threat to you, I'll be waiting there. It wouldn't make sense to use any of the other exits, as long as you have this tunnel option. No one will notice where you are and in which direction you've left. I just have to be careful no one sees _me_."

It was a relief to hear Logan say that and Beth noticed the queasy feeling in her stomach that had emerged along with her fears, tormenting her for sometime, began to subside somewhat.

"Why don't you go there as soon as we get out of the car?" she suggested. "Just to be on the safe side, then no one will notice you later."

Logan frowned and then looked at Mick, who was nodding.

"It couldn't hurt," said Mick. "And if nothing happens, you can still pick us up in front of the building."

"Okay," Logan agreed with a shrug of his shoulders and then threw a quick glance at his watch. "You should hit the road. Talbot will probably be early."

He leaned forward a little, grabbed a bag sitting next to him and pulled it to him. Beth frowned a little confused until the vampire reached into the bag and pulled out a CD. This had to be the CD Gabriel had talked about on the phone…

"You need to give this to Talbot," Logan explained, holding it out to Mick. "He'll…"

"… give it to his uncle," Mick finished the sentence for him. "I know." He reached out his hand for it, then stopped. "Did you make a copy?"

Logan opened his eyes wide in horror, holding his breath, as if that had been the worse thing he'd ever heard in his life. "I'm not crazy!" he uttered full of respect. "I'd like to keep my head!"

"Gabriel won't kill you for that," Mick returned slightly angry lowering his hand again.

"He said it's for Talbot's and his uncle's hands _only_," Logan gave back quickly and reached out his hand further to Mick, waving the CD impatiently as if it was red hot and burning his fingers. "Now take it, will you?"

Mick leaned back a little, took a deep breath and looked sternly at his friend. "I want you to copy it!"

Logan shook his head. "Gabriel said…"

"I don't care!" Mick interrupted him immediately.

"But _I_ do!" Logan rose up. "Gabriel made himself perfectly clear in the last meeting! Everyone had better abide by his orders or they'll be a head shorter!"

"No one will know!" Mick shot back stubbornly. "It won't leave this van…"

Logan continued to shake his head. "Gabriel is no ordinary vampire, man," he added to his defending gesture. "He… he has skills the rest of us can only dream of…"

"You act like he has some kind of radar that can track us here and tell him what we're doing," Mick interrupted him sternly.

"You never know," Logan replied, and, because Mick didn't want to take it, he put the CD down next to his laptop. "_I'm_ not doing it!"

Mick inhaled deeply again, his arms crossed over his chest and critically eyed Logan up. "Aren't you just a little curious?"

The young vampire shook his head much too vigorously to come across as an honest answer. But Beth understood. Even though she felt the same curiosity Mick did, she really didn't like the idea of going against Gabriel's instructions. Of course it bothered her too that the old vampire apparently followed his own plans for the Legion and seemed to be keeping a few secrets he wasn't ready to share with them, but she had seen first hand how strict he could be against his own family, and the consequences if you didn't do what was expected of you. Maybe it really would be better to speak with him directly, to ask him the questions that were bothering them and not just go behind his back and ignore his instructions. But Mick seemed to see it differently.

"Well," he said in a tone that promised nothing good, "then _I_'ll do it! Move over!" He nodded towards Logan with such a grim facial expression, that the young vampire left his place without further discussion so Mick could settle in front of the Laptop.

"Are you… are you really sure you want to do this?" Beth asked cautiously and stepped closer to him.

Mick opened the CD drive, put the CD in and closed it again. Only then did he look at her. "Gabriel's been doing a whole lot of things without consulting us. Every time something happens and our world starts to fall apart, there he stands all cool and collected - and I'm sure it's not just because of his vast life experience and self-control. He knows a lot more than _we_ do and is therefore better prepared for all eventualities. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes with this whole Legion-vampire-story than he's letting on and it's having a huge effect on all the events going on around us. And I'm tired of trotting around behind him like some silly sheep, doing just what he tells me to do. This is about_ our_ lives Beth, about _our_ fate and I won't put it blindly into the hands of a man who keeps his cards so close to his chest!"

Beth didn't quite know how to respond because she found every word Mick had spoken was right, but she also knew she couldn't tell him that. It wouldn't be good for him to start thinking he couldn't trust Gabriel anymore. And rather than declare war on the old vampire, it would be better for him to just go to him directly and tell him what was bothering him.

The CD drive gave a faint hum and Mick turned away from her to try and retrieve the information from the disk. But it didn't appear as if it were going to be that easy, because all at once a blinking cursor appeared on the monitor.

To Beth's surprise, Logan stepped closer. "I expected that… It's encoded. You're going to need a password to decipher it."

"Do I still need one if I just want to save the content?" Mick asked impatiently.

Logan took a deep breath and blew it out noisily. "No…," he replied, now leaning forward over the keyboard and mouse, he typed in a few commands. Beth saw a small, satisfied smile flit over Mick's lips that Logan hadn't noticed, and had to smirk slightly herself. Nice to see she wasn't the only one who couldn't resist Mick in certain situations.

"Okay," Logan said after a few seconds and withdrew from the computer with his hands held up in the air as if he was afraid the device could explode any second. "Now all you have to do is click 'okay' and the contents of the CD will be stored on my laptop. Oh and just for the record: I had nothing to do with this!"

"Of course not," Mick replied without looking at him and did what Logan had told him. The device immediately began to transfer and Mick got up.

"Now all I need is for someone to crack the code for me later," he said off-handedly, and raised an eyebrow provocatively in Logan's direction.

"Well it's certainly not going to be _me_!" he replied with his hands up defensively and Mick only nodded.

"Of course not," he said with a straight-face. "That never crossed my mind."

The soft beep of the PC revealed the copying was complete and Mick took the CD out swiftly and put it safely back in its case then slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket and turned to Beth.

"Shall we?" he asked with a gentle smile and her heart made a small jump. How quickly one could forget what lay ahead - and suddenly everything came rushing back again: the doubts, the fear, and the slight nausea… Nevertheless, she nodded bravely, took one large step to the rear door of the van and opened it. Immediately, glistening bright sunlight poured into the dark interior and with its brightness, a little more confidence was brought inside.

"You're to radio us, once you've arrived at the tunnel's exit, okay?" she heard Mick ask, as she had already set one foot on the dusty road on which the van stood. Logan had apparently responded to Mick nonverbally, for she hadn't heard him despite her currently well-functioning hearing and Mick stepped into the sunlight next to her. Like hers, his gaze roamed over the landscape around them. It was a relatively green and well-vegetated area in which they found themselves, with meadows and fields to their right and a small forest on the left. The gray elongated roof of a building peered out between the treetops in the distance - the factory building, if she wasn't mistaken. Their meeting place… Their destiny…

Her eyes went up to Mick's face, who now looked back at her and gave her an encouraging nod in the direction of the building. She didn't need any further encouragement. It felt good to convert this tension into motion.

Covering the distance to the factory didn't take long and it didn't bother her that Mick was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to start a conversation with her. She was not in the mood to put her thoughts to words - quite apart from the fact she really couldn't afford some of them. This was simply not the best time to bring up certain things. Even though Mick had tried, during their common journey to the meeting place, not to show how much the upcoming conversation with Talbot was bothering him and made him nervous, she knew him too well, knew the telltale signs of his face and body, could read in his expressive eyes the feelings that were putting such a strain on him. There was fear, uncertainty and especially great concern. He knew just as well as she or even Josef, how risky it was to meet in such a hurry with Talbot, barely secured or prepared. And he knew his own nerves were not especially stable by the events of the previous action and that it could happen again too easily, that the vampire in him could take control in a stressful situation. Only this was probably the reason he had allowed her to come along. She was his lifeline, when he himself was no longer able to pull the emergency brake, because next to Gabriel, she was the only other person who had any control over the still not so civilized vampire inside him.

But of course, on the other hand, her presence caused even more stress for Mick, because he couldn't switch off his protective instincts towards her and it only increased his worries three fold over her safety than if he had just come here alone. Beth wanted to reassure him, to calm him, and show him as much confidence as possible, but she couldn't. She too was feeling the stresses of the last few days and not really herself anymore, felt weak, and vulnerable and her nerves were very fragile. There was just so much currently going for which she wasn't prepared, so much of it was unclear, making her nervous, and if that wasn't bad enough, she also felt so exhausted and physically drained like she hadn't felt for some time and all she could dream about was climbing into a soft bed with Mick, and snuggling up against his warm, strong body and just sleeping – at best for several days. That she couldn't, made her sad, ill-tempered and nervous…

Previously it had always helped to think about something nice as a distraction, but that wasn't helping at the moment because any thoughts that occurred to her now were somehow connected to her problems and the strong desire to finally solve them, to roll some of the burden from her shoulders. Actually, Gabriel's call was specifically to blame for this, not just because of what he had said, but because she had actually_ heard_ it. Mick had to have been a good 6 feet away from her and she had understood every single word the ancient vampire had spoken. She hadn't even needed to strain to do it. And this strange behavior of the old vampire… his demand for Mick to leave the room so she wouldn't be able to hear them… Of course this had only made her sit up and take notice, it also had made her extremely nervous.

She had not stayed in bed, but had tip toed up to the door and listened, had brought her hearing to a new heightened capacity. She hadn't been able to hear Gabriel anymore, and only parts of what Mick was saying. But _what_ she had heard, she hadn't liked. It had been this exact conversation, this moment in which she had become aware for the first time that she had in fact changed, that she suddenly had skills she had not previously possessed - and that these skills were not subsiding slowly, but in fact were steadily growing stronger. Even though her physically constitution wasn't the best at the moment - her senses had never functioned this well in her life before. It had only been a few months ago that she thought she might be getting near-sighted - now it was the total opposite. She saw things that were very far away razor sharp and also found her way around in the dark surprisingly well. Her nose perceived odors even in the subtlest of nuances and her hearing picked up things a normal person wouldn't have been able to register at all. And then there were these hot and cold flashes, the light circulatory disorders that came over her from time to time, especially during her resting periods. None of this was normal!

Mick had talked with Gabriel about the incident with Hendrik and she had felt weak at her knees. So far, everyone had acted as if her contact with the vampire's blood hadn't been that bad and that nothing was going to happen. As it looked right now, this wasn't quite true.

At some point in the conversation, Mick had spoken so low it had become too hard for her to make it all out. But she was sure she had heard the words 'blood-type' and 'transformation' several times and then he had asked for a list and that had completely confused her.

Of course the things Beth had learned from the conversation were so vague and allowed for all sorts of conclusions which could all turn out to be wrong, but there was one thing that frightened her the most: the thought of still turning into a vampire from Hendrik's blood. Didn't everything point to it? Wasn't it the extremely well-functioning senses that distinguished a vampire? What if she was feeling so physically bad because she was turning, because her human metabolism was adjusting itself slowly to that of a vampire? Mick had told her that such a thing had never happened before and Peterson had also said that people, especially with_ her_ blood type, turned particularly fast into vampires - which of course would have excluded her from being infected by these vampire hormones through Hendrik. But what if they were wrong? What if she was the only one in their history who transformed so slowly. There have always been miracles in the world - only in this case she really didn't want to be such a miracle…

"Yeah…" Mick's voice ripped her out of her fearful thoughts and when she looked up at him again, she noticed that he was not talking to her, but with Logan, as he pressed the receiver deeper into his ear to understand him better.

Beth fumbled hastily to pull her own device from her pocket, which she had previously stuffed in there and forced herself not to focus on the conversation between Mick and Logan, to not be made aware again that her hearing was working extraordinary well. She pressed the button into her ear so impatiently it almost hurt, and then inhaled, relieved when she heard Logan's voice clearly in her own ear.

"… already pretty close," he had just finished his sentence and Beth, only now, ventured to look back at Mick again. His eyebrows had contracted a little and the look he gave her told her he had noticed her strange behavior and didn't know exactly what to make of it.

"And they seem to be driving at a terrific speed," Logan went on. "Our transmitter indicates they're moving pretty quickly towards us. So you'd better get going…"

Mick nodded slightly and looked again at the building they had stopped in front of. Beth immediately did the same. The factory didn't really look like one. It was simply too small and in really bad shape. Gray, bare concrete walls, steel doors, and some large windows high up on the walls, some of which were no longer intact. They stood in front of a door that seemed to be made of heavy steel and Beth, frowning, stated that it had neither a doorknob nor lock.

"Um… Logan?" she heard Mick say and deduced from his tone and the deepening furrow between his brows, that he must have spotted the same problem. "Exactly how are we supposed to get in?"

"Oh, I see," the young vampire replied. "Wait…"

It wasn't even a full second before a click and then a loud rumbling was heard. And the miracle happened…

"Open Sesame!" Beth heard Logan say in a deep voice, and the door pushed open by itself with a metallic screech and a very unpleasant grinding noise. "I just _love_ technology!" he added enthusiastically.

Mick didn't want to lose any more time. Without further hesitation, he entered the much less gloomy looking interior of the building. Beth's pulse quickened as she followed him, even though she knew there was no threat of danger there yet. But with each passing minute she became more aware that Ben and Carl would soon be there and that there would be no escaping this conflicting conversation.

The interior of the building consisted of a huge room that held large machines, forklifts, conveyor belts and several rows of work tables and judging by the cans that were packed in a few of the cardboard boxes, this was where corn was processed and canned. That probably explained all the corn fields in the vicinity. You could tell it had been some time ago that anyone had worked here, because all around them a thick layer of dust had settled and in the corners large spider webs hung - inhabited spider webs as Beth noticed on closer inspection with disgust. Spiders were not creatures she was particularly fond of.

"Where do we need to go now?" Beth heard Mick ask while she continued to look around. To her left was something that looked like a buildingwithin a building - a slightly larger shed-like room, probably an office.

"On your left there should be an office," was Logan's reply already and Beth immediately walked towards it, opened the door and was pleasantly surprised when she found that the room didn't look nearly as bad as she had first expected: Only a few spider webs and a lot less mess! In the right hand corner of the room was an desk with a swivel chair, behind which a couple of filing cabinets stood, and on the left was another larger table with four chairs - just enough for their round of talks.

She felt Mick step into the room behind her and walked to the table, relieved she wouldn't have to stand while leading this exciting conversation. Her legs were already quite wobbly. Through the window on this side of the room one could observe the entrance to the building and Beth noticed that Logan had left the door they had entered earlier open, probably to give Ben a reference to where he and Carl could find them. Also, right behind her there was another door that Mick briefly opened and closed again probably checking to and see if the escape route was blocked or not. He gave a satisfied impression when he looked at her and gave her another confident, lop-sided smile that she had no problem returning this time. So far it all looked pretty good – now all they had to do was hope they hadn't been wrong about Ben Talbot and that he would show up as promised, without police or even their enemies. Normally she could depend on her instincts for human nature, but at least one time or another in her life she had still been wrong.

"Well, if I'm right, then this should be Talbot driving up in front of the building now," said Logan, and Beth's heart took a leap when she indeed heard the noises of an engine and the crunching of gravel under tires. She wasn't the only one. Mick, who was standing next to her, concentrated his gaze on the entrance to the building from the window as well, and visibly tensed up and Beth noticed a scarcely perceptible tremor run through his body, as the clapping of car doors was now heard.

Only a few seconds later the first figure appeared hesitantly in the doorway: tall, handsome, and dressed in an expensive gray suit, a briefcase in his hand, looking around suspiciously. He looked a little out of place in this dirty, old factory and Beth's heart pounded much faster now against her ribs. It almost seemed as if an eternity had passed since she had last seen him although it had only been at the most a week ago. Only they hadn't been able to talk freely back then, neither had had the opportunity to ask the tough questions they wanted too, nor give evasive answers. It must not have set well with Ben because he now gave a much grimmer, more determined impression than at their last meeting. An impression that worried her a bit.

Behind Ben came Carl Davis now walking through the door with a suspicious frown and a tension that was already visible from this distance. Although Beth didn't know how the lieutenant was involved in the whole story, it somehow did her good to see him. It felt as if he brought a little bit of home with him. There were the familiar features, the well-known gestures and facial expressions… but also this determined and focused look, that had previously always told Beth he was investigating a serious matter and that it was going to be difficult for her to get the information she wanted from him. The 'serious matter' this time was her and Mick and as for the information… well, at least she could hope it was going to be different this time. After all, they were both, in a way, informants.

"Looks like they're alone," said Logan, and a wave of relief swept over Beth's body. This was definitely a good start.

Ben's eyes had now stopped at the office, or rather the large window through which she and Mick were more than likely visible to him. He moved again, headed straight towards them with rapid steps, followed closely by Carl.

"Well, here goes," Mick muttered and immediately turned to the door, bracing himself for anything. "Let's get this poker game started…"

Beth took, almost simultaneously with him, a deep breath and just seconds later Ben entered the room. He stopped for a moment, letting his gaze first roam to her and then far more conspicuously over to Mick. Then he shook his head and a strange smile appeared on his lips. Carl however, gave an almost shocked impression when he entered the room and discovered Mick standing there. One could clearly see he had not really expected to see him there.

"St. John…" Ben muttered softly, still smiling and shaking his head again. "If truth be told, I hadn't really expected you to show up." Once again, his gaze slid over Mick's figure, who had probably decided to just keep quiet in the beginning and wait to see what the two new arrivals would say or even do. Beth decided to do the same, although she didn't really care for the 'keeping quiet' part all that much.

Ben stepped closer, while letting his gaze roam critically over the interior of the office and his lips twisted into a disapproving Davis, however, stood still, stared at Mick perplexed and then uttered a faint "How is this possible?".

"Yes, how _is_ that possible?" Ben immediately took his question and let his gaze wander from Mick to Beth. "Nice to see you too, Beth - although I must say I had definitely _expected_ to see youhere, whether it was to tell me I'd have to wait a little longer for my talk with Mick or to just lend him your helpful support. But I guess I don't need to tell you how glad I am that it was for your support, do I? "

"No, you don't," Beth freed herself from her silence and tried for a somewhat friendly smile. "And you know, Ben: I'm a firm believer in, one-hand-washes-the-other practice…"

Talbot uttered a little, not really convincing laugh. "That's what I thought. But a little information upfront about the miraculous healing of Mick St. John wouldn't be bad to – lets say - _relax_ the whole atmosphere between us a bit."

"Dr. Milford at the University Hospital told me you'd been injured so badly that you probably wouldn't have survive this… this kidnapping," Carl addressed his question with continuing dismay directly to Mick. "And that's only been ten weeks ago…" He shook his head like Ben before and finally dared to step closer, examining Mick closely. "How… how can you look like this, move so easily?"

"This is indeed a very good question," Ben added, lifting his eyebrows encouragingly.

"Maybe we should sit down first," suggested Mick and pulled out one of the chairs, pointing encouragingly at the seat.

Ben hesitated for a moment, then came over and sat down and nodded to Carl. The lieutenant could only bring himself to do the same after Beth and Mick had settled at the table, thus showing them they were willing to give answers - maybe not to all their questions, but to at least some.

Ben inhaled to say something, but Carl was faster. "Do you realize you're wanted by the police, Beth? Not only from this story yesterday, but since you and your friend abducted Mick from the hospital. You and this Josef Kostan are accused of kidnapping and negligent homicide. You owe it to Ben for sweeping this matter under the rug…"

Beth nodded and felt obliged to shake her head at the same time. "We _saved_ Mick and hadn't jeopardized him and…" She paused, trying to concentrate better. "What do you mean by, the story from yesterday?"

"They're saying you robbed several gas stations and shot a man," Carl explained and deep concern was shown in his brown eyes, while Beth's eyes grew wider and horror took control of her vocal cords.

Mick on the other hand let out a noise that resembled a laugh but voiced much more clearly his own disbelief. "Gas stations?" he repeated.

"Exactly," Talbot said now, leaning back a little in his chair, eyeing him up again. "This naturally caused photos of you to be sent to all the gas stations in and around LA…"

"… so we'll now have no chance of refueling our car undetected," Mick finished his sentence, while Beth became hot and cold at the same time. "Very clever."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Carl probed immediately. "Who's clever?"

"The people following us," it burst out of Beth immediately. "Who else? Or did you really think that we had something to do with that, Carl?"

Her old friend looked thoughtful for a long moment, then shook his head. "Not really. I just got this report and…" He glanced at Ben and the ADA allowed him with a curt nod to continue. "Ben and I… we… we've been working on this case together for quite a while now and so I thought almost immediately that this report was a trick. And so far no one on my team has been able to find the gas stations that were supposed to have been robbed, or the dead person connected with the alleged shooting."

"So why are they still searching for us?" Beth wanted to know and couldn't prevent a little outrage from resonating in her tone.

"Because it's not that easy to stop an ongoing investigation of such importance," Ben replied this time to her question. "It takes time - quite apart from the fact that it prompted this meeting so we could finally have this long overdue conversation and it's showed us that Mick's alive and well."

He smiled provocatively and Mick returned his smile in the same insincere way.

"You said you've been working on this case together for a while," Beth stuck stubbornly to the matter and turned her attention consciously to Carl, because she felt she might get more out of him. "What did you mean? For Mick's abduction?"

"Among other things," Carl replied evasively, and again a glance towards Ben followed his words.

The lawyer looked at Beth now. His smile had disappeared and for the first time since being here, she noticed he wasn't really giving the impression he had relaxed yet. There were even dark shadows under his eyes, which proved he hadn't gotten much sleep lately, and a hint of concern in his gaze that penetrated his cool masquerade.

"We've already talked about that, Beth," he replied a bit languidly.

"Not in detail," she replied. "This was more of… a struggle than a real exchange of information…"

Ben's beautifully curved eyebrows rose and Beth knew she'd gone too far out on a limb. But there was no turning back now.

"So you want to be more open, more honest?" He didn't even wait for her answer. "I like that. That's the same _I_ want. What about you?" He cast a questioning glance at Carl, who nodded immediately.

"I think a little more openness wouldn't hurt anyone."

"All right then," Beth now agreed also. "Please… don't hesitate to set a good example and kindly answer my question. Your case - is it about… Mick?"

"Let's put it this way," said Ben slowly, "it all _started_ with Mick. The direction this whole thing would take neither Carl nor I could have realized at that time. I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories - I think most arise from the fantasies of mentally ill people – but from what we've seen in recent months and found out…" He didn't continue, because he probably felt he would blurt out his own worries and concerns. Instead, he took a deep breath and tried again to sort his thoughts. "There is in reality an organization that's hunting for you - for whatever reason – and is using all imaginable resources to find you. And they're powerful, more powerful than I had previously thought. At least I know they've got influential allies throughout our state's legal system. I came to this conclusion after our little chat via the Internet and unfortunately it's been confirmed. What has also become gradually clear, is the fact that this group of Josef Kostan's has seemingly unleashed the emergence of this… Legion so it's not as if your friends are just poor innocent victims. And if I'm not mistaken, this Josef also has quite a lot of influence and doesn't seem to be one to shy away from any unfair practices when it comes to winning this power struggle with the Legion…" Ben's eyes rested now on Mick's face.

"Then you've probably been misinformed," Mick returned composed and Beth couldn't help but secretly admired him for it because she herself was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable. Not only because Ben's tone was so cutting and reproachful, but also because she couldn't escape the strong suspicion that the moment of truth had now arrived. Whatever agreements he had had with Josef beforehand - she was sure they would get nowhere with Talbot as long as they continued not to give him the answers he wanted, and if they were unable to convince him they were the 'good guys', that they needed to work together to fight the Legion.

"Really?" asked the lawyer, and raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Then I guess they're just a bunch of good ol' boys hanging around who just want to help you fight this evil organization that… What was it you say they did to you again?"

"I didn't say," Mick replied calmly, although Beth could clearly feel that Talbot's last comment had provided for the noticeable tension in his body. "The Legion has been around a lot_ longer_ than the group that has gathered around Josef and I. _They_ are threatening _us_, not vice versa. This is about self-defense in a situation in which our so called highly regarded state's legal system can apparently do nothing about."

This time it was Ben, whose eyes glimmered angrily. Mick had hit a raw nerve and caused the lawyer's cool facade to begin to crumble. "Up to now, I hadn't really got the impression that you were looking for help from the state authorities to try and solve your problem through legal means," he replied sharply.

"Maybe that's because we already _know_ it wouldn't work," Mick countered immediately.

"From experience?" Talbot probed keen-eared. "Does this mean there have been difficulties between the Legion and your 'little resistance group' once before?" The way Ben had stressed the three words alone, told Beth that he knew full well their counter-organization wasn't nearly as small as Mick lead them to believe.

"Maybe," Mick replied evasively, but added nothing else.

Ben looked at him for a moment in silence and now Carl bent forward a bit. These two had slowly turned out to be a pretty good team.

"What I don't quite understand is what these people want from you, Mick," he said very much softer and more empathetically than Talbot. "This is all … such madness. You're abducted, reappear seriously injured and disappear again… now you sit here like you've never suffered any injuries. The doctor at the clinic said you had blood values he'd never seen before, and Ben told me that your kidnappers had done experiments on you. So what the hell is going on here?"

"What have the people of the Legion told you?" Mick asked back and Beth could tell by looking at Carl that Mick's words had hit the mark perfectly. He didn't wince, but there was such a flickering in his gaze and he backed away a bit.

"Ben told me that they contacted him," Beth now stepped in again. "And if you really worked with him as closely as you claim, then you'd know this."

Carl remained silent for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Have you seen the list?" Beth probed. Again, a nod was the answer. "Then why are we beating around the bush here? You've seen the names and know how many people are being threatened by the hit squads of that organization. All we want is for this to end!"

"Well, I don't think Julius Caesar or the Marquis de Sade are currently on the run from these people," Ben opposed with a small, snide smile. "The simple fact of the matter is: This list is as weird as all the other things going on around you and before I can continue to work with you, I have to know exactly what's behind all this. I need to know what makes you and indeed the other _existing_ people on this list so interesting, so special to the Legion, Mick! And I need details, like Beth, so eloquently stated earlier."

Mick crossed his arms in a quite defensive gesture over his chest and raised his eyebrows. "And I'll also ask _you_ once again: What did the people of the Legion say to you about this?"

Ben paused again, eyed, with a hint of anger, Mick's motionless face. "If I remember correctly, I already told you in our last conversation. But I'll repeat it again. I had some very strange phone calls and a direct conversation with one of their delegates. The things they told me were very… strange - and I thought, up until now, that these people weren't quite mentally healthy, but they hadn't just given me empty words, but provided solid evidence - of things that couldn't possibly have happened and things that can't actually exist…"

"Such as?" Mick probed.

Ben just looked at him for a few heartbeats. He started to open his mouth but closed it again, and there was a look in his eyes that betrayed how much he struggled with himself to keep from blurting out what preoccupied him. He was simply too rational a person to really accept such superstitions and myths and then to voice that out loud in front of others.

"Demons," it slipped from Carl's lips from where he sat and he too shook his head as if he couldn't believe he had just said that. "To be specific… vampires."

There it was, the word Beth had known would slip out eventually, and knew it would make the whole situation even more difficult.

"Vampires," Mick repeated and the little smirk crossed his lips really masterfully, causing Carl and Ben to began to grin and finally they all broke out in a joint, much too cramped laughter, of which everyone knew was only put on.

Ben was the first to get serious again, leaned forward and looked directly at Mick. "Of course we don't believe in these mythical creatures," he said quietly. "But after all the mysterious things that have been going on around you and your friends, we sat down and went back and forth trying to come up with a rational explanation for why certain people would have these special characteristics, and the easiest method to clear all this up. At some point we realized, that maybe we didn't need to, that things _are_ perhaps just what they appear to be."

"What… what's that supposed to mean?" Beth now probed with a wildly pounding heart.

"I mean that history has shown us time and again that such legends, the emergence of such specters are usually based on a grain of truth. In the Middle Ages and unfortunately even later, Epileptics had been considered possessed by demons. Women who were experienced in natural medicine have been burned as witches and because some dead bodies moved from natural processes in the body, the first stories about zombies emerged. What I'm looking for is that grain of truth in the things I was told, because that's what's probably to blame for your abduction and the experiments they've done on you, Mick."

"And we should help you in this," Mick added for the lawyer.

"If you want _me_ to help and support you in your struggle against the Legion, you should."

Mick said nothing, but just looked at Ben. His cheek muscles twitched slightly, because he knew just as well as Beth, that they were now entering dangerous territory. It wasn't to their advantage that the Legion had already been so open with Ben, because it forced them to have to be even more honest with him, to tell him more than what was perhaps healthy for them. But if they really wanted to have the ADA on their side, all they would need to do now wasovercome this balancing act between truth and self-protection, and hope they didn't lose their balance.

"Let's just stick to my approach from our talk via internet," Ben simply started and nodded to Beth requesting.

She took a deep, slightly tremulous breath. "The theory on the genetics of… of specific people?"

He nodded and seemed to slip instantly into a friendlier mood. "Let's say, nature in its infinite variety has created humans who are a little _different_ from others," he continued, looking closely at Mick, who had put on a fairly impassive face. "People who've inherited a few rare traits like…" He glanced at the ceiling and then shrugged his shoulders. "… like an enormously rapid ability to heal. I mean, nature has already come up with other miracles, so this wouldn't be so far fetched, would it?"

"No," Mick replied, now with a fake smile. "And you're speaking purely hypothetical of course…"

"Of course," Ben smiled back as false. "So hypothetically speaking, bones would grow together rapidly, wounds would close within minutes and so on. Something like that for example would make it possible for a man to - lets say - be hit by a car and then be able to get up and walk away as if nothing happened."

Mick moved weighing his head from side to side and then shrugged his shoulders as if he wasn't aware that Talbot was hinting about the photos taken by Dean Foster. "Maybe," he added.

"Such a person would generally also need a fairly stable body," said Carl and both Ben and Mick nodded approvingly, while Beth was too tense to even show any reaction. This was worse than the shower scene from 'Psycho'. She could almost hear that terrible music…

"Something like that would surely cause quite a stir among other people and would raise some very strange rumors," Ben went on now. "Because people back then didn't understand yet, that the slightest change in human genetics could cause the strangest things…"

Mick looked at his opponent, frowning. "Then this would mean such a person wouldn't really be vampire?"

"… but just a person with unusual genetics," Ben just finished his sentence at his own discretion and seemed to feel with this term much more comfortable than using the word 'vampire'.

"… and a person wrongfully placed in the category of a demon," Carl also did his part to keep their conversation to a more comfortable, more objective level.

"It would also explain the research interests of the people of the Legion," it slipped softly from Beth's lips and she could hardly believe it herself, that she still had enough nerves to re-engage in the conversation.

"Especially since there could perhaps be even a few more peculiarities with these genetically modified people," Ben immediately got into this, his gaze still glued to Mick.

"Such as?"

"Maybe… they don't age. I mean, with such fast healing bodies that could be quite possible, right?"

Mick thought for a moment and then nodded. "Absolutely… yeah."

"That could mean, a person for example born during the Roaring Twenties would today be almost ninety, but might still look like they were in their thirties - speaking purely hypothetically of course." Ben's stilted smile belied his own words and Beth could almost physically feel how hard it was for him to proceed so politely and discreetly. But he pulled himself together, because for some reason he really didn't want to annoy either Mick or her.

"Why so timid?" Mick replied almost exuberantly. "Why not someone born at the time of the Crusades. If aging can be stopped, at least age in years will have no relevance. Concerning the _outward_ appearance of a human being anyway."

"An unbelievable imagination," Ben added this time with a really appreciative nod.

"What about the speed?" Carl asked, clearly curious now. "Could such a person move faster than a normal person?"

"Maybe," was Mick's short reply.

"Would they also be physically stronger?"

"Probably," Mick admitted also this time and Beth wondered if it was indeed good to speak so openly about the abilities of vampires. She herself already felt a little sick, and her heart had taken up a remarkable pace, for it was clear that Ben and Carl had just made friends with the idea that vampires actually existed - even if they were using a different term for it now.

"A perfect form of existence," added Ben. "Or are there any drawbacks? I mean, where does the rumor concerning this… this dietary change come from?"

Oh, what a clever description for a vampire's addiction to human blood.

"Every life form has disadvantages, Ben," Mick responded calmly. "And this 'dietary change' could of course be one of them."

"We are talking about blood, aren't we?" the young lawyer asked and in his eyes sparkled a large portion of disgust and anger. "I mean, that's the main point in the myths concerning vampire. If someone really had to have it, they would have to attack people, perhaps even kill them…"

"If this someone was a wild animal - probably, but then the headlines would be full of such stories, Ben. Today there're easier ways to obtain blood…"

"The blood bank, perhaps," suggested Carl and Ben gave him an annoyed look. He didn't seem to care for the idea that his friend was trying to portray vampires as civilized beings.

"Or maybe there are even people who voluntarily donate their blood," Mick added and Ben let out an incredulous laugh.

"Honestly! Why would anyone do that?"

"Maybe it's not as unpleasant as you think," Beth joined in anew and regretted it the very next moment, because both Ben and Carl gave her a puzzled look. Of course, they could only conclude from her remark, that she herself loved to be bitten by vampires. How embarrassing!

"Speaking purely hypothetically, of course," she added much too hastily.

Ben looked at her broodingly for a heartbeat then turned back to Mick.

"So you're trying to tell me that va… these genetically special people are in fact civilized, innocent people who get along in our society without any problems and fit in with our legal system?"

"Well, I think you'll find criminals everywhere, but in this group of 'genetically special people' there might also be certain people who serve justice and would punish those trying to escape the laws of this society because of their superiority."

Ben nodded understandingly. "People like you?"

Mick furled his eyebrows slightly and tilted his head. "Somehow I can't help the feeling we've just left the realm of hypothetical thinking…"

"Well," Ben raised his shoulders slightly, "that may be because I'm more the type that likes to deal in fact. And to cut to the chase now: Did these scientists of the Legion conduct experiments on you because you're… different from normal people?"

Beth's eyes rested on Mick's face as her heart upped its speed once again. She could tell by looking at him that he was weighing what next to say to Talbot, while simultaneously struggling against his own reluctance to say _anything_ about his time in the lab.

"Yes," he said finally, and now Beth's heart also gave a small leap. Her eyes flew over to Ben, whose mind seemed to be working as feverishly as Mick's.

"What is it they're wanting exactly?" he asked the next dicey question.

"Invincibility," Mick responded monosyllabically. But the word was well chosen. It fanned Talbot's fears about the Legion, Beth could tell just by looking at him, even though he tried to hide it. He glanced at his intertwined fingers, which rested on the table in front of him and then inhaled audibly through his nose.

"That means they want your special abilities for themselves, to create a new superior form of existence?" he asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

Mick nodded. "That's their goal at least."

"And how close have they come to reaching it?"

"Not as close as they would've liked." Mick leaned towards him a bit now. "Currently there's no way to transfer these special abilities to a normal human, without inflicting significant damage."

"But they believe they'll succeed one day," Ben concluded and looked at Mick inquiringly. "And they probably think you're the key to all this, right?"

Mick hesitated considerably, but then nodded again and Beth knew what Ben was going to now ask even before he took a breath.

"Why? What makes you so different from all these other special people?"

"I can't tell you," was the dismissive response.

Now Ben leaned forward to him, looked him straight in the eye. "You _can't_ tell me or you _won't_ tell me?"

"I can't, and it would take too long to explain what I _do_ know," Mick stated evasively. "But I know someone who can and will if I ask him to."

Ben's eyebrows were moving toward each other now. "You're talking about this professor… Dr. Peterson, aren't you?"

Mick nodded slightly.

"And where is he?" Ben asked, briefly looking around the room. "You'd need to bring him here immediately, because I want answers today,_ now_, in the next ten minutes!" The harshness in his tone had increased markedly and with his last words, he even tapped his index finger on the table to emphasize them.

"The Legion has him," Mick said with emphasis. "And if we don't find him soon, he may not be able to do _anything_ for us ever again."

"Is this the moment where I'm supposed to keenly offer my help?" Talbot asked sarcastically, leaning back. "Do you really think I'd let myself be lured into this so easily?"

"That's not what's going on here!" it burst out of Beth now. "We never baited anyone! You want facts? Well here are your facts! The Fact is the Legion hunts and kills people while successfully bypassing our legal system. The Fact is they're trying to create new super-humans by experimenting with numerous, innocent people and we can all imagine what their purpose for doing this is! The Fact is they've done things to Mick that's unimaginable and have made it so he's dependent on specialized medical care for a very long time, care he can only get from Frank Peterson. The Fact is Frank is the only person who really knows all the details about these medical things, but right now he's in the hands of the Legion. And the Fact is that you, Ben Talbot, have always claimed to serve the law and justice – how can you even sit there and hesitate in helping us?"

Beth took a deep breath, because she had forgotten to breathe in her turmoil, but still kept up the intense eye contact with Ben. The young lawyer was speechless for a moment, just like Carl, who was staring at her even with his mouth open. But she wasn't currently interested in the lieutenant. It was Ben who had to be convinced, for he alone had the power and resources to help them with their difficult situation. She could see in his dark eyes how emotion and reason were battling against each other, could see what turmoil her words had triggered in the otherwise cool and composed lawyer and she knew this was a good sign, knew they still had a chance of winning him over.

Ben visibly clenched his teeth, his jaw muscles twitched, then he looked away from her and bent down. A snap noise told her he had opened his briefcase and after only a few seconds he straightened up and placed a relatively thick file in front of him on the table.

"Why do I hesitate?" he repeated her question and opened the folder, pulling out photos, one after the other of five men and women and spread them out on the table in front of them. "Because of these people…"

Beth's eyes flew over the different faces. Most of them she didn't recognize - but one she had already seen a few times, in newspapers or magazines. She automatically reached out for his photo, moved it closer to her. An older, sturdy man with short white hair, half-bald head and glasses…

"That's right Beth, Senator Miller," said Ben and Beth raised her eyes, wrinkling her forehead while looking at him. "And this…" He pushed the image of another man over to her, and suddenly she felt she had seen this man somewhere before was a little younger and slimmer than the senator, but wore a similar suit and had the same pompous look on his face. "…is Harald Jefferson."

Ben gave her and Mick a moment to process the information, but she wasn't sure what he was getting at. She knew the names from their last conversation, knew these two men had something to do with the research on vampires and that they were now on the run from both sides, the vampires_ and_ the Legion, but she still found it hard to understand exactly what Ben wanted from her.

"Do you know what all these people have in common?" Talbot asked finally and his eyes went to Mick, between whose eyebrows, this all too familiar, thoughtful and critical folds had developed.

"Their names and information were on the stick we gave to you," Mick returned immediately, but the slight tension resonating in his voice told Beth, he knew there was more to it.

"That's right," Talbot replied coolly and seemingly had his emotions completely back under control again. He leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers. "But there's something else," he added and his searching glance remained on Mick's face.

A dark idea surfaced in Beth, pressed against her will to the forefront of her mind and made her pulse quicken again. But she couldn't bring herself to voice this thought.

Mick did it for her. "They're all dead," he said, and she knew he was right.

"Exactly," Ben responded softly and his gaze was no longer just scrutinizing but rather piercing. "And I wonder why…"

"Does this mean… they've been murdered?" Beth finally found her tongue and fought bravely against the nausea that attacked her again. The Legion was thorough and even more ruthless than she had thought. Jefferson and Miller had been so important to this organization before…

"Not officially," Carl now also joined the conversation again. "Jefferson had a tragic car accident when he re-emerged from obscurity and Senator Miller has succumbed to a heart attack. And that's the way it goes on and on…"

Ben tapped his finger on a woman in her early fifties. "Suicide." His finger wandered to a man in his forties. "Climbing accident on a steep slope." Another woman in her forties. "This is interesting. Fell from the roof of a parking garage. Apparently leaned over the railing too far, while enjoying the beautiful view…"

Beth looked at the photos shaking her head and felt, in addition to all the other unpleasant feelings, something like pity welling up in her, even though she knew that Mick owed it to them that he had suffered so in the last year. They must have had families who now mourned and missed them and were also suffering too.

"And you think _we_ did this?" she heard Mick ask and her head shot up again. Full of disbelief as she watched Ben hesitate before answering.

"You're kidding!" it burst out of her before he had even inhaled. "This clearly bears the signature of the Legion!"

"Does it?" Ben probed sharply, clearly fighting her reproachful tone. "I think it could just as easily be the signature of a person who wants to take revenge against the people who held him against his will for a whole year as a test subject and caused his abuse."

Mick gave a little incredulous laugh. "And how did I accomplish that? I wasn't even in the States for a couple of weeks."

"You wouldn't necessarily need to do such a thing yourself," Talbot said with a shrug.

"We're busy enough escaping these people," Beth threw at him angrily. "For such well-organized and well covered-up murders we have neither the time nor the facilities. This is how the Legion works. This is how they cover their tracks. It's their way of keeping their own people from betraying their leaders…"

Ben let out a slightly frustrated sigh and closed his eyes for a heartbeat. "I'd really like to believe you Beth, but I just don't know enough about how your counter-organization works," he responded now a little more gracious. "I need information on what you've already done, what you're doing at the moment and what your plans are for the future. I need assurance that you aren't even more dangerous than the Legion!"

"You don't really think we killed these people," said Mick vigorously and for a split second Beth saw in Ben's eyes what Mick's much more subtle senses had picked up long ago: Doubt and… uncertainty. Then his cool facade was back again, this almost obsessive clinging to his dominance.

"I can't exclude it, however," the lawyer replied now completely calm again.

Mick tilted his head slightly, gave his opposite a critical frown. "Don't we even get the benefit of the doubt?"

Ben smiled. "Do you feel accused?"

"In a way," Mick confessed. "And I don't really understand why."

"Because you've given me quite a few sleepless nights, Mick," Talbot openly admitted astonishingly. "And even _before_ you were abducted, _before_ this whole drama started. I always had the feeling you were carrying around a lot of secrets…"

"Who doesn't?" Mick countered and there was a rebellious glint in his eyes that made Beth a little nervous, for it was a sure sign that Mick was starting to bid adieu to his defensive behavior. "I can't imagine that it was this 'feeling' alone that caused you to start making inquiries about me," he now added provocatively.

"So what do _you_ think motivated me to do this," Ben asked with a charming little smile.

Mick shrugged his shoulders, put on a deliberately innocent face. "Maybe anger over the fact that I've done a better job on some of your cases than the DA's office and the police combined."

Carl and Beth held their breath - but probably for different reasons – and she cast a warning glance at Mick. But he had become so fixated on his opponent that he hadn't noticed Carl's indignation nor her effort to prevent an escalation in the conversation.

"In a very mysterious way," Ben agreed, to her surprise relatively calmly. "And often the results were that the suspect would disappear without a trace. Just like some of the other people I found in other documents you've sent me. And the number of missing people is growing."

Mick uttered a small sigh, shook his head with a strange smile. "Do you actually know how much I'd love to be able to tell you that I'm indeed the one who did this?" He surprised everyone present - including Beth - with his honesty. "Do you know how much I'd love to track down every single one of them and show them exactly what it means to endure pain, how I would love to make sure none of them ever experiences happiness again in his life? But I can't, because I currently have neither the power nor the time nor the strength to do so. I've got my hands full protecting my friends and myself. To get revenge is perhaps what I _want_ most deep down inside, but it's not what I _can_ or _will _do." Mick's eyes roamed again to the photos in front of him and his cheek muscles twitched with inner tension. He seemed to recognize more people than Beth and the sight of them was slowly stirring him up. Then he looked back at Ben, who had been watching him all the time deep in thought. "You_ know_ that I'm not to blame for the death of these people – so what exactly is it that you want from me?"

Ben leaned a little further toward him, pointed strongly to the images before him. "I want the killings to stop!"

Mick also came a little closer, not shying away from the intense eye contact with the lawyer, despite his growing emotional stress. "That's the same thing _I_ want," he said firmly.

"Does that mean you're _not_ planning a bloody campaign of revenge against the people who are to blame for your kidnapping and all that happened after it?" Ben probed and Mick looked at him with determination.

"All we're trying to do at the moment is to get to the heads of the Legion," he said, and Beth even believed him herself, although she knew from experience that Mick showed no mercy when he met with members of the Legion. Well, that wasn't really a planned campaign of revenge, more like a kind of frenzy that struck a bloody swath through the ranks of his opponents…

"And what then?" Ben probed now suspiciously.

"… we want to negotiate with them."

Ben raised an eyebrow with obvious skepticism. "Negotiate…" he repeated and Mick nodded.

"And what if they don't want to negotiate?"

"They'll want to."

"How can you be so sure?" Ben's slightly superior smile was back and Beth had to admit that this really was a good question. Gabriel and the others had planned all this quite wonderfully, but so far no one had yet asked the question, what would happen when in the end the Legion didn't play along as they had wanted them to.

"Everyone is willing to negotiate when there's something they absolutely have to have, what they desperately need," Mick replied and the pressure in Beth's stomach grew once again, while her mind brought home the horror of what Mick was hinting at. And she wasn't the only one whose thoughts were set in motion with Mick's words. Something changed in Talbot's gaze. His eyes widened and he opened his lips as if to say something, but at first no sound came out of his mouth.

"And what exactly would that be?" Carl asked instead into the short lasting silence. "What has such great value for the Legion, that they would want to make a deal?"

"You," Ben finally uttered quietly in Mick's direction. "_You're _Kostan's joker. They urgently want to get you back. But why?" He drew his eyebrows together thoughtfully. "We covered this point once before, didn't we?"

Mick nodded and Ben immediately joined in. "And you'll probably just refer to Professor Peterson this time as well, if I ask you why you're so important to the world."

Mick again responded with a nod.

"But there's one thing I'd really like to know," Ben simply went on. "Were you also before your abduction… _special_ or was it only after?"

"Only after," was Mick's honest answer.

Ben needed a moment to digest this news and Beth could see in his eyes that his sympathy - or at least pity for Mick had somehow grown. That was good - more than good.

"Am I right in assuming that these people now think of you in some way as their property?" he asked on and took one more unerring step towards the most sensitive issue that there currently was for Mick, one he still hadn't been willing to talk about with anyone in detail.

"Not in _some way_, but totally," Mick surprised Beth with his frank answer. She was even more surprised when he immediately continued, even though she knew just how difficult this was for him. "For them, I'm not a human but an animal that they… they can do with whatever they want. This is all we are to them… animals…" Mick's gaze roamed to his hands and he then closed his eyes briefly, trying with a deep breath to fight the growing turmoil in his interior. This issue was leading him too close to his buried memories, scratched at the surface of all the things he otherwise kept hidden from others so successful during the day. Nevertheless, he bravely raised his gaze, seeking contact with Ben's eyes, who now looked visibly shocked.

"People died in these labs, Ben," Mick brought out with a slightly trembling voice and Beth's heart slowly but surely began to pound in her chest because she wondered if Mick wasn't demanding too much of himself with this much-needed honesty for Ben. Her urge to protect him, to stop him from going too far grew with every second that passed, but somehow she just couldn't intervene, just sat quietly by while Mick sacrificed his nerves, and his much-needed self-protection mechanisms for a higher purpose.

"They were chained to stretchers and they injected them with drugs their bodies couldn't tolerate," he now continued with a slightly trembling voice and his own emotional turmoil was reflected unvarnished in his eyes again. "They tested the effects of poisons and other special weapons on them and _only_ tried to keep them alive as long as possible so they could do it again. They died in pain and torture in these laboratories, in the middle of LA and no one came to their rescue. The Legion simply stripped them of all their rights and in particular their right to live - just because they were different… because _we _are different. And they still believe they are entitled to do this as long as they want to. They believe they're above the laws of this world, that they don't need to fear anyone but themselves. They need someone to show them this isn't true, someone to put them in their place. The question is whether you want this too."

Ben leaned back in his chair. For a moment he wasn't capable of looking at Mick or her. His troubled gaze roam over the photos in front of him and then stared, like Mick had before, at his hands. Beth used this moment to look at Mick quickly. Even though he still appeared calm and controlled outwardly, Beth could read in his eyes, his facial expression and body posture that he wasn't feeling that way any longer. The twitching of his cheek muscles had become stronger, more pronounced, his whole body was taut and his eyes wandered nervously around the room again and again, seemed to be looking for something in his environment to distract him, to help him to come to rest again. Beth laid a hand on his forearm automatically and immediately garnered his attention. He wanted to show her with a barely perceptible shake of his head that everything was okay, but he couldn't deceive her. For the anxiety in his interior was all too evident in his eyes - these eyes which had become far too bright. His internal constitution was quickly heading for a borderline.

Talbot had, in contrast to Mick caught himself again. His chest expanded under the heavy breath he took. Then he shook his head deeply in thought and as he raised his eyes again, Beth's heart made another small jump, despite her concern for Mick - not because she was frightened, but because the expression in his dark eyes, told her they had won. Mick's words had reached him, had changed his mind enough that he was now willing to help them.

"I don't want this organization to just fear me," Ben began to speak again. "I want to_ bust_ it, terminate it. And when that's done, we - you, this Kostan and I - will sit down together again and get to the bottom of all of this… all these peculiarities of yours. I'm ready to cooperate with you until then."

Beth found it really hard not to heave a sigh of relief, but she contained herself, even remained sitting quietly and unmoving.

"It's not only because I believe you, Mick, and I'm prepared to do everything I can to prevent you from once again falling into the hands of these butchers, but also because I've been informed from another source a little bit about the machinations of this organization and someone told me roughly the same things you did - someone I trust very much who has promised me his support. I'm fed up with all this." His hand again performed a spanning gesture over the images and the file. "I want this to stop, all the killing, fighting, arguing and this… this secret-mongering. I don't want anymore missing person reports and more mysterious calls. And if cooperating with you is what it takes in order to stop it, then that's what I'll do, but I want honesty and openness from you. And if this leads to the first negotiations with the leadership of the Legion, I want to be in on it."

"That can certainly be arranged," Beth said quickly, although she was sure Gabriel and the others would be anything but enthusiastic with this idea. But she urgently wanted to give Ben the feeling that they would accommodate his wishes and that he would somehow profit from their cooperation. Mick seemed to look at this the same way, because he nodded and now leaned back a little in his chair. Beth made three crosses inside, because this was a definite sign that he had calmed down a bit on an emotional level - at least he was trying to. Now they just needed to end the conversation as quickly as possible so no new issues could be raised for Mick to have to cope with.

"Good," said Ben, pushed his photos together and put them back in the file. "Then I'll be honest with you," he added, and raised Beth's curiosity when another photo was pulled out of the file and placed before them on the table. Beth forgot to breathe for a moment. The picture was of a tall, broad-shouldered man in a dark coat, seen coming with hurried steps from a doorway. Clear-cut face, dark, slightly longer hair and a gaze that literally pierced right through you - unmistakably Gabriel.

"A man of the Legion, that I met with gave me this picture," Ben explained quietly and Beth had real difficulty not showing she knew this man. "He told me that if I ever saw this man, I should call him at a specific number he gave me and to tell him exactly where he appeared." Ben paused for an instant and studied their faces thoroughly. Beth avoided his eyes, stared again at the picture before her. It was certainly a few years old and in the shop window next to the entrance was a sign written in another language. French if she wasn't mistaken.

"He also told me that this man is one of their most dangerous opponents and totally unpredictable and that I should stay away from him," Ben explained. "And that I should inform them immediately if he should show up. That if they could catch him, all the other problems would sort themselves out."

Beth looked up again and knew that Ben would add nothing more to the story. His searching glance revealed he now expected a statement from Mick and her in regards to this, because he had the feeling they had both recognized the man in the photo. She heard Mick inhaling next to her and then he leaned forward to Talbot. So quickly the tension was back again, the dangerous flicker in his too bright eyes. That the Legion was specifically searching for Gabriel seemed to make him just as nervous as Beth.

"I think the Legion is right," he admitted, nonetheless. "Gabriel _is_ probably the most dangerous man in the world - to _them_. He's the one they fear the most, who's able to inflict, with his knowledge and his experience of the Legion, the most damage on them. Of course they want to catch him because they know he's already on to them!"

"So in other words: You _do_ know him," Ben drew, as usual, the right conclusion. "Gabriel… what?"

Mick clearly hesitated with his answer. "Des Archanges," he admitted finally - only because he assumed that this name would probably not be found anywhere anyway, and Beth had to join him in this opinion. To her, it had always sounded as if the name was made up, like a stage name.

It also seemed a little strange to Ben, for he frowned slightly bewildered. "Is he French?"  
Mick didn't answer. A hint of distrust had flared up in his eyes and caused him to look at the lawyer skeptically and was stuck for an answer. Not good… Why was it that things that had developed so positively moments ago, had to drift just as quickly into a negative direction? Beth decided to intervene.

"At least European," she replied evasively, but it seemed to be enough for Ben.

"And he's…" Ben didn't continue, but only made a vague gesture with his hand in Mick's direction, whose tension was now palpable enough for her to feel it as an energetic tingling.

"Special?" Mick helped him with a tiny smile. But his voice was a touch too sharp to be assessed as a genuine smile anymore.

Ben nodded again.

"He is," Mick replied.

Ben didn't seem to like this fact that well, because Beth could see his chest heave and fall once more under a heavy breath. "And you say the Legion fears him because he knows too much about them?"

Once again, his question wasn't followed by an answer. But this time for a different reason. Both Beth and Mick had heard a crackling in their ears and knew that Logan had just turned on the headsets. Of course it was possible that he was only going to make a comment about their conversation or to ask them to hurry up, but Beth immediately felt that something was wrong, knew even before Logan's voice was heard that a disaster was approaching, that the exact thing they had all feared the most was happening.

"Folks, I really hate to say this…" were the words that made her heart skip a beat and her intestines cramp. "Gabriel radioed. Something's going on around us! You need to leave there as fast as you can! Right now! We've been betrayed!"

Beth needed a moment to digest the news, tried to catch her breath and think straight. But immediately her initial panic made sure she was completely incapacitated for a few seconds. Mick's reaction, however, was far more violent, and was at once directed against Talbot, whom he seemed to blame for this. He moved so quickly that Beth wasn't able to perceive it at first. She only saw the table flying past her out of the way, crashing into the nearest wall, saw Ben and Carl reflexively jumping up and Mick leaping forward. Then the ADA hit the wall with his back, grabbed at the hand gripping him so roughly by his neck, gasped for air, and pressed the other hand against Mick's chest, who in his burning anger had literally launched himself at him. But it wasn't Mick, who drew a horrified scream out of Beth, but Carl, who had drawn in a fluid movement a weapon and now aimed it directly at Mick's head.

"Let go of him! Now!" he shouted at Mick with a trembling voice, while Beth came staggering to her feet, raising both hands defensively. Her mind was still struggling, trying to understand what had just happened here while her raging heartbeat and the breathless panic made it incredibly difficult to her to think straight.

"Carl, stop!" she uttered, but turned her attention immediately to Mick and Ben, who could barely breathe.

"Who else did you tell about this meeting?" Mick hissed through gritted teeth, completely unaware of the weapon that was aimed at his temple and the troubled police officer who once again roared: "Let him go immediately, or I'll shoot!"

"Mick!" now Beth uttered as well, because Ben's face was becoming a critical bluish color. "You're strangling him!"

Despite his anger and agitation Mick let go of his neck, grabbed the collar of his shirt instead and Ben inhaled, gasping and coughing.

"Carl! Put the gun down!" Beth now addressed the policeman with a quivering voice, whose hand shook, showing just how much this situation had overwhelmed him. Mick's quick change of mood had completely shocked him.

"Put down your weapon!" Beth asked him one more time almost pleadingly. "This is just a misunderstanding! We can figure this out without killing each other!"

"He needs to let go of Ben first!" Carl gave back strained, while Mick also started to speak.

"Who's coming for us?" he uttered as his eyes bored into the lawyer's, who was still gasping for breath horrified.

"I… I've no idea," he croaked now and for the first time since Beth knew him his eyes showed open fear. Mick's outburst had completely thrown him off track and not just him.

"Carl, please," Beth addressed the officer once more with the trembling hands. "Lower you gun, at least a little!"

And the miracle happened. Carl's hands slowly lowered, so that the weapon was now only aimed at Mick's upper arm and Beth turned back to Mick, stepped deliberately into the line of fire and touched Mick's arm. He didn't look at her, but she knew she had his attention.

"We need to get out of here, Mick," she brought out urgently. "No matter who betrayed where we were meeting. We first have to get out of here!"

"As… as soon as possible!" a pretty shocked sounding Logan added by radio. "Shit, man, there are two cars and a helicopter heading our way. Get the hell outta there and into the tunnel! You've got no more than ten minutes!"

"Mick?" Beth's voice sounded not only upset and scared, but also desperate and now his almost pale blue eyes wandered over to her, looked into her face.

"Please," she uttered, and he indeed let go of the completely paralyzed looking Ben, so she turned to Carl again. Her old friend lowered his weapon even further with an audible sigh of relief, but still didn't put it away.

"If it wasn't you who betrayed us, then you're in just as much danger as we are," Beth hastened to explain. "And we should all disappear from here as soon as possible. Help me!" She bent down to pick up Ben's briefcase and Carl immediately understood, collected the papers that had flown, along with the table, through the air and stuffed them all into a bag already opened by Beth. Beth didn't like that Mick and Ben were still standing motionless in front of each other, staring at each other like two fighting cocks, waiting for the one to attack the other, but at least the danger of Mick causing serious bodily harm to the lawyer in the heat of the moment was averted for now.

"Ben," she approached the ADA ,who was still having difficulty breathing, handing him the briefcase. He took it, without detaching his eyes from Mick's face and Beth asked herself with a wildly pounding heart, how they were going to be able to carry on once they got out of there, _if_ they ever got out of there. Within a matter of seconds, and because of a few unfortunate words and much too hasty actions, their so laboriously built up trust had dissolved into thin air. But they couldn't work this out now, actually should have long since run for their lives. Beth took yet another deep breath, pushed herself between Mick and Ben, grabbed the young lawyer by his arm and simply pulled him along with her. He didn't struggle, just threw suspicious glances behind him every now and then, because Mick had immediately followed them along with Carl, who was still clinging to his weapon.

"Logan, where do we need go?" she addressed her friend with the headset irritated as they hurried out of the office. Her eyes flew anxiously over to the door, expecting at any moment the squeal of tires and the roaring of a helicopter.

"Turn left two times, there will be a door that leads directly to the cellar," was the quick response. Beth followed his instructions and only a few seconds later she put her hand on the latch of the door described.

"Where are we going?" Ben brought out clearly concerned when she opened the door, struggling a bit to keep up with her. The darkness behind the door seemed to reinforce his fears.

"We're getting outta here," Beth responded and flipped the light switch she had discovered on the wall. Immediately a single light bulb on the sloping ceiling lit up the steps. "You decide, Ben. Either you come with us or you stay here and wait to see if the Legion is indeed as favorably inclined towards you as they pretend to be. But we'll then know whose side your on."

It was quite a bold attempt at getting Talbot to voluntarily come with them after all that had just happened, but surprisingly it worked. Ben straightened his shoulders, nodded slightly and then followed her.

She caught a glimpse of Mick, before she turned around again and hurried down the stairs. He had calmed down and now instead of upset and uncontrolled looked rather tense and focused. But his eyes were still too bright, the vampire in him was still much too active. But that couldn't be helped right now. The enemy advanced and it wasn't clear yet whether they were going to be fast enough to escape the Legion this time. Especially when they had two people with them, who didn't really trust them, and who they couldn't say with any certainty whether they brought the enemy down on them or not. But for now they really had no time left to try and figure it out in more detail.

Mick seemed to see it the same way, because he left the role of leader to her without any objections, probably even felt that his own nerves were far too worn to come to the right decisions concerning the situation anyway. And because Ben had decided to join them voluntarily, it seemed to help him regain a little control over himself. If Talbot had wanted the Legion to get their hands on them he would have stalled for time much harder. He actually gave the impression that he himself was a little afraid of these people and wanted to avoid any direct contact with them. Beth fervently hoped this was the case, otherwise, they would be bringing the enemy directly to Logan, and thus destroy any chance they still had of escaping the Legion…


	27. Derailments

_Here's the new chapter for you. I think it's quite a surprise for you. If you start reading you'll see why. Thanks a lot to the ones who commented the last chapter again. Feel hugged and kissed. This is so important for me. The more reviews I get the more motivated I am to go on writing. It's the only way I can see what you think about my story and if you want me to go on writing/translating. So to the ones who are too shy – I love each single comment, no matter if it's only a few words or one page long (okay, the longer one's are my favorites but I think every author loves them). So, please, don't hold back! I'll be back at Thursday again. Have a great Sunday! Yours Jenna_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

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**D****erailments**

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"_**Life always shows us new horizons."**_

___** Roswitha Menzel**_

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_There were places that gave off a feeling of something special, something unique that you could find nowhere else. Not because they produced this atmosphere on their own, but because the people who were staying there associated certain meanings with them, brought feelings and expectations so that you could, if you had the necessary sensitivity and only took a little time, participate freely._

_Airports were such places… and train stations. Train stations like the Grand Central Station in Manhattan where I was currently staying. Track 4, 11.34 p.m. local time. My train was late and put me under some time pressure, while around me more and more people gathered who had to wait more or less patiently along with me. Normally I hated situations like this. I hated it when things went differently than I had planned. Just as I could not stand being forced to spend my stingy time with a bunch of unkind, foreign people. But today it was different. Today I was calmer, more relaxed, more interested than usual. I saw not only the stressed faces of the people who had to wait with me, but watched with growing interest the many little touching scenes of farewell and welcoming here and on the other platforms of the station. There were so many real emotions, so much warmth, so much feeling like I had not consciously experienced in a long time. Laughter, hugs, hands which couldn't let go of each other, tears that couldn't be held back… And strangely, they touched me._

_In all the time I've walked as a vampire among men, I had slowly but surely forgotten how it felt to be a human being, how it had felt to fall prey to the ups and downs of your own emotions and that there were also aspects of human existence that made life worth living and that I secretly missed. True feelings, the warm tingling deep inside when you looked in the eyes of a loved one, the affection, the longing for emotional closeness, and the sweet pain of parting… love…_

_It was not that as a vampire I could feel nothing for my senses were just too sharp, but most things conveyed to me from outside didn't really reach me deeply inside and were generally perceived only superficially. They didn't make a circuit through my heart or my soul but were only sent directly to my mind. In this way sensuous experience was also formed into factual information that made it possible to me to act in a purely rational way._

_Until now it had barely disturbed me, for I was not really seriously interested in establishing emotional ties or in building long lasting relationships that handicapped me in my quest to satisfy only my basic, selfish needs. Of course there had been time and again moments of inner emptiness, of doubting and world-weariness that always brought along this terrible question of the meaning of life. But I had mostly survived these phases quite well and had then replaced them as quickly as possible, as happened with anything that weakened me. Only these moments had occurred with the passing of the years more and more often and I had started to get worried, asking myself if I'd done something wrong, if I was neglecting some important issue in my life and I had begun to perceive the people around me more clearly, to be interested in the people who seemed to enjoy their lives so much more, who seemed to live their lives so much more intensely than I could experience with my almost four hundred years of life._

_Then I met Mick. Mick with his brimming, soulful manner, who enjoyed his life despite the odds that met him every day, savored it so fully like no other person around me. It was now almost three years ago since I had seen him the last time and still my thoughts had carried me back again and again when I had gotten into one of these melancholy phases to that evening which had strangely brought me close to this man. _

_Coraline had invited me to her wedding but I had not gone. The idea of congratulating the two, of looking Mick in the eyes knowing that the beautiful woman at his side was most likely going to ruin him that night, had been deeply repulsive to me. As much as I had been curious to see to what kind of a vampire Mick would become - I would have felt like a traitor towards him and I hadn't wanted that. So I had stayed in New York. I had organized my own wild party and I had happily enjoyed myself with three Freshies at a time in order to forget that there was a man who would be deprived that night of exactly the things that made him so special: his humanity and enjoyment of life. _

_The reason that I now thought of Mick almost three years after their wedding was that Coraline had called me a few hours ago and asked me to settle a small transaction with a mutual friend in Bristol for her. I hadn't been able to stop myself from asking about Mick and had immediately discerned from her voice that it wasn't going very well in their marriage and her husband was coping far worse with the vampire existence than she had assumed. It did not surprise me when I looked into the faces of the people around me, being able to read these wonderfully deep emotions from her eyes, their suffering and their joy. The connection of his senses to his heart, his soul, for it had been exactly this which had allowed him to enjoy his human existence, the feeling of being alive. He had to miss this - because I missed it too. That was clear to me for the first time in a long, long time. And I wondered if there was something that could restore this connection in a vampire and that could awaken us from our apathy, even though I knew exactly how unreasonable this thought was._

"_Deep feelings may feel wonderful, may fool you that you really live only through them, but in the end they bring beings like us only grief and suffering and perhaps even death," Elizabeth had once said to me. I had understood her at that time and had decided to give up on these things in my life. For precisely at that time everything had been so terribly painful for me._

_A touch of lavender came to me and kept me from further delving into my past. My fine senses told me, in the nick of time, that someone had come up behind me and then I heard a soft, clear voice. "Sorry, do you have a light?"_

_I turned around and looked into the finely-cut face of a young woman with red hair whose green eyes looked at me quizzically with a mixture of embarrassment and interest while a smile played around her lips, leaving me immediately speechless with the warmth and honesty of it. And those eyes. It was strange, but somehow I felt as if she was indeed seeing _me_ and not the cool, slightly arrogant businessman who was waiting at the station for his delayed train, but me, Josef, the man I had buried deep inside me at some point between the end of the 16th Century and today, and had never wanted to let out again. And it was this feeling that made me speechless, almost incapable of action._

_Confusion was evident in the expressive eyes of the pretty young woman in front of me and her charming smile became more insecure while her cheeks reddened with the sound of soft giggle a little further behind her. My gaze wandered for a moment over her body providing me within seconds with the most important information I could gain from her appearance: in her early twenties, upper class, intelligent… inexperienced but not naïve._

"_It's not for me," she added a little embarrassed and looked around to the other two well-dressed young women who just put their heads together and were looking over to us again and again. "I actually don't smoke… I…"_

_My understanding nod silenced her. Maybe it was also my reaching into the inside pocket of my coat which showed her that I had understood her. Meanwhile, I found it difficult to not show my own confusion over my behavior. I still was not able to say anything even when I brought out the lighter and handed it to her. It was not that she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was very pretty, seemed to be part of something very lovely, unused, I had to admit, but she was not the type of woman that I was usually interested in. But no other woman before had placed me in this dilemma. I could only stare at her as silent as a fish. There was something about her that touched me deep inside, something in her manner that captivated me immediately and did not allow me to detach my gaze from her beautiful eyes._

"_Thanks," she said softly. Her smile was back again causing me to lift the corners of my mouth a little, strangely awkward. "I'll bring it right back to you," she added, turned away from me with another small smile and walked over to her friends. One of them already had a cigarette between her gloved fingers._

_I closed my eyes for a moment, shook my head very slightly and then turned away from the three women to intentionally break the strange spell the young thing had imposed upon me. I stared at the opposite platform, trying to push away these useless feelings in my chest. Only rarely were strangers able to confuse me so much and somehow my own behavior also annoyed me. First Mick had been able to leave behind such a lasting impression on me and now this totally strange woman had confused me so much with just one look. Annoying - really annoying._

_A slight breeze and the faint sound of metal wheels on rails, which still couldn't be heard by the human ear, told me that at last my train was approaching and the waiting with the many people and also maybe my strange mood would finally come to an end. I took a breath, almost relieved, turned around full of verve to take the suitcase at my feet and immediately collided with the delicate person who must have approached me from behind again. Although I am not very sensitive to pain as a vampire my nose bumped so forcefully against the forehead of the frightened young woman that I actually stumbled a little forward almost knocking her down. But we still managed to stay on our feet. Only my gold-plated lighter fell with a loud clatter to the ground._

"_Oh, God, that… I'm sorry," she stammered, embarrassed, while I held my nose and tried to blink away the tears that automatically shot into my eyes. I raised a hand reassuringly because she looked so terribly affected that I feared she would embrace me comfortingly._

"_Never mind," I muttered dully under my hand and avoided her intense gaze. I saw my lighter on the ground and bent down. Apparently she had gotten the same thought at the same moment, because in the next second my forehead bumped against hers and we staggered apart one more time. This time, her hand shot to her mouth and for a heartbeat she made no sound. It was strange but the expression of utter horror and embarrassment in her wide eyes made me laugh somehow. Now the buzzing pain in my head matched the one in my nose._

"_I'm so sorry," the young woman said finally and dropped her hand, revealing the small smile on her lips, which told me that she, too, was slightly amused by our clumsiness and causing me to falter inside again. There was once again this strange tingling in my chest._

_She now bent down, picked up the lighter and gave it to me with her cheeks glowing red. "Sometimes I'm such a klutz," she added apologetically._

"_Don't," I was finally able to return and a surprisingly warm, genuine smile crept to my lips. "Let's just say our interaction was not really well coordinated."_

_She gave a little laugh that to my surprise now sent a small shiver down my back and was followed immediately by another one as my hand reached out for the lighter and our fingers touched. Warm, delicate fingers whose contact I was very reluctant to lose again. She seemed to feel somewhat the same because in the depths of her eyes astonishment and obvious sympathy was shown. Her mouth twitched as if to smile again but her mind didn't seem to really be able to cope with this growing attraction between us so instead she just continued to look deeply into my eyes. We barely noticed that the train entered the station rattling and with screeching brakes. I only noticed, oddly enamored, how enchantingly the wind played with her dark red hair, how long her eyelashes were, and how warm her hand was lying in mine. Only when the other two women loudly called her name were we able to interrupt our eye contact and I was able to let her fingers slip out of my hand and let go of her. But my eyes remained still on her form and I could simply not look away from her. And even when I bent down to my trunk and picked it up I kept my eyes glued to her. She hugged her friends who apparently were not traveling with her, said a warm farewell and then walked with rapid steps toward one of the first class cars. I felt like I was attracted by a magnet as she passed by with a warm smile in my direction, I followed her immediately, inwardly shaking my head at myself. I had never felt like this, so dazed, so enchanted, and it frightened me a bit on the one hand while on the other hand I felt a great curiosity and almost something like enthusiasm._

_Just before she got on she turned to me and my heart made a small somersault. "Let's hope our coordination is a little better while entering the train," she smiled in a clearly flirting tone and caused me to also smile._

"_If not I can at least serve as a buffer so that it doesn't injure an innocent person," I replied. She again gave me a so attractive-looking smile and then climbed more than nimbly into the train, even casting a teasing glance over her shoulder at me._

_Once again, the scent of lavender wafted to my nose while I pushed my way close behind her through the narrow aisle, anxious to not get too close to her or appear to be pushy, while at the same time I was already longing for more closeness to her. Actually, I should have seen this as a sign of alarm and stayed away from her for I knew what a thoroughly bad idea it was to get seriously involved with a human. But I could not, could not let her go now, just had to stay close to her, to find out who she was and why I felt so attracted to her._

_It was not long before she found an empty compartment whose door I opened quickly before she could do it on her own. And again I was rewarded with this beguiling smile._

"_This selfless buffer-zone-service…does it also include a little entertainment during an otherwise very boring train ride?" she asked me over her shoulder after she had entered the compartment. I had already started to search hard for an excuse to stay here in this compartment with her. Her words caused a feeling of profound relief in my heart while at the same time I was worried about my state of mind and was looking inside a little anxiously for my other self. Where was this self-confident, arrogant asshole hiding when it was needed so urgently?_

"_If the lady wishes it, I will accommodate her request with the utmost pleasure," I said instead with joy and now also entered the compartment._

"_That would be all too lovely, Mr…?" She raised her finely arched eyebrows questioningly._

"_Fitzgerald," I said immediately. "Charles Fitzgerald."_

"_Sarah Whitley," she replied with a beaming smile that caused even my cold heart to melt and reached out her hand to me._

"_It's my pleasure," I replied with a smile and seized her hand with real pleasure as I leaned forward and brought it to my lips. My usual mischievous gaze upward I just could not bite back and she laughed again providing this warm feeling in my chest although there was actually no room for it my heart. Then she tilted her head to one side and eyed me up thoughtfully, once more seeming to look directly into my soul which didn't even frighten me._

"_I think you're one of that kind." she said after a brief moment, with a pensive smile._

_I raised my eyebrows a little confused. "What kind?"_

"_One of that kind of man my mother had always warned me of. One of the dangerous kind." She gave me a mischievous wink and persuaded me I had one of the most charming creatures I had ever met in my life in front of me. She was so right: I _was_ a danger to her - in almost every respect._

"_In what way dangerous?" I still asked, with a charming smile._

"_My mother never told me," she replied with a grin and even stepped a bit closer to me. "But you know what? I'll find that out!"_

* * *

She _had_ found it out in the end. In every way. Faster than I would have guessed or hoped for. And it hadn't made her afraid, hadn't made her lose her trust in me or shaken her love for me in the slightest.

"I was wrong," she had whispered as she lay on my chest just minutes after we had abandoned ourselves for the first time in a physical way to our love and I had been staring, because of the intense feelings that had come over me, totally paralyzed at the ceiling. "You're no danger to me. I think it's rather the other way round."

I had looked at her amazed and her so sensuous lips had lifted into that mischievous smile. "_I_'m dangerous for _you_," she had added quietly and her delicate fingers had moved over my chest had pushed right over my much too rapidly beating heart. "I've got your heart in my hand… and I'll never let go of it ever again."

She did not until today. Thoughts about her were always there… in my heart, caused it to beat faster, to cramp and suffer, make me feel that I was inwardly not completely dead, that I _could_ feel love, even if I did not want to - even after fifty-four years.

I no longer felt empty and numb. Quite the contrary. In my chest had accumulated so many emotions that I hardly knew how I should handle them all at once. Fear, anger, excitement, doubt, sadness, surprise. It was a long time since I had been attacked by such a chaos of feelings and the memories of Sarah made the whole thing much harder - especially because I was now holding another warm, soft and quite naked woman's body in my arms.

Simone had come up with a very convenient way to distract me from my worries about my friends and myself and I was really surprised how intensely one could also experience sex as a human. It was not completely different, but somehow it still was different and it had given my new, temporary life form a certain positive side, at least to the point at which my state of excitement had eased again and all my worries and fears had returned. And now I also struggled with feelings of guilt. Feelings of guilt toward both Sarah and Simone because I somehow felt that I was cheating on both of them in some way. On Sarah, because I felt while having sex with Simone more than just lust and passion and on Simone, because when I was together with her in an intimate way and allowed myself real feelings for her I thought constantly of Sarah and the longing for her grew rather than got weaker.

A sentimental wimp - yes that's what I had become. And if I was honest, not just since I had become a human again. Basically this thing with Mick was to blame. It had made me soft and weak, because I had realized how much I needed him to survive in this world, to continue to fight. I had never before perceived it like that. Of course, I had been aware that he had gotten dangerously close to me on an emotional level over the years and gotten away with things that other people would pay for even with death. Harsh criticism on his side had always cut me to the quick and my jealousy regarding other people who got close to him had often made me wonder. But I always had successfully fought against considering what would happen to me if I lost him. That was the only reason why the events of last year had been able to wear me down and cause the cool businessman, Josef Kostan, to have great problems appear more regularly, let alone find the way back to his old form. I wondered if that was possible at all.

Experiences and other people had a great deal of influence on the life you led, opened new horizons and forced you to change. And that was actually good. Sometimes you had to stray from your path in order to better counter challenges, avert unnecessary risks, or to just find a new form of existence, a new attitude to life that could help you move forward.

The encounter with Mick had changed my life, perhaps had only made it possible for me to get involved with Sarah. And the relationship with Sarah had made me really search for contact with Mick again, had let it happen that I had found my soulmate, my brother in him. Maybe Mick and Beth's love for each other had let me admit my feelings for Simone, had let me hope again that maybe there was also a chance for me to find happiness again and be able to let Sarah go. Maybe it was all fate. Perhaps everything just _had_ to happen. And perhaps there was a reason why I now had to carve out my existence as a human being.

Simone stirred in my arms. She seemed to wake from her light sleep and finally turned to me. I closed my eyes automatically because the feeling of her warm skin rubbing against mine was so wonderfully intense and caused a pleasant tingling sensation that spread into my toes. Yes, being a human definitely had its advantages too.

Simone's lids lifted lazily, her eyes sought contact with mine and a warm smile appeared on her lips. Then she lifted a hand and let her fingers gently glide over my cheek and cause me to close my eyes anew and take a deep, almost satisfied breath. It was strange how quickly my deep thoughts could get carried away by such a simple touch.

"How are you?" I heard her ask quietly and felt compelled to lift my eyelids again. I could read in her eyes that she was not really worried, but just wanted to make sure her efforts to distract me had not exhausted me too much. Admittedly, I had as a human not nearly as much stamina as when I was a vampire, but Simone had not yet given the impression that she had been bothered by it. Quite the contrary - for her also it seemed to be very exciting to experience me in such a different state.

"I'm still alive," I replied with a small smile and Simone let out a chuckle. There had indeed been a moment where I had been worried about my poor human heart and Simone had felt it. That showed in her knowing smile.

"I probably should have given you a longer grace period," she said as her fingers continued to gently stroke my still quite warm cheek.

"Oh, please, the weak person who needs your love and care was only a ploy to lure you into bed," I replied with playful arrogance and now raised a hand to her face letting my thumb gently slide across her lips.

"Jesus," Simone gave back affected. "And the stupid little thing I am fell blindly into your trap."

I leaned forward a little. "Hey, who can resist me?" I whispered to her and had to taste her warm, soft lips. She returned the kiss immediately grabbed the back of my neck with one hand and drew me closer to her. Well, I probably wasn't really exhausted. That could be helped…

I felt her soft breasts against my skin, wrapped my arms around her and pressed her to me so that I now could feel her whole and wonderfully soft body against mine, could feel every movement and stir. It was an incredible feeling to feel so directly how her blood began to boil again, how the excitement grew inside her. My own skin was so much more sensitive than before and even sensed the light shivers my touch, my restless, caressing hands, my more urgent kisses triggered inside her. I sensed her nipples growing hard and rubbing against my skin under the more rapid lifting and lowering of her chest as she breathed. My blood moved incredibly quickly back into the lower regions of my body and caused my manhood to rapidly stir again. It even surprised me enough that I let go of Simone's lips and paused for a moment. Apparently the human Josef could rival the virility of the vampire Josef quite well.

"Does it feel different?" Simone whispered at my chin and let her lips slide along it down to my neck.

Another series of small, pleasant shivers drizzled down my back and I closed my eyes in relish. "What?" I uttered a little breathlessly.

"When I touch you, when we make love," she breathed against my neck and left a tingling track on my skin with her lips, her soft, hot tongue. "Does it feel different?"

I managed nothing more than a nod, just trying to concentrate with closed eyes on the incredibly intense feelings her touches triggered inside me. Oh, delightful human existence…

Her warm mouth moved lower, over my collarbone, heading further down. I inhaled with a hiss as her teeth exerted gentle pressure on my nipple and my fingers dug into her hips, bringing her warm womb closer to me. She slid one leg over my thigh asking me clearly to take her one more time. I turned with her and brought her with a skilled move beneath me. But I didn't enter her immediately, although the moist heat of her womb calling so temptingly to me almost made me insane. I wanted to tease her and myself a little longer and to still enjoy the intensity of our excitement. Instead, I gently stroked her hair from her face and looked with a little smile into her eyes glowing with desire. There it was again, this dangerous warmth in my chest, this burning desire to get closer to the beautiful woman in my arms, to penetrate her, merge with her but not only on a physical level. Where had all the walls gone that I had built up around me with such hard work over the centuries?

"Oh God, Josef, please," she finally uttered slightly impatient as she pressed her lips to mine in a quite demanding way and dug her fingers into the muscles of my back, lifting her pelvis.

How badly I wanted to fulfill her request but suddenly there was a sound that stopped me, a buzzing not far from me.I broke away from her impatient lips and raised my head, a deep, angry furrow between my brows. Simone had now also perceived the sound and let out a frustrated groan.

"Did Mick leave the phone here?" I asked her although the noise from the mound of clothes next to the bed already answered that question.

"He gave it to me before they left," she still answered and I sat up quickly. How quickly such a simple sound could get you back into reality and suppress any feelings of pleasure.

We both knew immediately that this had to be something urgent - because currently there were no calls that were not urgent. I frantically rummaged through the clothes and finally the buzzing device fell out of Simone's pants pocket and I caught it in the air bringing it immediately up to my ear.

"Josef?" It was Alejandro's voice and I did not like the panic in it at all. "Are you still at the motel?"

"Yeah."

"Grab only the most important things and run over to Eddy's! Now! Your hiding place is no longer safe!"

Human hearts were indeed capable of achieving amazing maximum results. I suddenly had the feeling that this agile organ jumped right into my throat and continued hammering there at a rapid pace, while my innards cramped painfully.

"There's a traitor somewhere in the inner circle," my Mexican friend continued. I had already grabbed my pants and slipped into them as quickly as possible and in doing so made Simone jump out of the bed and dress hastily as well. "Manolo and I are on the way to you, but I don't know whether the Legion is already on the road also. Eddy has in his house a shelter and weapons. There you're safer than in the apartment in any case. We are hurrying as fast as possible to join you."

"Okay," I replied shortly and hung up. I stuffed the phone into my pocket and slipped with a rather unhealthy pulse into my shirt. Simone gave me a frightened, questioning look while she dressed. "Have… have we been betrayed?" she asked tensely and I had no choice but to nod while my mind struggled with all its might against the panic attack that wanted to overwhelm me. Probably the Legion moved closer and I was a human… a weak, useless human.

A cold claw grabbed my heart and tore it back down deep into my lower abdomen for I could now hear outside in the parking lot of the motel sounds that could only come from a number of cars: the dull hum of engines, tires that rolled over sandy ground, squeaking brakes. I froze and threw a horrified glance over to Simone who had suddenly become very pale. In the next second I was at the window and pushed a few of the panels of our blinds down to stare out with a wildly pounding heart. My stomach twisted again. A dark van and a BMW had stopped not far from our room and two men with slightly too thick padded jackets got out of the BMW and looked around carefully. Nothing was stirring in the van. Well, almost nothing because a strange antenna came out of the roof, on top of which a small screen opened and then began to rotate.

"Oh, God!" I heard Simone whisper quietly next to me. She winced slightly when I suddenly pulled her to me and kissed her. Her hand pressed against my chest and immediately she turned her head, deeply confused. "Jo…"

I did not let her finish. "Act as if we are a couple in love that is on holiday here," I whispered. "They're scanning the apartments."

Simone had fortunately a keen mind and reacted quickly: Her lips pressed immediately to mine while fear shook her body and her frantic heartbeat almost exceeded mine. Never in my life had I felt so uncomfortable with a beautiful woman in my arms and my hatred of the Legion grew inside me with every second that passed.

I lowered my head, pretending I was kissing Simone's neck, but my eyes glided past her again through the slits of the blind. The two men who were still standing beside their car and observing the area around them seemed to be waiting for something. That they did not immediately walk to our apartment awakened in me the hope that they did not know for sure if we were here. After all, very few people in our ranks knew where we were exactly, and perhaps the traitors had only gotten to know that we were in some motel around here and they were now searching all the motels in this area. This also explained the scanning of the thermal imaging camera. They were searching for vampires and fortunately they would not find them here right now.

Almost a mountain range fell from my heart as the van again started its engine and slowly drove away. It probably set out for the next motel. But the other two men did not give the impression that they would leave us soon. Apparently they wanted to play it safe, for now they began to move and one of them headed straight for our apartment while the other headed to another apartment.

"They… they're coming here…," Simone said in a panic and I quickly grabbed her face with both hands and looked her straight in the eye.

"Stay calm. They just want to check who's stopped by here. You simply go to the door when he knocks, open it a crack and make him understand that he is disturbing you. I don't think he will recognize your face. They're searching for Mick, Beth and me."

"But if he tries to gain entry by force," she asked with a trembling voice.

"Then I'll take care of him," I replied as firmly as possible praying that it never ever came to that.

I could read in Simone's eyes that this thought did nothing to calm her. We both knew all too clearly that I was human and had no special powers right now.

"It's just one man," I replied with a self confidence that I did not have. "We can handle this."

"And what about the other one," she whispered, not really convinced.

"We take care of him when the time comes, okay?"

My eyes stayed on her face until she nodded, then I let go of her. Not a moment too soon, for at that moment a strong hand loudly hit our door. My heart leapt and the knot in my guts tightened once again. Nevertheless, I managed to react immediately and was with a few steps next to the door. I bravely took the heavy vase that was on the small dresser next to me and pressed myself against the wall. Simone had immediately followed me and her hand was already on the latch but she waited for my nod to really push it down and open the door a crack.

"LAPD, Miller is my name," said a deep, cool voice. "I'm sorry to trouble you but we are looking for some suspects who are said to be hiding somewhere in this area and unfortunately we have to question everyone here."

"This… this really comes at an awkward moment," said Simone as calmly as she could, but I could still hear the fear in her voice. I hoped it was only because I knew her so well and that this fact escaped her opposite. "My boyfriend and I drove the night through and are very tired." she explained.

"I'm sorry for you," the man interrupted her a little impatiently. "But this is really very important. And we would like to question your boyfriend, too. Could I come in perhaps?"

Simone's whole body tensed, but she managed nevertheless a slightly embarrassed smile as she tried to stay in her role. "Yes, um… he has to put something on… wait a moment."

She tried to close the door again but the stranger didn't let her. He pushed against the door so roughly that Simone stumbled backwards into the room as he entered it himself. I reacted almost as fast as in my vampiric condition, as the tall, dark figure had passed the open door and for a fraction of a second paused to look around. I lifted the vase, swung it and crashed it with all the strength I could muster down on the man's skull. The man, however, seemed to have a steel skull, because the crude guy didn't immediately fall but staggered aside, rammed a chair with his hip and toppled over it. I pursued him immediately throwing myself on him and grabbing him by the neck as I usually did, squeezing with a vengeance. But somehow the expected effect failed to appear. The man gasped but he could still move and he turned around and rammed his fist into my stomach. I was thus not only thrown aside but for a moment could not even breathe. It crashed unnaturally loud as another hard fist hit my chin and for a moment all I could see was stars. I did not even feel it as my head dashed hard against the floor. I did not have time to come around before my opponent was above me, raising his hand in which a sharp blade suddenly flashed. But the deadly blow never came, because a heavy lampshade crashed with full force against his skull and tore him off of me. I saw the hand with the knife hit the floor close to me, threw myself around with a still humming skull and wrenched the knife out of his hand. I stabbed at him just as my opponent sat up again. A sickening crack was heard as the blade pierced the skin of his neck, deeply digging into his flesh. His eyes widened in horror and the next moment blood shot out of his mouth towards me, drowning the gurgling sound he uttered.

"Die… finally." I panted as I detached one hand from the knife, pressed it against his chest and pushed him away from me. His eyes were still wide open as he fell to the floor but I knew he was dead.

I felt sick and my head was spinning as I slowly sat up – not to mention the fact that my head felt like it would explode and my chin was completely without feeling. Simone fell with a stifled sob to her knees beside me supporting me while I tried to get to my feet again, gasping long and hard to breathe. I felt like I had gone through a wrestling match with a grizzly.

"God, how I hate this," I gasped and blinked a few times to get rid of the fog around me. A small, short fight and I was done - physically and mentally. Oh, wonderful human existence!

A noise from one of the other rooms made us both freeze again. If I wasn't mistaken, that was exactly where the back door was. And there was still a second man who was looking for us here.

"Not again!" it slipped over my lips with a slight groan and my grip around the bloody knife became tighter. It was always the same:_ If_ you had bad luck, then you had really bad luck!

I gave Simone to understand without a word to step out of sight into another corner of the room and moved as quickly and quietly as possible to the closed door of the other room. The further boost of adrenaline gave me enough power to move in a fairly coordinated way again and I reached my target just in time, pressing myself against the wall beside the door.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Then there was a loud bang and the door flew off its hinges. My opponent was a skilled fighter and turned immediately left toward me and I looked for a split second into the barrel of an unlocked gun, but I moved so fast that he had no time to pull the trigger. My fist slammed against the bottom of his arm so that the gun flew in a high arc through the air and with the other I rammed the knife with a vengeance into his chest. I immediately felt that the blade glanced off of something - probably a bulletproof vest - and knew that my enemy's reaction would follow immediately. This time it was an elbow that hit me in the face and simultaneously slammed me and the back of my head against the wall. I heard Simone's shriek, then it became dark around me for an instant. Something inside me roared loudly causing a boost of adrenaline to drive through my body and bringing me back to painful reality within seconds. Not a pleasant reality. Hands had closed around my throat, squeezing with all their strength, robbing me of the air I needed to breathe. There was Simone behind the dark figure of my opponent who was kneeling on me making me unable to move. I could her barely audible screams through the loud buzzing in my ears and my own panicked gasp for breath. But I could see how she threw herself onto the man, scratched his face and tore at him until he removed a hand from my neck and rammed his fist into her face causing her to fall down to the floor. I reared up, feeling now next to my fear of death such a rage that I managed to smash my fist against his nose. The man flinched but did not let me go, however. Instead he brought his other hand back to my neck and squeezed as firmly as he could, his face grotesquely distorted with the lust to kill. The buzzing in my ears grew louder, the pressure in my head increased and my strength started to dwindle. Die… I would die… panic seized me again, but I had no strength to fight back, could do nothing more.

A brutish growl resounded from somewhere I couldn't really perceive and a dark shadow threw itself on my opponent from behind in the darkening field of my vision. But the painful cry that the man uttered was so loud that even I could hear it. And suddenly his hands were gone and the tall guy fell on his side, flailing around. But his new opponent was faster and more skilled than he was, jumping again and again from different angles onto him and with his sharp teeth leaving deep wounds in his arms, legs any other parts of his body he could get hold of. I was busy trying to suck air deeply into my lungs, to get back to my senses, to regain control of my body.

Somewhere by the door I noticed another dark shadow but was too weak to really turn around. Someone gave a sharp command and the hairy beast let go of its victim. Then a loud shot rang through the room and the Legionnaire fell down limply because a bullet had bored directly into his forehead. Friends…not enemies was my only thought.

"Josef…" That was Simone who had regained consciousness beside me. She bent over me and helped me to sit up although I was still breathing heavily. Her lip was cracked and bleeding, but I could not see much more of her because the next moment I had a much more hairy face with a much longer nose in my field of vision and a wet, long tongue slipped over my cheek, nose and forehead, freeing me caringly of my blood and the blood of my last opponent.

"All… all right," I mumbled and tried to withdraw my face from this kind of comfort while at the same time such a fit of sentimental gratitude came over me that I in fact dug my hands into the thick fur of Monster and hugged him briefly. I was alive – was still alive!

"God, you old stinking rag rug," I muttered, not quite all here, and was now at last able to push him away from me. I looked into the drooling, joyfully beaming face of my animal life-saver, shaking my head. "I swear to you, if one day we're really able live a normal, peaceful life in LA again, I'll invite you to the most expensive restaurant in town and you'll get the fattest, biggest piece of steak you've ever eaten in your life before, mutt. Even if I need to buy the restaurant to do it."

"Just watch out what you're telling him – he'll keep it in mind," I heard a familiar, young male voice next to me and a strong arm slipped around my waist bringing me almost a little too quickly onto my wobbly feet. I staggered back and my head started to spin again as a painful and almost unbearable hammering began in my head. But Manolo's strong arms held me upright as his worried father now appeared in front of me, eyeing me up quickly.

"Can you stand?" He asked and I just nodded. I felt so terribly sick that I was afraid I would vomit on his feet. Nearly dying was clearly one of the experiences I did not want to go through ever again. I urgently needed back my immortality… my strength… my life.

"Well, let's get out of here then," said Alejandro quickly and Manolo immediately set in motion with me.

Their Jeep stood in front of the door and an incredible feeling of relief grabbed me as my butt finally made contact with the rear seat and I let myself fall backwards onto the seat totally exhausted. Simone immediately slipped close to me and I raised an arm languidly and put it around her shoulders so that she could snuggle against my chest. I was too exhausted to be able to struggle against my own softness and I felt that she also was at the end of her tether and just needed this closeness. Quite apart from that it really felt good as she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly as if not wanting to let go of me. It somehow gave me new strength. So it didn't bother me either that she quietly shed a few tears.

The car drove off and I closed my eyes for a moment. It was not easy to cope with a human body… These conditions of complete exhaustion were too much to bear.

"Where are we going now?" I asked without opening my eyes.

"No idea," was Alejandro's not very encouraging response. "First of all, as far away from here as possible. Gabriel will call back soon. He wants to be on the safe side this time and insure that the traitor really is unaware of where our new hiding place will be."

I lifted my eyelids with difficulty. "Does that mean that there really is one?"

"Yeah," Alejandro replied and tried to give me in the rear view mirror a confident smile. But it didn't work as the concern in his eyes was too obvious. "He'll lead us there step by step and give no one the exact address."

An unpleasant feeling spread inside of me. Now that Simone and I were out of danger, I had time to worry about the others. "What about Mick? Did the traitor also know about their mission?"

Alejandro's eyes roamed back to the road ahead. His face had become quite a bit more serious and his anxiety increased. Then he nodded and the pressure in my chest, the difficulties breathing calmly and steadily were right back.

"Were you able to warn them in time?"

"We don't exactly know," Alejandro said tensely. "We had no direct contact with them. Our mission was to pick you up. Gabriel said he will take care of the rest."

I exhaled loudly and ran a hand over my mouth and chin. Simone had again risen up a little but she looked at me not at Alejandro.

"If Gabriel took care of them, I'm sure nothing happened to them, Josef," she tried to calm me down. "If there's anyone who has even the most delicate situation under control, then it's him."

I looked at her for a long time. Then I nodded - not because she had really convinced me, but because I did not want to upset the others. For there was something I had over them: I was much older than all of them and had already seen some great people fail and fall. No one was perfect. Each person made a mistake at some point. I only hoped that the moment Gabriel fell would not be today.


	28. Among Predators

_Back again! Now you'll see how it goes on with Mick and Beth and their two new 'friends'. Hope you'll like it and leave me maybe a little comment. Thank you so much for the last reviews (__**betsal **__it's so great to also get a few words from someone new – Thanks a lot). They are keeping this story alive for the really help me to go on. So feel hugged all of you! See you at Sunday again, yours Jenna/Lilith_

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**A****mong Predators**

He had abandoned him again, was betraying him shamefully, was giving up in the face of his fears and memories, the panic that always made everything worse. _He_ - this weak, traumatized human within him. But he couldn't help it… the tunnel was just too long, too dark, too narrow… his enemies just too close. He could feel them, feel their eyes on his back, could feel their fingers reaching out for him, wanting to drag him back to the hell from which he had escaped. His breathing became fast and erratic, his heart was beating wildly in his dry throat and cold sweat was slowly forming on his skin, while his eyes fixed on the light at the end of the tunnel. His need to start running, to use his vampiric abilities in order to escape this oppressive narrowness was so immense, that he was barely able to keep it under control. But he couldn't give in to it, couldn't let anyone see what was going on inside him - not even Beth. She needed a strong, determined man at her side, not the panicked, mentally ill human nor the raging vampire, who both wanted to emerge. He had to fight… to struggle… repeatedly tell himself that the stomping of feet on tile floor behind him, and the echoing shouts were not really there, couldn't be, because the tunnel they were hurrying through was neither tiled nor concreted. Walls of sand and stones, and wooden pillars, which prevented the tunnel from tumbling down, were all there was to see here. The rest only took place in his mind, which was caused by the panic attack, triggered by the narrowness of the long tunnel as they escaped.

'Don't think about it… just don't think,' he said to himself, and focused on the other people around him. First there was Carl, who looked back again and again suspiciously at him, prepared to use his gun if Mick made one wrong move, and then Talbot, who was having a hard time not turning around, but couldn't help casting at least a glance over his shoulder every now and then at him. Mick's short mental lapse had shocked him severely and Mick wasn't sure how he was going to make it up to them, if indeed it turned out that the lawyer and his friend were completely innocent of causing their current predicament. However, Mick still wasn't convinced - even though Beth seemed to believe the men. Beth, who led them all with truly admirable concentration and determination. He should take a lesson from her, for she herself had to be just as frightened.

'Breathe easy! Focus on the goal!' he encouraged himself, like he had when he'd trained with Gabriel so many times before. The goal was to get out and give the Legion the slip and to achieve that, all they needed was to continue heading for the fast-approaching exit.

'Concentrate! Look for all possible risks before they can cause a problem!' This was usually hard for Mick to do when he was in such a state of excitement. But practice made perfect… Another deep breath… 'Open the senses, without letting the vampire out… Let the energy flow, take in your surroundings, no matter how much it depresses you…'

It wasn't easy doing this while walking, but somehow he managed it, for he was suddenly able to pick up a very faint hum in the distance. The helicopter. He could hear the helicopter, even from several meters below ground! But there was something else, a tingling sensation, which started on the outside of him and sent a shiver of the most unpleasant kind through his body - and suddenly Mick knew something was going to happen. Out of a deep instinct he accelerated his pace, took hold of Carl's arm and rapidly caught up with Talbot and Beth, who gave him a bewildered look, before also pushing her and the attorney forward with all his might.

A dull explosion and rumbling was heard above them and for an instant the earth seemed to shake. Some of the supporting wooden columns back behind them cracked frighteningly and then earth and stones began to rain down on them.

Mick let go, not of the people he pushed with superhuman strength forwards, but the vampire within him, released the energy they now needed to avoid being buried beneath tons of earth. Once again, they moved faster, while Logan's shrill voice echoed through the button in his ear.

"Oh God! Run, runnnnnn! They've blown up the building! The tunnel is certain to collapse!"

Mick slid in front of the others while running, threw himself with all his might against the closed door in front of him and ripped it with such force off its hinges, that it slammed with a loud bang against the side of Logan's Van, parked only a few meters in front of them. And in a cloud of dust and sand Ben, Carl and Beth tumbled just a breath later out of the loudly collapsing tunnel.

Mick caught Beth half-way, held her and let his eyes roam over her body concerned, making sure that nothing had happened to her.

"I'm… I'm okay," she stammered, wincing as another loud crash was heard from a few meters away. Mick's eyes wandered over the slight hill before them, saw the dark clouds of smoke rising from the building, in which they had just been sitting a few minutes ago and he shook his head in disbelief. That surely wasn't the part of the Legion wanting to negotiate with them.

"Good God…" he heard Talbot stammer, stunned, next to him and looked at the man. He was chalk-white and gasping for breath, now probably more from the horror that had gripped him than because of their small sprint. "This is pure madness…"

He and Carl winced violently as the door of the van behind them slid open loudly and Mick turned around immediately, and saw Logan stick out his curly head.

"I know the view of an exploding factory is a beautiful sight, but the helicopter there-," he pointed at the heavy machine, fighting its way through the billowing smoke, making another pass over the destroyed building, "-takes away a bit of the enjoyment somehow. Especially if they discover us and get the idea they should fire their other beautiful missile at our nice vehicle here."

Mick nodded, and immediately pushed Beth into the van, telling Talbot with a nod that he could join them. He wasn't going to force him to come with them. But he also didn't need to, because both the DA and Carl immediately got in motion and climbed hurriedly into the van after Beth. Mick stopped at the door and held out his open hand to Logan, who let the keys fall into it without a murmur. He cast a glance at the burning inferno behind them and the machine hovering over it and then also climbed quickly into the van, inwardly deeply concerned.

The path through the forest was narrow and the canopy of trees hid the van from the eyes of their hunters for now, but Mick was well aware that this would not last for long. At some point they would come to a place in the road that they would become easily visible. But, that the men of the Legion had acted so radically would have a somewhat positive effect. They would think, at first, that they were dead and it would take them a while to figure out that there were no remains left in the destroyed building. However, this was no reason to breathe a sigh of relief yet, because it was still not entirely clear who or what had betrayed them.

"Where… where are we going now?" Talbot probed an uncertainty in his voice that for him was quite uncharacteristic.

Mick glanced into the rearview mirror. Since there was no wall separating the driver's seat from the rear of the van, he was able to see quite well what the other inmates were doing. Logan had sat down in front of his computer and was typing in a couple of commands, while Ben and Carl had sat down fairly close to each other on one of the rear bench seats and still didn't seem to have really recovered from their shock. They were both very pale and looked around apprehensively, thereby radiating great inner tension. Mick, however, was much more concerned about Beth, because she too looked terribly anxious. Her face was ashen and she seemed to be trembling.

"No idea," Mick answered the lawyer's question a bit absently. "First thing we need to do is get as far away from the factory as possible." He focused briefly on the bumpy road because it was curving ahead of them and then looked back at Beth.

"Beth?" he asked softly and she immediately raised her head, searching through the rearview mirror for contact with his eyes. "Do you want to come up here and sit in the front seat?"

She nodded, almost relieved, and climbed over to him, slid then with a deep sigh into the passenger seat, buckled up and closed her eyes.

"You don't look so well," he said softly, and she lifted her eyelids exhausted.

"My circulation has probably sagged a little with all the excitement – that's all," she replied in a tone that should have relieved his mind, but failed to have the desired effect, because he clearly felt, she too was somehow worried. But he didn't have the chance of continuing dwelling on it, because Talbot was talking to him again.

"We should try to contact the police and ask for an escort," he said with emphasis and drew out a laugh from Logan. Mick saw in the rear view mirror that Talbot cast an angry glance at him, but the young vampire didn't seem to care.

"Haven't you only recently yourself noticed that the Legion could listen in on police radios and manipulate them?" he asked the lawyer.

"That doesn't mean they're able to control the entire police force," Ben replied again in his old self-aware-indignant tone. Apparently he too was a man who even in stressful situations could bring his feelings quickly back under control, remained capable of acting and alert.

"I could call Patrick," Carl suggested, already reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, but he stopped when Logan quickly turned to him and made a gruff gesture.

"If I were you I wouldn't do that," he admonished him. "Right now we shouldn't radio _anyone_, while we're still near the helicopter. Who knows what kind of radar they have!"

"So what are _you_ doing?" Ben responded with a nod in the direction of the laptop.

Logan looked for a moment a bit confused. "Oh, I see… yeah. I'm only checking on the recordings of the security system in the factory to determine if there were any signals sent from a transmitter…"

"And?" Talbot urged immediately and Mick listened tense.

"Nothing but ours."

"And could this have lured them here?" Mick asked now.

"I think it's highly unlikely," was the consoling answer. "Seth really came up with something quite brilliant, something you wouldn't be able to find so easily when you don't know what you're looking for. Quite apart from that, we owe all this stress to a traitor within our ranks… but for safety sake - could I have the stick back again?"

Ben took an audibly deep, lightly strained breath, reached into the pocket of his jacket and handed Logan the stick, who immediately turned and began to fiddle with it. Ben turned back to Mick.

"I don't get this whole story yet," he admitted with slight reluctance. "I thought you were so terribly important to the Legion - why would they want to kill you then? That would make this whole negotiation thing a little difficult, wouldn't it?"

This tone! Mick couldn't help it anymore - he just _had_ to throw on the breaks a bit more violently than was necessary when they had reached a crossing, and Talbot had to struggle with his balance - unfortunately, so did Carl and Logan, who with quick reflexes held onto his laptop, and cast a horrified glance at Mick through the rearview mirror.

"Sorry," Mick muttered as Beth also looked at him warningly. But he couldn't bite back the small smile slipping over his lips anyway.

The street they now took was relatively empty and so they were able to drive on freely, now no longer hidden as well as before. Mick immediately felt uncomfortable in his skin, but was trying to fight the feeling with all his might with positive thoughts.

"Is this a result of the Legion splitting?" Talbot tried to win back his attention and showed by his question that he had retained a lot of information from the last conversation with Ritchcroft and them.

"There's a side that just wants to see us dead," said Beth now and turned a little in her seat towards him. "And as it's looking right now, they don't seem to care much about _you_ either, Ben."

"They don't seem to care about _anyone_," the young lawyer replied softly, shaking his head. Then he let out a barely audible sigh. "I certainly hope that after all this you believe me when I say I've _nothing_ - absolutely _nothing_ to do with these sick people, so there was no reason to… attack me the way you did Mick!"

So he _hadn't_ completely discarded this little incident with a shrug, as it had initially appeared. But unfortunately he was also not intimidated enough to touch upon this issue.

"So what do you want?" Mick replied a little roughly and focused pointedly on the street. "For me to apologize?"

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea," Talbot snapped back.

"There were very few people who knew about our meeting, Ben," Mick responded in a harsh tone, looking at him now through the rearview mirror, "and I trust the two people who came with me today with my life. So for me, there were only two suspects…"

"… of whom _I'm_ apparently the least trustworthy," Ben concluded with a false smile.

Mick shook his head. "You were the closest."

Ben let out an angry laugh while Carl's brows now contracted with a mixture of anger and horror.

"I don't understand why you'd want to work with Ben if you have so little confidence in him," the policeman interfered now. "Quite apart from the fact that it's not _us_ who's… who's acting so strange…"

"It's not like that," Beth replied quickly now, while anger was already beginning to seethe in Mick anew. "We _have_ confidence in Ben, but we've all had to learn the hard way a few times in our lives that we can still be mistaken. And in a situation like this it can be a_ fatal_ mistake. We are all under a tremendous amount of stress and so we sometimes react the wrong way when we feel threatened. That doesn't mean we shouldn't work together any longer - or do you see it differently?"

Carl took a deep breath and then shook his head a little cumbersomely, while Ben looked at Beth thoughtfully.

"No," he finally said. "But it would be nice if someone didn't try to strangle me anymore…"

Mick gave an angry laugh, but bit back the comment that was on the tip of his tongue, because Beth had just put her hand on his forearm, letting him know that he should pull himself together a bit more. Basically she was right, but he found it really difficult right now not to let his hostility for the lawyer spill out. 'Strangle'…

"It's imperative that we're all convinced that cooperation is absolutely necessary to put a stop to the Legion's game," Beth added quickly. "And that we also show this fact outwardly."

"Is this directed to me, Beth?" Ben asked back, even though he already knew he was right in his assumption. He didn't even wait for her answer. "I've no doubt the best way to finish off the Legion is to do it together. I just wanted to point out that certain behaviors may have a slightly detrimental effect on the relationship."

Mick inhaled annoyed but let himself be calmed again by the slight pressure of the small hand on his forearm. He pressed his lips tightly together and focused on the run of the road anew.

"We understand," she said softly. "And now that we know neither of you are working with the Legion, we'll certainly be able to meet your request."

Talbot apparently didn't have a come back for this, because for a little while it was quite silent in the back of the van.

"Well," Mick heard Ben finally say again. "There are still a few things I'd like to discuss with you that will really be important for future actions. I'm not only thinking that_ we_ should work together but that we should also use any other assistance that's offered to us."

Mick heard him move, heard a familiar snapping noise and when he again looked into the rearview mirror, Talbot was handing a business card over to Beth.

"For quite a while I wasn't sure if I should give you this card, even though he asked me to…"

"Sinclair-Jones and Summers - legal advice," Beth read aloud and Mick looked at it with a side glance. His head began to work… Sinclair-Jones… He had heard that name from somewhere before. "He doesn't work there any longer and is now only a silent partner with the firm," said Talbot, while Mick continued to rummage about diligently in his memories. "But you can still reach him at that number."

"Wait…" There it was, the correct recollection. "_Rudolph_ Sinclair-Jones? Wasn't he for a long time one of the judges of the Supreme Court?"

"Yes, and one of my uncle's closest friends."

"And _he_'s the one who knows about the Legion and wants to help destroy them?" Mick could hardly believe that. A man with his connections could well be very valuable to them all. But somehow the whole thing seemed pretty suspicious…

Beth seemed to think the same way - that showed with her next question: "Can we trust him?"

Ben gave her a look that clearly expressed his indignation about her question. "I've known this man since I was a child, Beth. He was my mentor and has supported me in my career as much as he could. And he has a very strong sense of right and wrong – it wasn't for nothing that he was appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court. He's one of the few people _I_ would trust with my life."

"And how is it that he's aware of the Legion?" Logan asked the question that was already on Mick's tongue.

"They've also tried to pull_ him_ in on their side when he was younger," Ben explained readily. "But they had a tough time of it with him and he even started to pursue investigating them. He got them into quite a lot of trouble, but could never truly destroy them. And at some point he was too old and ill to continue to go after them."

"And how exactly did it come about that you discussed this issue with him," Mick asked now and wondered why the feelings of mistrust in his chest wouldn't diminish.

"Through my own research," Ben admitted after a brief moment of hesitation. "I searched the archives for similar cases such as Jefferson and Miller's, for cover-ups and abrupt dismissals of trials. I have to admit though, this action wasn't very successful because some of the important files were missing. But I knew who would have some insight into some of them…"

"Your old friend Rudi," Logan said with a little grin that immediately disappeared as Ben looked at him angrily.

"Is that true?" Mick probed immediately and sought through the rearview mirror contact with Ben's eyes. He saw him nod.

"I spoke to him right away afterwards and that's how we came to exchange information about the Legion," he continued. "Don't worry. Rudolph didn't know much about you. He never took the stories of demons and vampires the Legion told him about serious and I only told him that you're currently fighting against them. He was really interested and told me that he would love to talk with you and would offer you the information he's collected along with his help. That's the reason for the business card."

"And you think his information is still useful to us?" Mick asked doubtfully.

"Well …" Ben bend down to his case again and eventually brought out a few stapled sheets of paper. "These are lists of companies that worked in his day with the Legion. Some of them no longer exist, but there are some still in business and have only changed their names and owners."

"And? Have you already check them out?" now Beth asked with slight strain in her voice.

"A few," Talbot returned without detail and instead of elaborating, just smiled mysteriously.

Mick bit back an irritated groan and forced himself to once again focus on the road, although there was still no real traffic - they had previously only passed one tractor. But Mick wasn't about to let the attorney get him to beg for more information - no matter how hungry he was for it.

"Um… so are you going to tell us what you found out or is this another one of those childish guessing games?" Logan felt called upon to keep the conversation with Talbot alive.

The lawyer uttered an enraged laugh. "_I_ play no games here! I just don't want to be the one constantly revealing all the information, and get nothing in return."

"Didn't you just say you want to work together?" Beth asked.

"That's right," Ben laughed. "Worktogether _with_ you - not _for_ you!"

"Well. Then just let us know exactly what it is you need to get this feeling of togetherness."

"What are your plans for the next mission?"

It became deathly quiet in the car and Beth's questioning look at him told Mick that _he_ was the one who should make the decision about what they could tell Ben.

Mick inhaled deeply and tried to push away his reluctance to open up to the lawyer and relax a bit. 'He's important to us. We need him!' he told himself internally.

"Our main concern right now is to free Peterson," he finally began to explain. "Not only because _I_ need him, but also because we want to prevent the Legion from continuing with their research. Our second major goal is to exploit the division in the Legion and to further weaken it in order to force them to negotiate with us."

"And how do you plan to weaken it, if you don't even know where they're hiding?"

"With the exact same method you're using. By finding their suppliers and eliminating them - their companies and other lenders."

"Is this the reason why Matthew Perrington disappeared for a few days without a trace?" Talbot probed and really shocked Mick with this knowledge, so much so that he at first wasn't able to comment.

"After all he was one of the suspects you were investigating even before you were kidnapped," Ben explained.

"How do you know that?" Mick asked, surprised.

"You forget that I too had the file with the notes from your investigation in my hands…"

He had indeed forgotten, but it didn't explain how Talbot remembered this name so easily. Unless…

"You made a copy," Mick replied, and was sure he was right.

"But of course," Ben admitted outright. "And I'm truly interested in finding out now, what happened to him."

Mick didn't answer. Not because he didn't want to, but because his attention was suddenly distracted by something outside their vehicle: They had just driven past a driveway on a dirt road, where a dark car had stood waiting under the shade of a tree.

"Mick?" Talbot tried to regain his attention, but Mick didn't react, only stared tense into the rearview mirror to see if something moved behind them. His heart took an unhealthy leap when the hood of the strange car pushed out of the driveway and then the entire car turned off in their direction.

"What's wrong?" Beth now asked worriedly, immediately noticing the change in his posture.

"Somebody's following us," Mick answered briefly and saw in the mirror that one of the occupants of the foreign car held something out of the window and attached it to the roof. A police siren, which started to howl the next moment and cause the others to wince.

"Police?" Carl asked, surprised, but also with a touch of joy in his voice.

Beth now also threw a glance into her side mirror, while Mick tried at breakneck speed to ponder what all the possibilities were that he would need to react to.

"Looks like plain-clothes officers," said Beth, but she clearly displayed she didn't really believe it.

"In _this_ area?" Logan asked, shaking his head at once, while Carl shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not?" he said lightly. "Were you driving too fast?"

Mick's gaze scurried over to the speedometer. He in fact had been driving too fast but that certainly wasn't the reason these alleged plain-clothes officers were now pursuing him and even flashed him.

"Mick, just pull over," said Ben. "If this really is a police patrol, Carl and I can resolve this very quickly."

Mick thought for another second, then slowed down, and drove the car to the side of the road. If he stepped on the gas now it would only arouse suspicion, and the helicopter was clearly too close and too fast for them to outrun. There would be no way for them to lose it here on this lonely stretch of road. So they had to play, for as long as possible, as if they were just normal people in transit, and hope that the men, if they were indeed with the Legion, would recognized them only when there was an opportunity to overcome them.

"Okay, we'll let them approach us first and see what they want," said Mick, without turning to the others. His eyes were fixed on the mirror watching two men now get out of the car that had stopped a safe distance from them. They wore no uniforms, just casual jeans, leather jackets and sunglasses, but Mick was sure that they were hiding weapons under their jackets and somehow a strange aura ran ahead of them. They tried to move as relaxed as possible, but Mick could feel their inner tension from afar. He breathed slowly and deeply, trying to again awaken his vampiric senses without transforming, like he had practiced with Gabriel, but he was still so shaken by the earlier events that he really wasn't able to succeed. It wasn't the wild beast that rose inside, but the tingling throughout his whole body and again the slowing of his pulse revealed that, Mick the vampire, believed he could handle the whole situation better than his human alter ego. And maybe he was right.

Only now did his hearing perceive the accelerated heartbeat of the two men and an electric crackle that came from their direction, which told him that the two were in radio contact with someone. Mick closed his eyes briefly tried to focus stronger on the radio. But unfortunately no one seemed to be speaking at the moment so he couldn't tell for sure whether these were truly men of the Legion or not.

The footsteps outside told him it was time to open his eyes again and he found that the men were now almost at his door.

"Don't say anything!" he hissed backwards quickly, then the first of the two policemen was already at his window and Mick felt compelled to wind it down. The sunglasses made it difficult for him to see what was going on inside the man, but his much to fast pulse and tense posture betrayed that he was afraid. Suspicious…

"What's your hurry," the dark-haired, slightly pinched-looking man greeted and he even forced a smile onto his lips as he bent forward a little to have a look at Beth. "You were driving a little too fast. Would you mind stepping out of the vehicle, please? And I'll need your driver's license and vehicle registration too."

Mick's thoughts were tumbling again. Attack or stall some more?Even if these men _were_ real police officers - Talbot had still not been able to remove their pictures from the police database and the Legion certainly would have wiretapped their radio. So there was really only one solution. Admittedly, it would have to proceed as quickly and smoothly as possible so they'd have no chance of alerting anyone else. And since Mick couldn't see the other man at the moment, it was probably better just to get out of the car for now.

"But of course officer," Mick replied with a friendly smile and turned briefly to Beth. "Honey, could you mind looking for the papers while I get out in the meantime," he said with emphasis and Beth's worried nod and hard swallowing told him that she had understood his message: 'Stay in the car!' He was so hoping that this time she would.

The door of the van creaked threateningly, as Mick opened it and the man before him made an almost respectful step backwards, while one of his hands slid treacherously under his jacket. Mick knew full well that he drew his weapon and tried to tease his senses into maximum performance, as he climbed out of the car.

The other 'policeman' was further back from the van, with weapon already-drawn, which he immediately pointed at him and Mick raised his hands, looking round for further sources of danger with minimal motion. There were no other noises coming from the direction of the other vehicle, so there was no hidden enemy, and the hum of a helicopter was still not heard, or the sound of other car engines. So there were only two opponents, with small-caliber weapons, as Mick looked down the barrel of the other weapon. This could actually turn out okay…

"Keep your hands up!" the leader of the two snapped now. "And no sudden moves! And the woman has to get out!"

Mick braced himself, trying to figure out which of the two he should go for first as he now noticed that Beth had in fact opened the passenger door and was getting out of the van. He watched in horror as the man to his left, aimed his gun directly at Beth's head when she appeared behind the van. But Mick didn't get the chance to lunge full of rage at the man, because at that very moment someone from back of the van began to stir and pushed the door open, and in doing so caused the officer to then turn with his weapon around and point it at the young man, now getting out of the van as well.

"Stop!" the officer yelled, while his comrade uttered the well-known words "Hands over your head!" and his weapon was now also aimed at the young lawyer who at once stopped in his motion and did what he was told.

"Relax!" Ben answered. "I'm ADA Benjamin Talbot. We're investigating an urgent matter in this area. So please just calm down!"

Of course the men didn't, but became even more nervous. Again and again they aimed their weapons on another person, clearly showing how overwhelmed they were with the situation. And that was really dangerous.

"Okay, who's still in there?" the man to Mick's right uttered, while Mick tried to come up with a new plan that would allow him to protect Beth _and_ Ben while still overpowering the two men. Ben couldn't answer the question, because the little radios in the men's ears now made themselves felt with a noticeable crackle and caused the two to wince slightly.

"How does it look?" Mick heard the distorted voice of another man, while his own heart beat became even faster and the energy tingling throughout his body increased even more.

"So far, two men, one woman," the policeman said quickly. "Unarmed."

"You stopped them?" The other voice almost cracked with terror. "I told you to just follow them as long as we're still looking for the corpses! If this is in fact the guy that escaped, you won't be able to handle him alone! He's a lethal weapon!"

There it was again. This twitching of the energy field around them, a twitching that betrayed the situation was escalating, triggered by panic and the negative reactions of the affected people. Everything around Mick seemed to move in slow motion for a few seconds, because his senses, his instincts and his reflexes had learned to cooperate with each other faster than with any other living being. He saw Talbot taking a step toward one of the officers, heard the lawyer start to explain, to reassurance him that this was all just a misunderstanding, but then widened his eyes in horror and raised his hands in self-defense, as the man pointed his gun directly at his chest and pulled the trigger. It was another instinct, coupled with the feeling of cool determination, that caused Mick to move to the side at that same moment, throwing himself in the line of fire.

The impact of the bullet threw Mick backwards against the lawyer, who struck the van hard and was knocked out. Mick felt the bullet rip through the muscle between his ribs just millimeters below his heart, cut through flesh, tendons and veins with tremendous speed and then graze another rib when it shot out the other side in a most painful manner. But the pain didn't knock Mick out. The vampire in him had not only learned to block the pain but to also use it to gather additional powers in his body and immediately use them. Mick turned while in his unwanted backward movement, tore his leg up and kicked the larynx of the man before him with deadly precision, while at the same time saw another shadow shoot, with superhuman speed, out of the car next to him and throw himself onto the other man, who had also just pulled the trigger.

Mick ducked and at the same time pressed the completely paralyzed lawyer lower to the ground, so that the bullet only struck the van directly above their heads. He heard a muffled growl that drowned the horrified sounds of the other man and then the cracking of vertebrae and knew Logan had averted the danger. Mick raised his head and peered over to the gasping, slightly twitching body of the man who had hit the ground very close to them. His weapon was a few feet away and presented no threat to them anymore, quite apart from the fact that in only a few seconds, the man would not be among the living anymore.

Mick straightened a bit, inhaled with a hiss as the pain returned and shot through his entire left side, and had to prop himself up with one hand behind him to keep him from falling backwards. Sticky, warm wetness soaked through his shirt, ran down his side into the waistband of his jeans and told him his injury was serious. He was loosing blood much too quickly. His heart had now doubled the speed most human hearts were capable, and he felt his body temperature rise rapidly - a sure sign that the healing process was only now starting. Just as the tingling in his upper jaw and the very rapid onset of thirst told him that he was currently producing too little blood to compensate for the loss of blood. That wasn't good and would make everything even more difficult.

Mick closed his eyes briefly, trying to push the pain back again and along with that to get his wild side under better control, which was now screaming louder and louder for blood. Blood… delicious, human, life-sustaining blood…

"Don't move! Stay where you are!" The voice was echoing strangely in Micks ears and the panic it held, wasn't to be missed.

He opened his eyes again, looked up at the dark-skinned man, who, pale and agitated, pointed his gun in turns between Logan and him.

Logan, at whose feet the other policeman's lifeless body lay, uttered a sigh of irritation and grimaced. "Oh, come on – this is ridiculous!" he said. "_We're_ not the bad guys!" That one could now see, as he spoke, the tips of his sharp canines and that his eyes were too bright, somehow dampened the effect of his words significantly.

"Carl, what are you doing?" a woman's voice close to Mick called and only now did he noticed that Beth, shaking her head and with deep concern in her eyes, had fallen to her knees next to him and the still speechless Ben, and was gently touching his shoulder.

There it was, this extremely seductive scent she always gave off and immediately increased his hunger. Mick backed away from her, frightened by his own lust for her blood and in doing so caused a panic stricken Carl to immediately point his weapon at him. Logan ducked down a bit to leap at him and Mick quickly lifted a hand to halt him, shook his head, so that the young vampire stopped somewhat disappointed. Carl had also noticed the gesture and spun around to the other supposed threat, backed away to the van as if this could protect him in some way.

"What… what happened to your eyes?" the policeman uttered in a trembling, almost desperate voice.

"Carl…," now Talbot's voice was heard behind Mick and he finally felt the lawyer move, that he had recovered from his horror enough to get up carefully.

"Shit! Look at their eyes!" Carl uttered with growing panic, and now seemed to be as overwhelmed with all the incomprehensible events around him as his two dead 'colleagues' had been earlier.

"Carl! Put down your gun!" Ben's voice was now much stronger and stricter and Mick once again shook his head very slightly, because Logan was clearly telling him with his eyes that he was ready to overwhelm the now totally confused looking policeman.

"Carl!" Now the ADA even sounded slightly annoyed. "Do what I told you! These men wanted to shoot me! Mick saved my life!"

Mick closed his eyes, tried to bring himself at least to a state in which one couldn't tell so clearly what kind of creature was sleeping inside him, but the vampire inside him refused to relinquish any of his powers, showed him with a significant, very painful pulling in the slowly healing wound, that he couldn't do without these powers right now. Mick stifled a low moan, and couldn't prevent his upper body from slightly tilting backwards. There were, at once, two hands that grabbed his upper arms, and held him upright - a smaller, more tender hand and a man's strong hand. And the smell of humans, of their blood, their cold sweat. The rapid beating of two hearts so close to him… warm, seductive blood, rushing through their veins…

Mick screwed up eyes more tightly, gritted his teeth, listening to his body, past the greed, to recognize when he would be able to transform again without endangering his own life.

"Mick?" Beth again sounded so terribly worried, thus it was _her_ who was in danger, _her_ blood he craved for so painfully. "Tell me… tell me what you need. What should we do?"

"Maybe we should lay him down." That was Ben again, sounding similarly concerned as Beth. Most likely because the left side of Mick's shirt was completely soaked with his blood by now. "We have to look at his wounds, and try to staunch the flow of blood…"

"It's already slowing down." That was Logan, who was now also quite close to him. Apparently, Carl had indeed calmed down and was no longer threatening them. "And you two better back away."

"No way!" Beth exclaimed scandalized and her grip on Mick's arm became so firm that he now felt compelled to open his eyes again and look at her.

A wave of visible relief swept over the young woman at his side.

"Why… can't you ever… just stay in the car?" Mick brought out with difficulty and forced himself to keep his gaze on her face and not stare at the throbbing vein at her neck that all his other senses were immediately directed to.

She gave a little laugh, blinked away the tears that for some reason were in her eyes, leaned forward and simply pressed a kiss to his temple. "And why do _you_ always have to throw yourself into the fight fearlessly and put your life in danger?" she responded softly and Mick was almost relieved when she again withdrew a little and freed him from the pull of her warm, inviting body. But they couldn't exchange any more words, because a fine crackle was heard from the bodies of the two policemen and Mick's gaze at once merged with Logan's.

"Fuck!" the young vampire uttered, came, in one surprising fluid motion, to his feet and rushed over to one of the bodies to rapidly take his headset.

"Yes!" he exclaimed with an imitation of a voice that came fairly close to the pitch of the dead man's at his feet.

"What's going on with you?" a deep male voice boomed through the headset with a dull roar in the background.

"We… we've got everything under control again," Logan replied quickly. "Everything's all right…"

"But there were shots and…"

"Yeah, yeah, was a small mistake. One of them got out of line and we had to shoot them. Apparently they were only civilians…" Logan was really good.

"You shot them all?" The man sounded almost shocked.

"Yeah, there was no other way…"

"And they're really dead?"

"Yeah."

"All of them?"

"Yes. We want to burn them now."

"Certainly not! We must first see if the guy we've been searching for is perhaps among them. We're on our way to you – so wait. Don't do anything!"

Logan looked wide-eyed at Mick and let out a faint "Okay." Then the connection was broken.

Mick's heartbeat became faster again and his thoughts began to tumble. The helicopter was on its way to them and would be there within minutes. No time to escape. "Fuck!" it burst out of Logan again, and Ben and Carl cast confused glances at him, while Beth had become very pale, and again proved once that her senses worked just as well as those of a vampire.

"What… what are we going to do now?" she uttered only very quietly.

Actually there was only one way out. "We hijack the helicopter."

For a moment the others only looked at Mick totally bewildered, watched with wide eyes as he got up slowly and staggered to the body of one of the policemen, firmly gritting his teeth, because the pain had intensified more than he could hide and his slowly healing wound opened and started to bleed again.

Logan was the first to recover. Understanding lit up in his eyes when Mick sank to his knees next to the dead man and started to take his jacket off. "Exactly!" the young vampire exclaimed almost enthusiastically and emulated what Mick was doing and started to take the leather jacket off the other corpse.

Mick had to stop and close his eyes when another stab of searing pain shot through his side again and with it came a slight dizziness. The additional consumption of red blood cells from the healing process was now taking its toll. This was now evident in his rising body temperature and his ever increasing hunger.

Mick felt a movement beside him and opened his eyes dully. It surprised him, not only to find Beth next to him, but also Ben, who, with a disgusted look pulled the dead man's other arm out of the jacket and finally took it.

"Don't you think they'll know what their people look like?" Beth asked him with a trembling voice when Mick looked at her, keeping himself only with difficulty from staring at her neck.

"They won't be able to recognize our faces from above," he responded. "And once they land... it'll be too late…"

The vampire inside him growled threateningly and images flashed past his inner eyes. Screaming people, throbbing carotids, bright red, warm, wonderful blood that poured from fresh wounds… he could almost taste it…

"Mick?" This was Beth's hesitant voice and there was also her throat, so close to his face, her hands pressing against his shoulders, pushing him backwards.

He blinked, confused, ran a hand over his face, as he now backed away from her, terrified. He turned away and instead looked directly into Ben Talbot's widening, disbelieving eyes. The young lawyer was still kneeling beside the corpse, holding the leather jacket in his hands, unable to move.

Logan came up to them, nudged Ben briefly and handed him a pair of sunglasses. "Hurry! Put these on and the jacket! You need to play the other cop! I can already hear the helicopter approaching!"

Ben responded like a robot, put on the jacket, not able to avert his eyes from Mick. It wasn't surprising, for Mick himself knew his appearance wasn't really something that Ben and Carl would normally see: with white-blue eyes and elongated fangs. Mick pressed his lips together, to conceal his deadly canines, quickly turned away from him, and readily allowed Logan to pull him to his feet.

"Can you make it?" the young vampire asked him worried. "Unfortunately I don't look anything like that man. You know, figuratively, and all…"

Mick nodded, tense and let Logan help him into the jacket under Beth's increasingly anxious gaze. The pain wasn't as bad, and the wound was now healing quite well despite his lack of blood - at least one thing was finally going right.

"And you… you want us to just lie down and play dead…" Carl asked insecurely.

"Yes and do it now," Logan replied tense. "And you need to stay down, keep your eyes closed and don't move until everything's over."

He gave his best example, went to his knees and laid down with his face towards the ground. Carl hesitated a moment, but as Talbot nodded to him, he did what he was told.

"I hope this is gonna work," Mick could still hear Ben mutter, then Mick's attention shifted to Beth whose concern had now turned to real fear. She had picked up the sun glasses of one of the dead and handed them to him with trembling fingers, but said nothing, got to her knees and laid down, while her frantic heartbeat seemed to echo in Mick's ear, and almost seemed to drown out the much louder roaring of the approaching helicopter.

Nevertheless he could hear Talbot's slight cough and he turned to face him, quickly hiding the eyes of the monster in him behind the dark sun glasses.

"How… how exactly are we going to do this?" Ben asked him and the fear and tension in his voice could no longer be ignored.

Mick also had to cough before he could speak. His throat was so terribly dry. "We'll stay here and try to look as relaxed as possible. And when they land you take shelter somewhere and wait til everything's over. Logan and I will do the rest."

Talbot was wearing sunglasses and Mick couldn't see his eyes - but he clearly felt the doubt coming through in Ben words. "Are you sure you can handle this?" he asked, although he was now able to hear the helicopter himself.

Mick nodded grimly, straightened his shoulders, and took a deep breath. The beast in him was now much stronger, was felt more clearly, and slowly took control to activate the last energies in his body. Everything around him seemed to become clearer, sharper, more distinct, reached deeper into his consciousness: the light wind that chilled his now greatly overheated body, the sun beating down on his head, the trees around him, the people at his feet, waiting full of anxiety for what was to happen next, and the steel bird approaching them at a rapid speed.

Mick's eyes quickly scanned their environment. There weren't that many sites for the helicopter to land. On the left side of the road was a corn field and on the right side too many trees. Actually, the only possible place to land was on the road and as far as Mick could tell this was exactly what the pilot was about to do. Mick raised his hand and waved at him as the heavy machine made a semicircle above him and he prayed inwardly that the men, there in the sky, still hadn't discovered that they were the ones that had escaped from the factory and because of that would have a false sense of security.

"They're really going to touch down," Ben muttered, and raised an arm over his face, not only to cover it a little, but also because the wind of the rapidly descending helicopter had already become so strong, that leaves, dirt and small branches from the trees were flying all around them.

Mick tried to breathe more calmly and evenly, and to keep his raging insides under control, but it became harder and harder the lower the helicopter came. The vampire within him knew exactly how risky the plan was, knew it all depended on him, on his speed, his strength, if they were going to survive this intact or not. And at the same time he hungered terribly for a fight, for killing, for tearing his enemies to shreds and finally taking their blood. They deserved to die – all of them!

The heavy machine finally touched down and immediately a door opened and two men jumped out. Another soldier remained in the helicopter next to pilot, a rifle at the ready.

Mick let go, freed the predator from the burdensome grip of his mind and let him jump with a huge leap towards the surprised men. He only needed a second to be on top of the first soldier, twist the gun from his hands and ram his fangs into his neck in the same motion, ripping his larynx and trachea and leaving behind a gaping, heavily bleeding wound. When they hit the ground together, the man took his last gurgling gasp of air. Mick jumped up again, shot towards the helicopter, now very close, while the bullets of the gunman, still in the helicopter, whizzed only inches from his head. He didn't have to worry about the other soldier because from the corner of his eye, he had seen Logan descend on him and break his neck with consummate ease, just seconds after Mick had knocked out the other man. Yet it was clear to both of them, that neither would be fast enough to keep the gunman in the helicopter from shooting at them. The man now pointed his weapon, with terror in his eyes, right at Mick's head… The blast was tremendous, but the impact, the pain failed to appear, for the shot came from a completely different direction, from a completely different person, one who had suddenly risen from the dead: Carl Davis.

The bullet struck the soldier's forehead, dead center. He was thrown back, collapsed and dropped his weapon. Mick wasn't concerned with him anymore, just jumped, as he had previously planned, through the open door of the machine, grabbed the arm of the pilot, who was reaching for his comrade's rifle, pulled him backwards over the seat and sank his teeth deeply into the screaming man's neck, and immediately began to suck in his adrenaline-containing blood with greedy gulps. He felt Logan jump into the helicopter just seconds after him, and plant himself directly behind him, effectively shielding Mick and the dazed and barely struggling man in his arms from the others' eyes.

"Everything's alright now… we've got it all under control," he heard Logan call loudly as if from a distance, to try to prevent them from coming closer. But that was of no concern to Mick. All that mattered to him at the moment was the taste of the warm, fresh blood that flowed into his mouth, the sound of the human heart beating slower and slower, so close, so near…

"Mick, you need to stop…," he heard Logan say in a frequency humans couldn't hear. "Talbot is approaching. What you did with the other guy happened too fast for him to realize it. But if he sees you now drinking blood, he'll pass out."

Talbot… Slowly it dawned on Mick what Logan was saying and what he was presently doing.

'That's enough. You've got enough… enough to recover,' he said to himself, and indeed the predator reacted, slowly pulled away, withdrew his teeth from the neck of the dying soldier and let go of him reluctantly. The pilot's heart gave two more weak beats, then nothing more was heard but Mick's own rapid heartbeat, and his quick, heavy breathing.

"Do you mind lowering the gun again, Carl?" Mick heard Logan ask friendly while he closed his eyes, and tried to put on his innocent, human face again.

"Thanks." Logan sounded a little annoyed and his following snippy words only proved it: "'cause we're still not the baddies here - okay?"

"Are they all…?" Talbot's voice was already frighteningly close. Mick opened his eyes again, wiped the blood from his lips and chin as best as he could, and then let out a deep breath before he got up.

"Eliminated?" Logan asked back straight. "Yeah. No more danger."

Mick looked past him, looked down into the lawyer's pale, strained face as he stopped directly in front of the helicopter, just seconds before a breathless, very pale Beth, from whose eyes Mick could tell, she knew exactly what he had just done behind Logan's back. Fortunately, Carl was just as eager to join them, and he too paid no further attention to the other two dead people.

"And where exactly do we go from here?" the ADA asked one of many important questions probably spinning around in his head.

"We need to get as far away from here as possible before the others begin to miss their helicopter and come looking for it," Beth uttered with a shaky voice. "In fact they're probably on their way here…"

Mick nodded and let his gaze slide quickly over the inside of the helicopter. "Does anyone know how to cripple this? And as quickly and effectively as possible."

Carl stepped in a little closer. "I can do it, but… why not simply change our mode of transportation. We'd be gone in a flash with the helicopter and harder to trace."

Logan let out a little laugh. "That's _really_ a great idea - but can _you_ fly such a machine?" He uttered another laugh that remained stuck in his throat, because Carl now indeed nodded.

"Except, my last refresher course was a while ago…" he finally admitted a little hesitantly, while everyone else looked at him mystified. "If that doesn't bother you then…"

"You can really fly the machine?" Mick just had to repeat this one more time. Apparently luck was on their side today.

Carl nodded again, and Logan turned immediately to Mick, hardly able to conceal his enthusiasm about this fact. "Well, then I suggest we do a lil garbage disposal first, I'll get my laptop then off we go!"

Mick gave Logan an admonishing look, because he could feel Carl and Talbot were still having a hard time digesting all that had just happened and the fact that they were indeed vampires. The young vampire urgently needed to change his attitude with the two men. Otherwise sooner or later they'd leave and withdraw their cooperation or worse side with the enemy. Who in their right mind walks into a cage full of dangerous predators, into the middle of adversity and fear anyway - no matter how friendly they were?

After all, they still had a little time left to convince the two, that they really were more human than beast and that the beast in them was always in control - even though today, yet again, that hadn't quite been the case. The look into Beth's eyes, as he climbed out of the helicopter behind Logan, a little more agile than before, told him that _she_ at least had noticed his temporary wasn't comfortable knowing that, but more important was, however, that Ben hadn't noticed it. For one thing was clear: no reasonable person was going to be willing to work together with an uncontrollable, raging beast.


	29. Understanding

_So, here we go! The next chapter is ready and just waits to be read by you. I was so happy about your comments again. Thank you so, so much, this is always so motivating. I'm sometimes a bit ashamed that I don't answer directly to your comments but with all that writing and translating (at the moment I don't have that much help) and managing real life I'm unfortunately not able to do this. I hope you don't mind and still stick with me to the end. And if you have any questions just ask me. I'll try to answer them. Wish you a great Sunday and will be back at Thursday again, yours Jenna/Lilith_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**U****nderstanding**

* * *

"_Tell me and I will forget it. Show it to me and I'll probably remember it. Involve me, and I will understand it."_

_Native American Saying_

* * *

It felt like a dream. So surreal, so strange. A dream she desperately wanted to wake from, to put all these terrible things behind her, to see everything as it should be, so different, so normal, and peaceful. Beth had had these feelings, these thoughts so many times since being involved in this war with the Legion, but the feeling was particularly strong at the moment, was being nourished by this deep yearning for just a little normalcy.

Actually, she should be accustomed to fearing for her life and the lives of her friends by now - as often as they had been in such threatening situations. But, there are some situations you never get used to, that tear at you time and again, no matter how often you go through them. The fear, the fights, the gunshots, the screams of dying men all wore on Beth's nerves, took her again and again to the brink of collapse. And if Mick became hurt, threw himself fearlessly in front of a hail of bullets once again to protect someone else, she died a thousand deaths, especially now when she realized he was even more vulnerable as a hybrid than other vampires, despite his immense strength, and his wounds, at least in retrospect, had serious effects on his entire system. Not to mention the fact that he was inclined to turn back into a human far too quickly because he still didn't trust the vampire inside of him. This was also the reason Beth hadn't let him out of her sight, even though her eyes burned and wanted to close so badly, to rest them at least for a moment. She was so tired… so very tired…

The helicopter had risen into the air only a few minutes ago and they hadn't dared to relax, even a little, until then. Logan and Mick had wasted no time carrying the bodies of the Legionaries to the van and then set it on fire after removing the things they needed. And because of that, Ben and Carl had not been able to get a close look at the bodies, to determine the injuries they had died from. Beth was relieved, because she knew exactly what had been done to the pilot behind Logan's back. Even though she knew they couldn't leave any of these men alive… some sounds were just too hard to bear, and caused images in her mind she just didn't want to see. Why did all her senses have to work so well?

Fortunately, Carl had recovered relatively quickly from the horror of these events, as well as his first encounter with vampires and had plunged eagerly into becoming acquainted with the controls of the helicopter and disabling all the devices that could possibly reveal their position. All Ben and she could do was wait after this terrible struggle. They couldn't even start a halfway decent conversation. Both had briefly asked how the other was doing under the circumstances and then had become quiet again, busy with their own thoughts and concerns. Ben was now sitting across from Mick and was staring down at the burning van, which was becoming smaller and smaller beneath them.

"This is no longer just criminal activity… this… this is a fucking war," Beth was able to hear him protest above the not-too-loud noise of the engine - the _Legion_ really owned some very modern, and dangerously quiet helicopters - and finally he raised his head and looked at Mick, who managed, despite his growing exhaustion and his agitated state, to raise his eyebrows questioningly.

"They just started shooting. They didn't even stop to hear what I had to say, didn't even bother to ask who I was…" Ben shook his head, still badly shaken. His gaze wandered to Logan who was watching him, and then returned to Mick. "And you…" He didn't finish. Beth wasn't sure whether it was due to a lack of words, or to his modest, but still, newly acquired respect for the two vampires. He shook his head again. "… without any kind of weapons," he added to his unspoken words. "I… I guess this falls under the category of 'self-defense'…"

"It was indeed!" Logan replied with utter conviction.

"Although of course it would have been nice if you had let one of them live so we could interrogate him," Ben added and Beth registered a slight nod from the pilot's seat. Apparently Carl was trying to follow their conversation too.

"Well, they usually bite on poison capsules anyway," Logan waved his objection away and Ben gave him a puzzled look.

"Poison capsules?"

"Yeah." Logan nodded affirmatively. "Didn't you know?"

"Uh…" Ben blinked a little overwhelmed. "It's not like I've been involved in this kind of… situation before. So please, excuse my ignorance."

Logan probably missed the sarcasm in Ben's voice, as he patted his upper arm in a comforting gesture. "That's okay, you can't know everything - even as a shyster," he added, and then drug his laptop onto his lap and opened it. Ben blinked once,this time exasperated with Logan's behavior.

"Let's see how good the reception is up here," he muttered to himself and drew Mick's attention, who seemed to be struggling with his exhaustion and was still far too tense. Beth could feel the energy bubbling inside of him almost physically, and if she was honest, it even frightened her a little - just as the brutality of Vampire-Mick sometimes shocked her more than she cared to admit.

"Do you think you can reach Gabriel?" Mick now asked Logan.

"I'll give it my best try," the young vampire replied without looking up and, with total concentration, typed a few commands into the computer.

Beth could tell Ben was dying to ask them about Gabriel, but for some reason he hadn't yet. That he still waited was good, since it gave Mick time he needed to finally sit back and relax a little. He closed his eyes and exhaled audibly. It seemed the idea of contacting Gabriel greatly reassured him. Beth, however was anxious again, sat up straight and turned to him. She knew he had just turned back into his human form and hoped he had allowed sufficient time for his wounds to heal, at least to some extent.

One look at his slightly twitching face was enough to let her know that the pain was still quite intense. The muscles in his cheeks tensed up, as he clenched his teeth, his breathing became rapid and his body tensed for a brief moment before relaxing. It had to get used to coping with his injuries just like any normal human did.

"Mick?" Beth spoke to him quietly and he immediately opened his eyes, and turned to her. "Can I take a look at your injuries?"

He hesitated a moment, nodded and then sat up a little more. He gritted his teeth and tried not to show how much pain it was causing him to take off the leather jacket he was still wearing, and couldn't avoid the light twitching of his cheek muscles every now and then.

As was feared, his shirt revealed a truly gruesome sight. The blood had seeped almost to his other shoulder and covered the entire left side of his body from front to the back.

"Damn…" it slipped from Ben, who had leaned forward a little to get a better look at Mick's injuries, and had spoken the exact word Beth was thinking. Mick was now struggling, visibly in pain while trying to unbutton his shirt and strip it from his body. Beth pulled herself together in order to help him. She gulped down the thick lump in her throat and bravely fought the slight nausea that threatened to attack again, as she finally managed to gently pull the shirt away from the wound on his chest. Although it was mostly covered in dried blood now, Beth could quickly see the entrance wound in front was looking quite good now. It wasn't completely healed, but it had closed and wasn't bleeding anymore, calming Beth considerably. Mick gave a low, suppressed cry of pain when he tried to pull his arm out of his sleeve, and Beth quickly came to his aid once again by sliding the sleeve down and over his wrist, avoiding the need for him to lift his arm. He closed his eyes in relief and took a deep breath, giving an even more exhausted impression than before. But Beth couldn't leave him be, she just had to make sure everything was healed. She gently touched his shoulder and he knew immediately what she wanted him to do, and willingly turned his maltreated back a little more in her direction. Beth swallowed hard. The exit wound was much larger and looked much worse than the entrance wound. It had closed for the most part, but, had begun to bleed again, because of the movement it took to remove his shirt.

"The bullet went straight through," a deep voice next to her assessed, astonished, and Beth winced a little. She had been concentrating on caring for the wound so intently, that she hadn't noticed that Ben had come over to them and was now crouched next to her, examining Mick's injury with a mixture of concern and curiosity. He shook his head in disbelief. "Amazing that it already looks like that… But it should still be treated… or will it close now anyway?"

He looked inquiringly at Beth, who only shrugged her shoulders a little unsure. She really wasn't that familiar with the whole subject yet. Logan came to her aid.

"Nope," he said with a waving gesture and threw a short glance at them. "Just look at him… that's not gonna happen…"

"Logan…" Mick said softly. Actually, it should have been more of a warning, but he just didn't have the strength at the moment to say anything other than his name.

"What do you mean exactly?" Ben obviously wanted to get back to the younger man's remark. He looked a little confused and Beth totally understood. Even though she knew a lot more than he did - with everything that had happened around her and all the information she had picked up day after day, it was still just as overwhelming.

"He'll need more blood before his wounds will heal completely," Logan said casually, not even looking up at the lawyer. His eyes were concentrating on his screen. "Hmm… strange. Gabriel writes that I should dial back in under a new ID number and if possible, use a new security code as well…"

"He needs blood to heal his wounds?" Ben asked with wide eyes, while Beth looked around the helicopter for anything resembling a first-aid kit. Ben was right - the wound needed to be taken care of. _Mick_ had to be taken care of. He seemed to be getting more tired and if she wasn't mistaken, she had seen the first signs of a tremor running through his body.

"Among other things," Logan murmured absently, while his fingers flew over the keyboard.

"Why?"

Mick took another deep breath and turned slightly towards Ben. "Because some things don't work so well in my body," he replied tiredly. "This is one of the negative effects of this special strength. We need blood and cold to regenerate. We don't produce enough of it ourselves…"

"You're not producing enough blood?" Ben repeated and his immense interest in learning more about vampires and their unique condition was clearly written in his eyes. He was really brave, after everything that had gone on around him, was fighting against his insecurities and fears with all his might.

When Mick didn't respond to the lawyer's question, Logan felt motivated to raise his head again and tilted it astutely. "Yes… in fact you could say we all have chronic anemia, which we can only get a grip on by tapping into humans."

"Logan!" came a second warning from Mick, but Ben was no longer shocked by Logan's words.

"That means that this… this need to drink blood is caused by some defect in your body?" Ben asked now with a much firmer voice, looking at Mick this time. But he didn't answer. The processes taking place in his body had drained his strength at such an immense rate that all he could do now was close his eyes exhausted and take another deep breath. Beth had found a box under her seat with a red cross on it, pushed a somewhat astonished Ben to the side and pulled the box out, lifted it to her lap, and opened it immediately. The men of the Legion had to be very safety conscious people, because the kit had been very thoroughly stocked with all the major dressings. It didn't take Beth long to quickly choose the correct bandages and then set out to gently clean Mick's wounds, and then dress them.

"If you… ingested blood now, Mick," Ben started again after a short pause, "would that heal everything immediately?"

Mick didn't respond, didn't seem to notice that the issue was again being addressed to him and Beth, who had just finished her work, and now leaned forward a bit to take a closer look at him. He had closed his eyes, still breathing far too deeply and rapidly. And there it was again, the telltale tremor that ran through his body and caused a brief, but barely perceptible cramping of his left hand. Not good, not good at all…

"Mick," she said to him, and he lifted his heavy eyelids again, trying to focus on her. "Did you bring the syringe-bag with you?"

It took a moment for him to comprehend what she was asking him, then he nodded briefly. "In my jacket…"

Beth looked around frantically, completely ignoring Ben's questioning look. Her experience in recent days told her there wasn't much time left. Where the hell was his jacket? She knew they had brought it…

"Wait… here!" Logan had also understood what was going on, pulled the jacket, which he had been halfway sitting on, from under his bottom and quickly tossed it over to her. Something fell with a clatter from one of the pockets, but Beth wasn't concerned with that right now. She had already felt which pocket the syringe-case was in and took it out with slightly trembling fingers. This time, Simone wasn't there to help her…

But the cramps hadn't really started yet and Mick was awake enough to turn and take the case from her.

"Beth…" It was Ben's voice, and she turned to him reluctantly, as Mick opened the case and took out the necessary equipment to inject himself with the needed meds.

Ben had raised his eyebrows curiously and held something out to her that she identified upon closer inspection as a CD. "This fell out of his pocket," he said and after another brief moment of confusion, she realized _which_ CD it was and that it was actually already in the correct hands. But she didn't get the chance to say that, because Ben's eyes were no longer on her, but now rested with an expression of serious concern on Mick - Mick, who was clearly doubled up next to her, breathing sharply through his nose. Beth turned to him immediately, supporting him because he had fallen forward a little and with a wildly beating heart, helped him to somewhat sit up again.

"Okay, what do you need me to do, Mick, what should I do?" she uttered troubled, as she started to take the syringe he had just raised from his hand. But he shook his head and pushed her away a little.

"I… I can still do it myself," he pressed out tense, stretched out his arm and quickly inserted the needle into the crook of his arm with the ease only a doctor or drug addict had. The drug was injected rapidly and Mick leaned back in his seat exhausted, closed his eyes again and tried to breathe as deeply and calmly as possible. Beth gathered all the utensils and carefully put them away in the syringe-bag, inwardly praying the medicine would work quickly. She couldn't cope, neither physically nor mentally, with another attack like he had had in the motel, at the moment.

"What's going on?" she heard Ben ask and as she searched for his eyes again, she noticed he had returned to his seat, still holding the CD in his hand. "I mean, do all… special… people have these problems after using their healing abilities?"

Beth didn't know how to answer, but she finally decided the truth would be best. Something had changed in Ben's attitude. He didn't seem as cold and arrogant as usual and… was that a trace of compassion she was seeing in him whenever he looked at Mick now? Perhaps the truth would deepen this…

"No," she said softly. "Mick needs these drugs now because of the experiments that were done on him…"

"What happens if he doesn't get them?" Ben asked for once.

"He'll get painful cramps," she replied calmly.

"But he won't die…?"

"That can't be ruled out," Logan now added. "That's exactly why we need Peterson. Thanks to these insane scientists, with Mick things are even more complicated than for us normal… genetically… special... people… "

Ben looked at each of them thoughtfully. "This means Mick is currently unable to live like a normal person, because these people have changed something in his genetics that turned him into a junkie, so to speak…"

A chuckle came from Mick's direction, but he didn't open his eyes, was still too exhausted. It proved, however, that he was still capable of listening to them. "Junkie…" he murmured softly. "Actually, the word fits quite well…"

Ben looked at him for a long time and his gaze became a little more compassionate, almost a sympathetic expression. "What… what were all those other tests for then?" he asked softly, and Beth furrowed her brows a little confused.

Ben noticed her questioning gaze, and looked at her seriously. "The doctor showed me the X-rays and body scans, when I went back to that hospital. He had taken them after surgery to make sure Mick didn't have any additional internal injuries and…" He hesitated, looked back over to Mick, who was still not really responsive. But Beth knew that he was listening when his body tensed once more with Ben's words. "He said he had never seen a body with so many healed fractures. A lot of older bone fractures, but also some that were newer and scar tissue from deep cuts and stab wounds…"

Mick's eyelids now lifted, his worriedly flickering glance searched the lawyer's, while Beth's intestines cramped painfully. What she was hearing was horrifying, but even worse was that Ben was speaking so openly to Mick about it, confronting him about things that had happened to him in the past and he was clearly not up to dealing with it at the moment.

"You… you've seen scans of me?" he asked very quietly.

Ben nodded heavy-hearted. "I… I didn't really understand it all. And to tell you the truth, I don't think I really _wanted_ to understand, didn't want to… to believe these horrible things were happening. But now it all makes sense…" He paused, because Mick had long since ceased to hold his gaze, had turned his head towards the window, visibly upset. Ben let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry… but I… this is all so confusing and somewhat daunting to me and… I'm just trying to understand how everything is connected… what happened to you, Mick."

Mick's spun his head around to Ben so suddenly that even Beth flinched a little. "I can't remember, okay?" he growled at the recoiling lawyer. "There are _very_ few things I remember and I'm grateful for that. One thing I can tell you is how I got the broken bones. I fell, during one of my attempts to escape, from a dangerous height to a stone floor. Is that a good enough explanation?"

Ben pulled his eyebrows together. "So does that mean they didn't torture you, didn't conduct the same experiments on you as they did with the other vampires? Didn't use weapons or poisons on you, as you mentioned earlier? Didn't consciously test how effectively your body would heal after these serious injuries?"

Mick gave a sound that bordered between anger and amusement, and shook his head in disbelief, but the troubled look in his eyes, that again avoided Ben's questioning look, gave him away. Beth was now sure Ben's implications were right on the money, and her intestines contracted even more.

Mick stared at the floor for a moment, then took a deep breath and finally looked at Ben with such intensity that the lawyer backed away from him a little for a second time. "I - can - not - remember!" he repeated with a slight tremor in his voice and everyone present knew he was lying. But, for a few painfully long seconds, no one dared say anything.

Only the faint beeping coming from the speakers of Logan's PC redeemed them from this oppressive tension. Logan quickly jostled the headset out of the pocket of his jacket and put it on even faster. Then he gasped an excited "Yes!" into the mic.

"What direction are you currently headed in?" Beth heard Gabriel's wonderfully soothing voice and concluded from the surprised look on Ben's face, that he must have been visible on the laptop, which Beth unfortunately couldn't see at the moment. She turned a little and put her hand on Carl's shoulder who was sitting just behind her in the pilot's seat, and had not heard Gabriel's question due to the engine noise. He winced a little, but then turned his head halfway to her.

"In which direction are we flying?" she asked a little louder.

"North-east - so far without a goal," he replied with a shrug.

Gabriel truly did seem to have exceptional hearing, because he didn't need anyone to relay the information. "That's good," Beth heard him say. "I want you to fly to _Pearce Ferry Airport_, near _Lake Mead_. I'll send the coordinates to Logan and will send further instructions later. Try to relax and get some rest. We'll distract the _Legion_ enough to keep them from searching for their missing helicopter. And Logan, make sure there's no homing beacon on the helicopter…"

"What about Josef and Simone?" Mick threw in worried and it was obvious that he only now remembered their friends in horror - just as Beth did, and her stomach was immediately uneasy again.

"The two are safe and will probably arrive even earlier than you," came the reassuring answer, and Beth sighed with relief.

"Will you be joining us at this new hiding place as well?" Mick asked and one could tell just how much he wanted to see the old vampire again, and to finally discuss everything with him again.

"I'm already there and a few other important people will be arriving shortly as well."

"That means there will be another meeting?" Mick concluded immediately.

"Yes. The latest developments make it necessary. But the meeting won't take place until tomorrow evening, so… just try to relax. You're in dire need of this now. See you then."

A faint crackling revealed the connection had been broken and Logan took off his headset. With a small sigh he leaned back in his seat and looked around the small gathering. "Well, doesn't sound _too_ bad," he tried to cheer them up, but they were all still too busy with their own thoughts to really respond to him.

"What kind of meeting are we talking about?" Ben asked and didn't look at anyone in particular since he wasn't sure who could answer the question best.

"Well, you see, a few of us who are fighting against the _Legion_ get together every now and then to go over recent events and then discuss how to proceed," Logan replied lightly.

"And this… Gabriel will be there, also?"

Logan nodded.

"I would very much like to talk to him…"

"He probably wants to talk to you too," Logan said with a small grin, but then stopped short. "Oh wait, it's more likely your uncle he'd rather talk to…" His eyes fell on the CD Ben still held in his hand, and so it escaped him when the young lawyer's brows contracted in confusion.

"That's meant for him, by the way," Logan said nodding to the CD and then Ben, who was now totally confused, stared at the CD for a moment and then back at Logan.

"This is for my _uncle_?" he repeated what he understood him to say but looked as if he would be pleased to hear something to the contrary.

Logan also frowned now a little surprised. "Am I stuttering or something?"

Mick gave a deep sigh and shook his head. Beth was sure it wasn't Logan's reference to the CD that bothered him, but his somewhat awkward phrasing.

"Gabriel asked me to give you this CD," Mick added explaining. "He wants you to give it to your uncle."

Ben looked skeptically at the silver disc. "And what's on it exactly?"

Mick shrugged his shoulders, but abruptly stopped with a pain-stricken face. He had completely forgotten about his injury.

"We don't know," Beth quickly jumped in for him. "He only said the matter was of the utmost urgency and that it would be about a certain… Daniel… Lental…"

"Haniel de L'entant," Mick helped her again, and Ben's eyebrows wandered slightly upwards.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

Mick began a shrug again, but remembered in time and went back to a verbal form of communication. "It should at least mean something to your uncle…"

"_My_ uncle is supposed to have something to do with this Gabriel?" Ben didn't only sound surprised but almost shocked. "I can't imagine this!" He gave a little laugh. "Gabriel is… one of your kind, isn't he?"

Beth nodded, but Ben didn't look as if he needed her to. "That would mean my uncle already knows about you."

"Not necessarily," said Logan. "We're pretty good at keeping our true identity secret."

"_Pretty good _isn't always good enough," Ben replied a bit more forcefully and rubbed his hand nervously across his neck, and shook his head immediately afterwards. It was obvious his mind was overworked, that it was hard for him not to let his thoughts be influenced by his emotions or even hampered by them.

"If Gabriel is turning to my uncle with the situation you're in at the moment, then he is more than likely involved in this whole affair or at the very least, knows about it." Ben shook his head again, obviously having difficulty processing this new information. Beth almost felt sorry for him. He seemed so disturbed, so amazingly human, like she had never seen him before. He took a deep, somewhat heavy breath.

"In any case, there's probably a connection between him and the plight in which you and now Carl and I find ourselves…" He paused then gave an unconvincing laugh. "This whole thing is becoming more insane by the minute. It's all full of half truths and secrets. It's no wonder no one can get a grip on what's going on."

He laid the CD down next to him, ran both hands over his face then looked over at Mick - looked at him silently for a while - making Beth very nervous. Something was going on in his head, something that was troubling him deeply, something important he was trying to resolve. Even Mick seemed, despite his own growing tension, not to want to interrupt him, held back and waited to see what would happen.

"Can it be that this thing with you, this whole battle between the _Legion_ and you is just the tip of the iceberg?" Ben finally asked softly. "There has to be something much bigger going on behind all of this. I mean, my uncle is a powerful man in our society and Gabriel seems to occupy a similar position within yours. Just as Rudolph still has much of the same power and influence he used to. This state of war, these overreactions by all parties… why is this happening _now_? Why did it all escalate _after_ your abduction?"

"Apparently it's not only the research but also an older conflict that has regained its importance," Mick replied openly. "And this split within the _Legion_, that's upset everyone and forced them into action."

Ben was shaking his head again. "That makes sense, but it doesn't explain why such powerful people have, one by one, become involved in this whole affair. There's something else going on we're still missing - something that has triggered this whole situation, but we're just not seeing it. And I'm not talking about the rumor that the _Legion_ wants to breed a kind of super soldier - as scary as that thought may be. My uncle would never have approved of that, would never have allowed himself to become involved in such a thing." Ben breathed deeply again, was once again visibly trying to sort through his thoughts. "If he really is involved in this whole thing, and knows Gabriel, if he might be able to intervene, then… then he'd also have a common history with the other participants. And if that's the case, it makes me wonder how many other important people are involved in this and what their motives are. And most important, why none of the people we trust the most, haven't told us the entire story. I'm sure my uncle was just trying to keep me out of the whole affair, not without reason, just as Gabriel has, for good reason, concealed information from you about what's on this CD… Have you tried to check it out?"

"Yes, but we can't decipher it without the code," said Logan, who now also seemed to be quite troubled.

Another angry laugh escaped Ben, followed by the associated head-shaking. "This is totally unbelievable! Here you are fighting for your survival and yet there are people who are keeping secrets from you. And I bet my uncle will be just as 'cooperative' as your important friend…"

"The only question now is how we're going to handle this," Mick responded and his eyes glowed again with a little more energy and fighting spirit. "Do we just accept the cover-up or are we going to do something about it?"

Logan let out a disapproving sound, and leaned back in his seat a little. The idea of going against Gabriel's orders still seemed to displease him. "Are we going to start this again…?" he murmured softly, and at once received an angry gaze from Mick.

"Yes, we _are_, Logan," he gave back a little too harsh even for Beth's taste. "I have a right to know what's going on. We all do. I never asked for any of this. Until a year ago I didn't even _know_ there was such a thing as the Legion and would never in my wildest dreams have imagined that someone would be able to turn my life so completely upside down, to literally change _everything_. I'm not myself anymore, I've been forced to travel from one hiding place to another in constant fear for my life as well as those of my friends and I'm finding out every day that there are things I thought were factual in my life, that weren't real at all, that the truth as I knew it, doesn't really exist and that there are _very - very_ few people in my present life that I can really trust to have my back. I'm fed up with just accepting it when somebody hides something from me, with the people behind all this turmoil secretly pulling the strings which has brought so much evil down on us, without telling us what's really going on!" Mick himself had noticed he'd become a bit to loud in his angry outburst, for he paused a moment, took a deep breath and addressed much quieter, more controlled the young lawyer. "Just like you Ben, I want to know what's going on and what's yet to happen. And if the information isn't provided freely, I'll take it by force. In whatever way it takes…"

Beth could hardly believe it, but Mick's passion, his determination and his fighting spirit had captured Ben; this was reflected in Ben's eyes, as he agreed with a significant nod, and if she wasn't mistaken, for the first time since the two men had known each other, there was even a hint of admiration in the now amazingly warm brown of his eyes.

"I'm in!" Ben added with emphasis. "If we want to achieve _any_thing in this serious situation, we need the _whole_ truth. And we'll only get it from the people who have so discretely taken a backseat in this whole affair."

Mick nodded with a small smile. "Your uncle and Gabriel."

"And Rudolph," Ben added, and even let himself become so carried away as to return Mick's smile. Beth couldn't believe it. Within hours, the suspicion and hostility between the two men had changed into a genuine willingness to cooperate, which could very well turn out to be, genuinely productive.

"I think there will soon be some very intense discussions," said Mick, looking almost as pleased as Ben was now.

Beth wouldn't want to be in Gabriel's shoes when they landed. To face the questions from even one of these two men would be a challenge - but to be cross-examined by both, would make even a vampire as old as Gabriel sweat. Apart from the fact, that she too had a few very important things to clarify with him. It seemed as though there were going to be some tough times ahead for the ancient vampire - if it hadn't already happened a long time ago…


	30. Displeasure

_Hey there! A little surprise for all of you: Here's the new chapter – a bit earlier this time for I have again craftsmen in my flat and won't have the time to post this early enough tomorrow. So I do it now and here in Germany it's already Thursday ;o). Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed your last comments (were so many this time and I really loved them… class on vampires – Vampire 101 and Logan as the teacher- Moonjat, I really like that idea) and will be back at Sunday again. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna/Lilith_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**D****ispleasure**

There are ways in which one likes to be awakened from a light sleep. For example, by the warm body of a human woman snuggling closer to you because she simply can't get enough of you; or by the smell of fresh blood, that penetrates your nose, because some nice person brought a glass of it to your bed. But what wasn't nice, was when someone rudely shook your shoulder or if pain ensured that you were taken away from the world of dreams against your will, as was currently the case with me. The pain began somewhere on the right side of my face and then made its way throughout my body, seemed to reactivate many small pain producing epicenters and made me open my eyes very carefully. The bright light surrounding me blinded me a little and I had to blink a few times before I could lift my lids completely, but then I succeeded - at least with one eye. Next to the pain that radiated from it, my right eye didn't really seem to want to obey that order and when I lifted a hand to it, I felt that it was pretty swollen. Well wonderful!

Nevertheless, I tried to look around a bit and discovered I was still sitting in Alejandro's - now closed - car, which was also still moving rapidly over the street with the same passengers inside. It felt like my neck crunched a little when I wearily turned my head to one side and in fact found a warm woman's body beside me. Only Simone had leaned in the opposite direction in her sleep, warming the car rather than me and the blood I smelled was old, and I also knew to whom it belonged: me.

On the whole, I really felt like shit; worn out, put through the wringer, tired, dirty and totally out of sorts. It was all so not my thing, so not the life I had chosen centuries ago and had loved so dearly. And somehow it had to quickly be put to an end. I took the remainder of my pathetic human strength and made an effort to get myself in a more upright position. I saw Alejandro's eyes in the rearview mirror, saw that pleased gleam in his eyes.

"Well? Awake again?" he asked softly, probably to not wake Simone and to not bring his son, who was slumped in the front passenger seat, out of his steady snoring rhythm.

I only managed a half-hearted nod. "Ha…" I began, but the hoarse croak, which probably should have been my voice, caused me to stop. Not to mention that my lower lip was swollen and hurt like hell. This was just getting better by the minute. I really didn't want to know what my face looked like at the moment, especially after the loving massage the two legionnaires had bestowed on me.

Instead, I gave another try at constructing a full, meaningful sentence. "Has… Gabriel… al… already phoned… an answer?"

Well, it was a full sentence, but did it make sense? My stammering seemed to be enough for my friend, however, because he was already nodding.

"It's been a while though and we'll be at our new hiding place any time now."

"Oh, yeah?" I looked out of the window a little confused and found the sun had already started to set outside. And the area around us had changed as well. The small, charming houses lining the street told me we were probably driving through a village in which the poorest rural people didn't necessarily live. Everything looked pretty, new and tidy.

"You've slept quite awhile," Alejandro was trying to dispel my confusion somewhat.

Apparently I had, but I still didn't feel much better. Humans were sooo sensitive. It slowly made me wanna…

"Is there any news of Mick and Beth?" I just asked the next important question, and Alejandro dispelled some of that nagging uneasiness with a slight nod.

"They were able to escape and are also now on their way to our new meeting place."

I took a deep, relieved breath. At least there was one positive thing in this whole mess. Next time I would most certainly not let my friends face the battle alone - no matter what state I was in. I certainly couldn't have faced anything worse _with_ them, than alone in that motel.

"Where are we?" I tried to distract myself from these thoughts.

"This is a relatively new subdivision for the beautiful people in the vicinity of Lake Mead," Alejandro explained with clear sarcasm in his voice. We were now passing a long, light brick wall that protected a slightly larger estate from prying eyes.

"_Little Willow_ was written on the place-name sign earlier", my friend added.

This name gave me the creeps. Somehow this place sounded like harmony and peace - a complete contrast to the situation in which we found ourselves at the moment. And I was really surprised when our car started to slow down and we were turning into the driveway, which belonged to the secured area.

'Senior Residence Little Willow' stood in large, intricate letters on a sign above the entrance, which opened automatically and actually offered us admission. I blinked a few times. Something went really wrong. Alejandro, or rather Gabriel couldn't be serious.

The gravel path, flanked by pines, led through a spacious park with small pavilions, terraces and benches right up to the large, bright and cheerful looking building in front of which a marble fountain spat water in sparkling fountains into the air. But we didn't stop in front of it, but drove on to one of the smaller, more modern looking wings of the building, before we finally came to halt in front of its main entrance. The people here had probably forgotten to attach a sign at the front of its entrance with the words 'only for rich people'. If it turned out that I was never going to be able to turn back into a vampire, I knew where I was going when I became old and frail.

I winced violently, as a strange scratching noise came from the trunk behind me and was able to evade the broad skull that pushed over my seat just in time. Monsters round, amber eyes were really big and he blew his stinking breath into my face out of sheer excitement, letting a few small drops of saliva hit my cheek. I shrank back even more in disgust, not only causing myself further pain with this sudden movement but also bumping against Simone who immediately stirred and sat up in alarm.

"Has… has something happened?" she uttered at my shoulder, but the dog hadn't allowed me enough room to turn to her, because even now one of his huge paws was pushing on the backrest as he eagerly made an effort to climb over to us.

"Monster! Get back!" That was Manolo's drowsy but still quite stern voice and the colossal dog indeed shrank back a little, and sat down onto his butt.

"Everything's all right," I could hear Alejandro say to Simone and I could now finally turn so I could face both.

Simone was a little pale, but quickly seemed to get her bearings. Her anxious eyes sought mine, wandered in obvious shock over my face and I was once again grateful I wasn't currently able to get to a mirror – Alejandro's rear view mirror that was, was angled so I couldn't see myself.

"Gabriel's waiting for us already," my Mexican friend continued immediately and did not give us the time to talk about my miserable state.

"Are… are you sure you haven't misunderstood him?" I asked hesitantly, with a slight nod to the old man who just moved past our car with his walker.

Over Alejandro's face slipped a little smile. "Absolutely. And to tell you the truth, this place is pretty well chosen - I mean, who would look for us in a retirement home?"

Well, he certainly had a point there. It was highly unlikely that the Legion would come to such a conclusion - even _I_ wouldn't have dreamed of something like this. And the thought of meeting Gabriel was incredibly reassuring. Not only because he was such a clever strategist, and had usually been able to handle all catastrophic situations quite well, but also because he could possibly attend to my other little problem. With that in mind I was the first to open the car door and, despite my ailing condition, made an effort to get out of the car. But that was easier said than done, because my muscles were not cooperating with the commands of my mind, screamed in protest for more rest and I hadn't even got up from my seat yet. And now even Manolo climbed nimbly out of the car, grabbed one of my arms to try and help me up. How humiliating!

"Drop it!" I hissed at him and he shied away from me frightened, watched me confused, as I clung to the frame of the car to more or less successfully fight my way into the open. "I can… do - it - alone," I added strained and in fact I got to my shaky legs - at least for a few seconds, because the pounding pain in my head and my immediate circulatory collapse made me tilt forward right away. Manolo's responsiveness could almost compete with that of a vampire, as he made a quick step towards me and caught me. I squinted and automatically held onto his arms. This throbbing… it was unbearable.

"You have to be careful, Josef," I heard Alejandro's gentle warning voice beside me. "You've been through quite a lot. Maybe you should let a doctor take a look at you…"

"It's okay…" I muttered and opened my eyes again, shifted so my legs were carrying the weight alone again. Even though I was still feeling a little dizzy, I felt the muscles of my legs were strong enough now to keep me upright and allow me move on my own again. Manolo gave me a questioning look and I nodded to him, so he finally dared to let go of me.

Another, more delicate hand laid on my arm and I looked at Simone's worried face. "Alejandro's right," she said. "You really should see a doctor. Surely we'll be able to find one here…"

I hinted at a headshake. "What I need, no doctor can give me," I said softly and I didn't have to say more. In Simone's beautiful face showed a hint of disappointment, but she forced herself to give me a small encouraging smile. I wanted to return it, but another, darker car approached the house and drew my attention. My pathetic human heart was beating a few beats faster. In the last few hours I had just experienced too much to respond to strangers with my old cool calm and serenity. But since the car had stopped behind ours, I found out quickly it wasn't really a stranger. The tall, darkly dressed man that gracefully climbed out of the car was all too familiar to me – in a very unpleasant way. With minimal movement, he made sure that his slimy side part didn't hamper his view and eyed me up with such a pitifully arrogant smile that it left me hot and cold at the same time with rage.

"Kostan…" he brought out quietly and the sound of his voice betrayed even to my limited human senses how much he enjoyed my miserable situation. "You really seem to have run out of luck at the moment…" He approached me. His smile became almost a grin, and he let his gaze glide once more amused over my admittedly sorry looking appearance. "Is there something I can help you with?"

I gritted my teeth tightly. Lance knew very well I would prefer to remain forever human than to have _him_ turn me back into a vampire. Well… maybe not forever, but for a while…

"No?" He tilted his head slightly, let the package he was carrying wander from one hand to the other and then let out a low, derogatory laugh. He looked briefly at my companions, then turned his back to us and walked towards the entrance of the building.

"Who's that?" Manolo asked clearly disgusted, and I took a deep breath.

"No one – that's his problem," I replied with barely concealed hatred in my voice and started to set in motion, no longer so wobbly on my feet. Even though I couldn't stand Lance and usually avoided being near him, I didn't want to miss a minute of what he had to talk about with Gabriel.

The door of the building wasn't as heavy as it looked from the outside and I could almost open it without help - Manolo was just too fast for me - and then followed Lance as fast as my state would allow. Fortunately, he had just been stopped by a lady who probably amounted to something akin to a porter, and I was able to reduce my speed again, and look around a bit. The interior designer had probably not been able to make up their mind on what style they wanted and the indecision was reflected in this atrocious mix of modern age and baroque, reflected in the porch. Strict, cool furniture stood in contrast with almost wall-high gilded mirrors and squiggled stucco. I shivered inside. In case of my lasting existence as a human, I would definitely have to find myself another residence to spend my old age in.

That I, however, found myself taking a horrified step back the next moment, was not due to this lack of taste with which my poor eyes were being harassed, but because of this disfigured person staring back at me incredulously and scared from one of the mirrors.

"Good God!" it came over my lips barely audible, and I had to, despite the pain it caused, blink a few times. But the picture remained unchanged. The guy there before me, whose right eye was half swollen shut with a color spectrum between red and blue and whose lower lip had also unintentionally increased in volume by a deep bloody split was in fact me. I moved my chin forward a little and then shook my head badly shaken. Even it had become considerably thicker and showed a deep red to pale bluish discoloration at the lower edge. And all these blood splatters on my crumpled shirt…

"Josef…" The quiet warning in Simone's voice prompted me to let go of my own nightmarish reflection and turn to see Lance, who had just passed the 'receptionist' with a greasy smile and walked to the open door of a larger room. I immediately set myself in motion again and followed him, accompanied by my friends.

"You must be looking for Mr. Lancaster as well," the nice lady approached me as I almost past her, and it was obvious how difficult it was for her to hide her horror at my appearance. Even if the name meant nothing to me, I simply nodded and she pointed with a slight tilt of her head to the entrance of the saloon, through which Lance had just disappeared. "In the winter garden, right side."

It took me only seconds to reach the door and even less to see that 'Mr. Lancaster' was indeed Gabriel, who was at the end of the hall in the glass enclosed, richly planted winter garden. But he wasn't alone. Directly in front of him stood a dark-haired beauty, looking down, visibly struggling with her emotions. He had his head bend down slightly towards hers, directly to her ear, so that one side of his face could not be seen and reinforced the impression their two bodies conveyed standing so close to each other: that you had just disturbed a pair of lovers in a lovey-dovey embrace. But I knew the impression was deceiving. I could see, even for me, the tears visible in Coraline's eyes, the tremor of her chin and the serious expression in Gabriel's face. I knew he was speaking to her in this frequency only vampires could hear and more than ever I cursed my current fate, for I knew this was about more than just an objective exchange of information. I had no alternative but to focus on the body language of both to assimilate the scant information I was receiving as a human. Unfortunately, this wasn't really very much.

Coraline closed her eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly, so Gabriel straightened up and turned after a final look into her strained face giving a slight smile to the small advancing number of new guests. Lance had stopped for a moment, at a well-mannered distance from the two, only to move again when Coraline turned away, still clearly troubled, and sat down on a rattan seat quite close to her, turning her back to us. For her, completely unusual behavior, as I had always known her as a person who needed to be the center of attention at all times.

We were now close enough to hear Lance and Gabriel greet each other in French, but the smile they shared was more characterized by stress than creating the impression of being part of a genuine joyous reunion. More surprising was the joyful sparkle in Gabriel's eyes when he saw the package in Lance's hand.

"Well, so it's finally here," he said softly in French and my interest was aroused immediately.

Lance's uneasy glance over his shoulder in my direction did not escape my attention, nor the fact that his entire body had tensed slightly. He had to know that I also spoke French very well and understood Gabriel's eager statement. He said something to Gabriel, now using the vampire frequency, but Gabriel shook his head with a strange little smile.

"That's not necessary," he said audible to me and the others - now in English - and took the package from an obviously anxious Lance. Then he let him just stand there and turned with a much warmer smile towards us. His gaze slid full of pity over my battered form.

"I'm so sorry for all that," he apologized not only to me but also to Simone, to whom his eyes wandered immediately. "I wish I had known what to expect sooner…" He let out a resigned sigh. "That was really close call…"

"Very close," I agreed with a nod, ready to push back my thoughts and questions about the package for once and to concentrate on the current issues first that concerned us all. "Has the leak already been identified?"

"Not really," was the unfortunate answer, and Gabriel, moving past me, pointed with a welcoming gesture to a small sitting area close by. "But we're working on it," he continued, while I gladly followed his proposal and settled myself on one of the incredibly comfortable, dark leather armchairs. "What's clear by now is that he or she has access to information, which is really only known in the inner circle around us. This means either one of our close friends is a traitor or there's someone on the outside getting their information from contact with one of us. However, I fear our traitor has unfortunately learned we're on to him and will keep a low profile for a while. But you shouldn't worry about this now. You're safe here for now. And the people who'll be showing up here soon, I trust absolutely."

I found it really hard not to let my eyes wander doubtfully over to Lance, who had just joined Coraline, giving her a questioning look. But I maintained my control.

"Does that mean there's going to be another meeting?" I asked instead.

Gabriel nodded slightly and sat down opposite me, while my friends too found their seats. "But not today. You all need to rest first…"

"All of us? When will Mick and Beth be arriving?"

"I'm going to pick them up from the airport right now," Gabriel said, and something in his eyes told me that the idea of that didn't really make him happy. I could even bet on what the reason was.

"I don't think Mick will want to rest first," I replied and actually, was also indirectly talking about myself. "There's a lot to clarify, and a lot of open questions…"

Gabriel took a deep breath, then nodded almost resigned. "I know and the time will come when we can resolve most of these things. But that will not be this evening." Another deep breath followed his words and the old vampire thoughtfully looked past me. "There… there are a few things developing, I need to take care of myself, immediately."

"That means you're leaving already?" I asked, almost angrily. He couldn't be serious!

"Just for this evening," he replied and looked at me again. "Then I'll explain myself to you - I promise. But you need this break too. You'll need a lot of strength, for what's coming up on us. Things haven't developed like I had hoped they would."

His words didn't please me at all. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked immediately, even though everything inside me was reluctant to deal with any new concerns or problems. My whole body longed for the rest Gabriel had just spoken of. The word 'break' had previously never had such a beautiful sound.

Gabriel looked at me for a moment, then he inhaled deeply. "Rumors are increasing that one of the old leaders of the Legion has returned, and is attempting to reconcile the two estranged parties. What his motives are isn't yet clear to us. But it'll be a significant hardship on all of us if his plan succeeds…"

"How… how do you know all this?" I asked confused, even as the effort to suppress the budding fear about this new, alarming news grew.

Gabriel gave me a gentle smile. "I've lived for so long now Josef, that even if the rumors are different - for_ especially_ me_,_ the Legion has always been a threat. I've learned over time that there's nothing safer than to situate a few men here and there that I can, in times of need, obtain very reliable information from or even give me the opportunity to take a look, using an alias, into one or another source of the Legion."

"So that's how you knew that the Legion had figured out where we were," I blurted and Gabriel nodded affirmatively.

"And I really hope that my source has not blown his cover with that warning," he added.

"Was it the militant side of the Legion or the other one?" Manolo now tentatively ventured into the conversation.

"They weren't going to take any prisoners," said Gabriel seriously. "That answers your question?"

"Does that mean they've tried to kill Mick?" I asked with great unease.

Gabriel's chest expanded under a deep, heavy breath. The thought of what could have happened today seemed to take its toll on him greatly. "Indeed, but they were able to escape. That doesn't alter the fact that it should never be allowed to happen again. We'll have to move very, very cautiously, until we've found the traitors within our ranks and with everything around us developing so rapidly, it's easy to lose track. Therefore, it's vital for the heads of the various teams against the Legion to meet again and share our information. We have to plan and coordinate our next moves very carefully. As you said: there are so many things that need to be resolved…"

His eyes wandered to his hands, which were both closed tightly around Lance's package, as if it contained the solution to all our problems. Rectangular, thick… was this a book?

"And where exactly are you off to now, once you've dropped off Mick and the others?" I asked, although I really didn't expect to get a definite answer to my question.

Gabriel surprised me. "Coraline, Lance and I will meet with Thomas and Anthony. With Dexter's and Jason's help they've tracked down Henry…"

That was good news and could almost be classified as progress.

"And that could lead you directly to Cynthia." What an adorable, little optimist I could be sometimes. I hardly recognized myself.

Gabriel nodded with a reassuring smile. "And you surely understand that in no case I can bring Henry here," he apologized for his impending absence.

Now it was me that nodded. When Henry showed up here, there would be a riot that would be difficult to calm again. And if Mick was there too, it was quite doubtful Henry would survive the assembly at all - now that my friend knew that Henry was in some way to blame for his year of hell in the laboratory. However, every step it took to expose the machinations of the traitors in our ranks and to get hold of internal information about the Legion was incredibly important and tolerated no postponement - even if it meant that Gabriel left us alone once again and that I would have to wait with my own questions and thoughts a little longer. But I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to this, that the interrogation of Henry wasn't the only reason Gabriel had to leave so urgently.

"I know you still have a lot of things to do," the old vampire now turned to Alejandro, "but if it's at all possible I would ask that you stay here until the meeting tomorrow to deliver your new information and to describe your own view of things."

"I'll try," my old friend promised and even as a human, I could feel the discomfort that seized him with this idea. The more insider knowledge he surrendered in front of others, the clearer it became to outsiders that there had to be a reason for this knowledge… outsiders like his son… or Mick.

"Well," Gabriel said as nothing more came from me or the others. "I'm going to send Ruth to you. She will show you your rooms. And then you should eat something and lie down to get some sleep."

I nodded again, this time a little distracted, because my thoughts revolved around the next issue that made my life so complicated at the moment. "Are there actually other vampires present?" I asked as casually as possible. "Maybe Elizabeth… or someone else I know?"

A knowing smile crept on Gabriel's lips. "No," was his crushing response. "Most of the other vampires will show up tomorrow. And please, don't press Mick to re-turn you. He can't do that."

It took a moment for me to recover from his statement. "Why not?" I asked in a slightly defiant tone, even though I believed I already knew what was coming.

Gabriel uttered a little sigh, the nature of which I couldn't really figure out. Did he sound resigned or slightly annoyed?

"Mick's blood is quite different from a normal vampire's because of all the experiments," he said still very patient. "We don't know what it would do to other persons. It could be very dangerous to drink it - at least for most people. You might not survive it. Does this answer your question for the time being?"

I thought about that for a moment and then nodded. Above all, it was the 'for the time being' I picked up on. It incorporated something similar to a promise that he would answer a few questions for me on the subject. But my frustration with the fact that my friend could not do me the small favor of the re-turning could not be dismissed.

"Good then. And even _if_ another vampire should still show up here, Josef," Gabriel continued now admonishingly, "don't try to initiate a transformation without first talking to August about it. He's the only one who's likely to show up here tonight - at least wait until then."

This was getting better and better. First the announcement that my Sire was conspicuously absence, then the ban on the blood exchange with Mick and now even the admonition to not do anything until I check with that damned traitor-doctor! Everything boiled down to just one nasty, not to be embellished fact: I had to spend at least the next twelve or more hours in this damned human body. The thought made me really sick. Okay, so my mood hadn't been particularly bright since I had left the car, but it had now hit an unprecedented low.

Of course I tried not to let on, and even managed to smile a little, as Lance and Coraline approached us - probably because Gabriel had stood up, and signaled them he was ready to leave.

"It would really be nice if you could manage to calm Mick a little when he shows up," Gabriel said with slight concern in his voice, turning to me once more. "I think he's going to be very upset and absolutely has to get some rest again. I need him for the meeting and in a condition in which he'll be able to handle the news of our upcoming actions. And he should really drink the blood I left in the fridge in his room."

I nodded a few times as he spoke and was really glad when he finally left because my face was so cramped from smiling that it hurt – even more than my ever buzzing head and that's saying something! The rest of my day seemed to be shaping up really great! Not only did I have to continue to stay in this battered state, I also had to baby sit an ill-tempered, completely overwrought Mick - no, I even had to calm and feed him. How wonderful! As if I hadn't done enough of that already in recent months!

My 'enthusiasm' with this fact apparently showed all too clearly in my face, because none of my friends dared to say a thing. Instead, they looked at me with a mixture of concern and uneasiness.

"You… you don't have to take care of him by yourself in any case," Simone finally dared to say. "We're still here… and Beth. You should rest for a while. You really need it!"

"No," I shook my head vigorously and stood up taking a few steps away from my friends. "No. The only thing _I_ need to do is be myself again!" The volume of my last words made the others cringe a little. "Why doesn't anyone understand this – for Christ sake?"

I let out a deep sigh of resignation, closed my eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. I urgently needed to calm down. Human or not - my behavior was inappropriate for Josef Kostan. In fact, I immediately remembered a method I used even as a vampire to provide a small amount of calm to my mind and body. As a human it should work even better.

"Is there a bar somewhere?" I called out loudly in the direction of the exit, without really expecting an answer. "I suddenly feel the tremendous urge to posh this crappy life up at least a bit with strong drinks!"


	31. Ups and Downs

_Here's the new chapter again. Thank you so much for your comments. I loved each one of them! Yeah, I know Josef has to suffer a lot in my story, but he doesn't make the things better with his behavior. He's simply too impatient and unreasonable and so has to pay for this. I talked to him, but he didn't want to listen… Sigh. So you'll see in this and the next chapter what will happen to him and Mick. Wish you a great Sunday and I'll be back at Thursday again, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

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**U****ps and Downs**

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"_Moods often arise out of causes man cannot control, but they grow and become more and more baleful to the inner peace of mind, if you let yourself go within them."_

_Humboldt (1767 - 1835)_

* * *

"He'll keep his promise – I'm sure of this. He has always done that. And then he will answer all our questions."

Beth's voice was soothing and gentle, but nevertheless it was extremely hard for Mick to stay calm, to not let his growing nervousness and anger spill out. He was resting his chin in his hand holding his mouth closed and staring tensely outside, barely perceiving the quickly passing landscape with the speed of their vehicle. It was better to say nothing now, to keep his frustration to himself and try to cork up this dark hole of unpleasant, dangerous feelings that were slowly increasing again. He knew that every word he spoke would come out much too harshly and that a small, sick part of himself would consciously aim at hurting the other people around him; especially the ones he loved the most, and Beth didn't deserve that. She looked so terribly exhausted and had gotten so little sleep in the last few hours. Instead she had gone through so much because of him - _again_ because of him. And she really was not to blame for his miserable mood. Gabriel. Gabriel was to blame. Of course, the recent events had also upset Mick terribly. Because of this alone he felt exhausted and unstrung and his still aching, constantly throbbing injury did the rest; although he had been able to recover reasonably well on the rest of the flight and had become calmer and more relaxed. The new plan developed along with Ben had helped him relax and the lawyer had in the end really tried not to continue to torment him with unpleasant questions. But Gabriel had destroyed all this.

To appear at the airport and to give him hope that he would finally get long overdue answers to the many questions in his head only to then announce that he would drop them off at their new accommodation and then drive on alone was hard to take by itself. But that he had additionally preferred to drive with Ben and Carl separately in a car in order to exchange information with these two complete strangers while Mick was still left in the dark about all the strange developments around him not only made him nervous but also furious. The thought that Ben might get important information or that perhaps Gabriel would tell the lawyer things about _him_ was almost unbearable. And to make matters worse, the old vampire had brought Lance and Coraline along. Although they had effaced themselves, it had only caused an uncomfortable feeling in Mick's stomach. He had clearly felt how much Coraline's presence had bothered Beth, how uncomfortable she had felt - even though Coraline had surprisingly not said a word and had even avoided eye contact with Beth and Mick.

"I can understand, Mick," Logan joined in from the driver's seat. "It's weird that Gabriel didn't come with us but with Talbot and the cop."

Mick cast a disapproving glance at him in the rear view mirror for the confirmation of his negative feelings was anything but helpful. But it did not seem to impress Logan enough to stop him from going on.

"And I really wonder what he has to discuss with them," he added simply. "He almost gave the impression that he really wanted to let the two in on everything."

"That may be," Beth replied now with an uncertain glance at Mick, "but he won't tell them _everything_. Gabriel is much too careful for that. And Ben will definitely not learn more than _we _know."

"And even if he does," Logan responded and now searched Mick's gaze, "Talbot has said he's now working with us, so we'll get to know what they've talked about when we arrive at our new home at last."

Mick felt how much Logan was trying to talk him into a better emotional state, but his words failed to have much effect.

"This is crazy!" burst angrily out of Mick. "He just met Ben! He looks at him for two seconds and already knows that he can trust him, that he can let him in on our plans? For days he's wrapped himself in silence on certain topics, about his exact plans and now he exchanges them with _Ben Talbot_? _With Ben Talbot_?" Mick's voice almost cracked with his last words as he shook his head and ran a hand over his face. But reality could not be set aside with this helpless gesture.

"We don't know this for certain," Beth replied gently and put a calming hand on his other forearm which still rested on his thigh. Mick gritted his teeth and looked into her eyes trying to find in her warm gaze at least a bit of stability and calmness. He felt how close he was again to this point, the point where his negative feelings gained the upper hand and pulled him back down into one of these deep depressions from which he could usually escape only with difficulty. He did not want that to happen, _really_ did not want that to happen!

"I think Gabriel knows just as we do that Talbot can be an important ally for us especially through his connection with his uncle," Beth continued soothingly and her hand reassuringly stroked his forearm. The gentle caress of her fingers was not without effect. It made it possible for him to turn toward her even more and his grudge decreased noticeably with their intense eye contact.

"All he's trying to do is to further stabilize Ben's confidence in us," he heard her add and her words now filtered down better to him, reached his mind and told him that she was right. "And for this, he _must_ let Ben in on our plans - at least a little bit."

Nevertheless the rage in Mick reared again. "But it_ freaks_ me out not to be there with them!" he blurted out and knew himself that he sounded like a little, stubborn boy who had not gotten his own way.

Beth let out a little, slightly unhappy chuckle and somehow this caused the rest of his frustrations to evaporate. It left only the exhaustion and this slightly melancholy mood deep inside him. Nevertheless, on his lips appeared the hint of a smile. It was amazing what a simple smile from Beth could cause within him even in such an inconvenient situation.

"You're not alone with that," she added with a small sigh and his hidden smirk became automatically a real smile. There it was again, the profound need to get even closer to her, to push away this often too clearly palpable emptiness inside him with her warmth and love, and this need now caused him to reach out his hand for her and pull her soft, warm body to his. He pressed his lips to her forehead and then sank his nose into her hair, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Beth arms had immediately circled his waist and she snuggled up to him and warmed him in such a wonderfully reassuring way that he could even bear the increasing pain which spread from his not completely healed injury.

"We just have to wait a little while," Beth mumbled against his chest and he could clearly feel her relax. "And after that we can make mincemeat of Gabriel, tar and feather him."

The anticipation in Beth's voice caused Mick to now utter a soft chuckle in which she joined immediately. She tilted her head back a little and looked at him. "I'm serious," she grinned and made a further wave of positive emotions flood through his chest. How he loved this woman.

Mick lifted a hand to her forehead and gently stroked a stray strand of hair from her face. "I know," he smiled and leaned forward to kiss her, had to feel at least for a brief moment her seductively soft lips on his. "And I love it when your dark side is revealed," he whispered softly to her. To be so alone with her in a car had something to be said for it.

Beth seemed to see it quite similarly. She raised her eyebrows a little provocatively. "Be careful - I don't know if you're a match for it," she said in an incredible erotically wicked tone that caused a whole series of pleasant shivers to trickle down Mick's back. It was quite amazing that even his state of total exhaustion could not lessen his voracity for her or get his addiction for her physical proximity under control. Why did she have to say something like that? Mick's lips once again searched contact with hers, now no longer quite so innocent and fleeting and the low delightful sound that escaped Beth throat caused his heart rate to begin to accelerate and the tingling to conquer an area of his body that actually would be better left alone.

"You know what we desperately need?" Beth said softly after he had released her lips reluctantly.

A quiet place, time alone with each other, sex, sleep… again sex… sleep… se…

"A few days of vacation just you and me alone."

Well, one could also formulate it like that. But basically she meant the same as he did, of this Mick was sure. And that was the reason why this small, knowing smile appeared on his lips to which she replied immediately. This time _her_ lips gently pressed on his, confirming in a very pleasant way that he was very right with his presumption. The kiss was becoming more intimate but he was not able to enjoy it for very long.

"Eh?" Logans slightly strained voice resounded from the front and Mick pulled away from Beth and raised his head to see what was confusing the young vampire so much. "_This _is to be our new shelter?"

In fact, it also confused Mick that the car in front of them in which the others were riding was driving through a gateway above which hung a resplendent large and broad sign with the words 'Senior Residence'. Beth, however, uttered a slight snort.

"Well, yeah, most of you have already significantly passed the eighty-year mark," she grinned at him in reaction to his questioning look. "So it fits quite well."

Mick tried really hard to give her a dark look but his smile simply couldn't be supplanted. Basically, she was right - purely in years most vampires certainly outranked the age of the people living here and honestly, right now he felt physically more like an old man. The human inside him had hardly any power left and longed for peace and relaxation.

It did not last long as they stopped at a side building. Mick's tension was back again, together with his re-rising fears and anxieties causing all the positive feelings that Beth had caused in him to take flight. These mood swings were getting unbearable! He watched as one of the doors of the car opened before them and hurried to get out as well. He wanted to say at least one or two words to Gabriel, to look into his face at least once to see if he was really ready to talk with them honestly about everything, to answer all questions completely. That he stumbled a bit because his strained muscles didn't want to obey the commands of his mind didn't matter to him at this moment.

It was not Talbot who first got out of the car as Mick had suspected but Gabriel himself and he willingly came over to him. Mick's mind was working well enough despite his ailing physical condition to figure out immediately what that meant and he did not like it.

"We agreed with each other that it is more reasonable if Ben and Carl do not participate in this meeting," the old vampire explained and his quick look past Mick betrayed the fact that Beth was just getting out of the car as well. "We'll find a way to take the two safely back to LA and then they'll call Judge Ruthers. The Legion won't try to get to them if this man intercedes and there are some things they need to do there that will help us to get this tricky situation back under control."

"Really?" Mick probed a bit too sharply and could not conceal his anger about Gabriel's arbitrary decision. Now the old vampire had stepped in between him and Ben and superseded their newly forged plan as if he had known that a little conspiracy against him had been looming. For a long moment Gabriel just looked at him in silence and an expression of deep thoughtfulness was evident in his pale blue eyes. Then he took a deep breath.

"I know you're mad at me, Mick," he said softly, "but please don't let your emotions block your neutral view of our situation. I don't want to deceive or prey on anyone here, least of all you. And you know that. There is so much that I would like to tell you, to let you in on for quite some time now. But one thing I'm always aware of is one thing you really like to forget most times: You have to digest a lot of bad things and are sticking with us in a situation that brings you physically and mentally again and again to the limits of your endurance. To throw all the things I know at you at once would be a fatal mistake that could lead to a collapse. And so I ask of you: Please don't press me to tell you _everything_ at once when I get back for I won't do that. I will give you the answers to the questions I think you can cope with and will tell you the things you urgently _need_ to know. For everything else we have to wait for the right time. We must ensure that you're not in such an exhausted and stressed condition as you are now and… are you all right?"

The question was not addressed to Mick as Gabriel's eyes had again moved past him. Mick turned around and noticed with fright that Beth was frantically holding on to the car door with a terribly pale face and closed eyes and was staggering dangerously. Mick took a small step to her side and held her.

"Got… got up too quickly," she murmured as she opened her eyes again and gave him an embarrassed smile which didn't ease the concern and discomfort inside Mick.

"My circulation always goes haywire when I don't eat enough," she tried to calm him down further. "And I'm really starving."

The gaze Gabriel gave Beth was strangely thoughtful and fueled Mick's concern but the old vampire quickly managed a reassuring smile. "Ruth is certainly going to welcome you inside the building. Tell her what you need and she'll get it for you. And don't worry about your appearance." His gaze slid briefly across Mick's torn, completely blood encrusted shirt. "She is privy to everything and knows that most of us are vampires." He again searched contact with Mick's eyes. "I really have to go now but I promise that I'll take the time to talk to you about many of the pending matters and questions. Is that good enough for now?"

Mick found it really hard because Gabriel's words had done anything but calm him, but he finally managed to nod. His concern for Beth was at the moment simply greater than his anger at Gabriel and his urge to know the complete truth at last and caused his more reasonable, more caring side to come forward. He still watched shortly as Gabriel walked over to the other car after a brief farewell and got in. He then set his gaze on Beth who was still struggling visibly with her circulation, squinting her eyes again and again and having barely enough strength to stand upright anymore.

Mick simply acted without asking her any further about her condition. He leaned forward a little, reached around her and under her legs and lifted her up. Beth uttered a sound which hovered between surprise and protest and automatically wrapped her arms around his neck. He had to fight for a moment against the sharp pain that went through his left side without it showing on his face. His muscles trembled slightly and he noticed clearly that his strength was not yet sufficient to carry her weight as well. But his will was stronger.

"Don't… Mick…" Beth protested after she overcame her shock. "You… you're still wounded."

He paid her words no real attention, just nodded briefly to Logan who understood immediately and ran ahead of them to the entrance of the building to open the door for them.

"Mick, please… I'm fine," Beth brought forth with little conviction and had to work really hard to keep her eyes open. "Please… put me down!"

A glance at her pale face, the deep rings under her eyes was enough for him to know that he could not fulfill this request in any case. This was confirmed by the much too rapid beating of her heart and a trembling of her arms which was spreading over her whole body as she clung to him with her strength noticeably failing.

"You've got a circulatory collapse," he responded to her complaint and now stepped with much firmer steps through the entrance of the building into the spacious atrium. "You won't be walking on your own under any circumstances."

Beth was about to reply but the friendly-looking, elderly woman who at once approached them made her stop. "Great God, should I call a doctor?" Ruth - Mick was sure that it was her – offered immediately and Beth shook her head with exhaustion.

"No, I'm fine… really," she said with far less certainty than would have been necessary in order for him to be able to take her words seriously. But Mick was also sure that they could still handle this without a doctor, as long as Beth didn't go on overstraining herself.

"We just need a quiet room and something decent to eat," he added quickly and Ruth nodded understandingly.

"Follow me."

Unfortunately, Ruth moved towards the stairs and Mick had to clench his teeth once more. This would be painful. But he wouldn't let Beth walk in any case. If she fainted on the stairs this could end up ugly. On the other hand, the whole thing could become much worse if _his_ strength left him half way up. There was, however, a way to prevent this. Mick looked briefly into himself, sought contact with his superhuman side and felt that it had clearly recovered and had new energy.

"Mick, let… let me down – this is too strenuous for you," Beth whispered to him but he simply ignored her, inhaled and exhaled deeply, grabbed his vampiric powers and tried to activate them without waking the vampire. The tingling sensation that accompanied the release of this energy was of a very pleasant nature. It moved at breakneck speed through his aching muscles and into his injured side. Everything in him relaxed as it freed him from the exhaustion while a large amount of adrenalin shot through his body and brought along this feeling of strength and carefree lightness. He could resist uttering a sound of relief only with difficulty.

Beth seemed to notice the changes inside him because she looked at him in alarm. Mick shook his head very slightly as he followed Ruth up the stairs with the greatest of ease, a surprised Logan at his side.

"All is well," he whispered softly to Beth, but she seemed to have been grabbed by a renewed attack of vertigo as with a faint moan she closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest. Mick's heart upped its pace immediately and his concern grew. Maybe a doctor wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Should I get her something to drink?" he heard Logan's worried voice beside him. He looked at the young vampire and nodded quickly. Too little fluid in the body could well cause such a state.

"Here we are," Ruth threw at him over her shoulder as they had stopped in front of one of the many doors in the corridor, and she unlocked it quickly. Behind it was a small two-room apartment which was furnished with a small kitchen and, Mick noted as he walked a few steps into the middle of the room, a slightly smaller bedroom. Mick headed straight to the bed and laid Beth gently down on it as she had become quite sleepy. The blanket was quickly pulled aside and Beth's shoes were placed beside the bed just as quickly. She tried to help him but wasn't really able to get up. So she remained lying, pressed her fingers to her temples, and clenched her eyelids.

"Now you have a headache, too?" Mick asked worried and Beth opened her eyes and shook her head slightly.

"The vertigo was so strong for a moment." She sighed deeply and heavily and Mick sat down beside her on the bed gently stroking one hand over her forehead and cheek. Why did he always forget in his own emotional turmoil again and again that Beth had to expend the same effort as he, how much _she_ also had to suffer at his side from the physical and mental stress they were constantly exposed to? In the past this would have never happened to him. In the past he would have noticed much earlier that she was at the end of her tether.

"Actually you're a little too warm," he said softly, fighting against the surge of guilt which wanted to come over him.

She gave him a gentle smile. "It's just all the stress," she said with another deep sigh under half-closed eyelids. "Now that I'm lying here, I realize how broken I am. I bet after a few hours of sleep everything will be all right again."

"Mick?" That was Logan's voice in the living room and only a few seconds later his curly head appeared in the doorway. "Ah, there you are."

He had indeed gotten a glass of water from somewhere and now was approaching them with it, a certain pride in his gaze. Beth sat up a bit at once and took the glass with gratitude. She really seemed to be quite thirsty because in no time the contents were in her stomach and the empty glass was back in Logan's hand.

"Thank you," she said a little breathlessly and jerked herself back into a horizontal position. Now she looked almost more tired than before.

"Shall I get you something to eat?" Logan asked with raised eyebrows and could not hide his concern for Beth any longer.

"That would be great," Beth mumbled back tiredly and Mick nodded in agreement causing Logan to once again set in motion and disappear from the room.

Beth's hand was indeed very warm as it closed around Mick's wrist and caused his grief to still grow, even though he was hiding it. He even managed a little questioning smile as Beth tugged at his arm.

"Come on… you have to lie down and rest as well," she murmured now with almost closed eyes and slowly slid a little sideways. Mick gave in to her without hesitation. His whole being cried out for rest and sleep now that the effects of his brief access to his vampiric powers was slowly evaporating and he quickly slipped off his shoes and stretched out beside Beth spreading the blanket over them both and letting her cuddle up to him and lay her head on his chest. He heard how she exhaled deeply relieved and did it as well, though the sense of relief did not really want to settle inside him. Her condition worried him deeply. It was not the first time that her circulation had gone crazy. Logan had told him about it in a quiet minute before their action and it had upset him. It was either linked with the strange processes in her body which the vampire blood had triggered in her and that he had to talk about urgently with Gabriel, or the never ending stress, the straining and frightening actions they were constantly involved in were now taking their toll on her and were slowly damaging her tender human body and her health. Neither was a pleasant thought and not only frightened Mick but also caused this mountain of guilt feelings that he had carried around for a while now to grow even more inside him. If she became seriously ill because of all that… The thought made his heart cramp. Into what an abyss had he taken her? He had never wanted something like this to happen to Beth and had always wished for her that she could lead a happy life in peace and quiet. Especially after what she had experienced as a child caused by Coraline, by him. In fact, all that had happened in recent months was much worse than anything he had ever imagined in his fear for her. Her life was constantly being threatened, they moved from one disaster to the next and now she had become ill.

"Beth…," he whispered softly and a slight movement of her head told him that she was still not asleep and was listening to him. "You must promise me that you will tell me if you cannot go on… if you need rest… a break…"

"Um-um…"

"Because we will find a solution, a way to take you someplace where you'll be safe and can recover far away from all this. Gabriel can certainly organize that and…"

Warm fingers lay down very gently on his lips, silencing him. He looked down into Beth's tired, but very serious, blue eyes in which a little concern but mainly her deep love for him was reflected.

"I want to be with you, Mick," she whispered. "Only with you and nowhere else… okay?"

It was hard for him, but after a few seconds he nodded understandingly, gently took her hand and pressed a tender kiss on her fingertips.

"Okay," he whispered back and only then did she venture to close her eyes again and cuddle even closer to him. Mick wrapped his arms more tightly around her, tried to let go, to relax, but somehow he still did not succeed. So much had happened in the last few hours and some stupid feeling deep inside him told him that everything would become even more exhausting, much more disturbing and dangerous. And Beth was at his side in the midst of this chaos risking her life because she loved him, because she did not want to leave him. Of course she helped him, of course, he needed her, could not imagine being without her, but that did not change the fact that _he_ did _not_ do _her_ well, that it was he who endangered her constantly, who had turned her world completely upside down, had destroyed everything she had worked and fought so hard for. She would have become a happy, successful young woman, would have been able to lead a normal, carefree life among ordinary people, with a loving husband at her side, a house, children.

With him at her side, her life would never be normal, even_ if_ they survived all this, even _if_ they would no longer be prosecuted by the Legion and one day be able to re-settle, to go to work normally. With him at her side there was always that connection to the world of vampires, to risks so real that hardly any person could calculate in advance. Apart from that, Mick had doubts that he would ever be back to being a normal vampire, let alone a human. Those days were over. It would be different to live with him with this animal creature inside him, the memories, the nightmares, the ups and downs of his mood swings. Beth had not yet seen how he was when he was suddenly pulled into this abyss, deeply into this hole, the fears, depressions, memories, when the ghosts of his past reached for him and dragged him down. Only Gabriel had seen him like this during the four weeks they had spent together and only once. But the old vampire had warned him that it would come back from time to time. That it could even become worse if he did not finally begin to open up and talk about what had happened to him, if he didn't start to trust other people to accept his weakness and to show them what was really going on inside him. But he could not do it and he didn't want Beth to ever experience him like that. But if she stayed… if she stayed with him forever, then she would see that broken, torn, sick creature that was sleeping inside him, a creature that no one could bear, not even himself.

Mick took a deep, slightly tremulous breath and hoped fervently that Beth hadn't noticed that he was slowly but surely moving into a fairly agitated emotional state. Though she had never given him a reason to think that she would not stand by the man that the past year and the latest happenings had made him, _could_ not stand him, he could not prevent this fear from always coming to the surface at the most inappropriate moments making him nervous and aggressive. Nervous because he knew full well that he had not actually shown her what damage the time in the laboratory had left on his soul and therefore he actually did not know if she could cope with it, and aggressive because at these thoughts two very different needs always competed with each other; on the one hand the urge to really open up at last and let everything out uncensored and collapse completely, and on the other hand his extreme reluctance to show anyone even a tiny part of his darkest and at the same time weakest side.

Another heavy breath which couldn't be avoided and did not reduce the pressure in his chest. He tried to focus on the sounds Beth was making, her calm, relaxed breathing and the steady beating of her heart. She slept soundly and gave the impression that everything in her body had calmed down again to some extent. Her still quite high body temperature and the slight film of sweat on her forehead along with the barely noticeable tremor that had not abated in her sleep showed him that this was not totally the case. This was not the first time that Mick had noticed these temporary fluctuations in her body temperature. Sometimes it was too low, sometimes too high, and every now and then a slight chill. And then there was her high blood pressure and the so often critically fast beating of her heart. Beth had changed. Not only had her senses become more sensitive but her whole metabolism seemed to converge and rattle her body, her circulation and had probably also caused today's collapse. Mick was familiar with this. He had gone through the same thing, only much more quickly and in a much more brutal form.

Like many times before at this thought an icy claw seized his heart, squeezing it. He closed his eyes trying to breathe more calmly and deeply. It was not possible. Gabriel had said that Beth could not turn and he was such an old vampire that he _had_ to know this to be true. On the other hand, he also had admitted that Beth's development, her growing strength surprised him and that he could still not really figure it out. And no one was infallible. Even an old, wise vampire like Gabriel could be wrong.

What if Beth still turned, only becoming a vampire very slowly? The unpleasant feeling dropped to his stomach and Mick's grip around Beth's delicate body loosened a bit. He shook his head very slightly and gritted his teeth. His warm, happy human Beth a vampire? That could not be allowed to happen. She belonged to the world of the mortals. How often he had thought about this, tried to imagine what it would be like to turn her, to have her at his side as a vampire. But it had tugged at his heartstrings, had strangled him because he knew that what made this woman so lovable, so unique, so wonderful was related to her humanity. It would disappear, would be destroyed, at least at first - and it would take quite a while until she became somewhat her old self again - _if _she ever did. He had never completely succeeded in doing that. There had always been this animal inside him, this killer who always thirsted for other people's life-blood. Even now, even here. If he looked deeply inside himself, he could feel him and his blood lust for Beth which only his great concern for her had been able to suppress. He did not want this animal to also take possession of his Beth, did not want to experience her like that, watching her feasting on another human's blood, helping her to get this addiction under better control.

Very carefully he freed himself from her embrace and slid a bit away from her so that he could sit up without waking her. In the state he was now in he could not remain with her but had to gain a slight distance from her to not upset her emotionally too. He cast a long, deeply moved glance at her. Her cheeks were no longer pale but a little red, another sign that her temperature was currently too high. He urgently had to keep a lid on this.

Mick got up and was surprised that a slight dizziness also came over him and he staggered slightly to the side but caught himself quickly and was able to leave the room without any major problems. He stopped in the living room, a bit undecided. Even though his emotional side occupied his powers strongly, he couldn't forget to supply his own body with everything it needed. He was still struggling a bit with the blood loss which probably explained the dizziness and had to urgently appease the needs of the vampire inside him who was now making himself felt more and more. Mick looked around briefly and discovered in the kitchen corner of the room a small refrigerator and headed quickly toward it. Gabriel had taken care that these rooms had been prepared for them so it was very likely that he had arranged for vampire-friendly stores in the refrigerators.

He _had_ Mick noted pleased when he opened the fridge. It was an incredibly calming feeling to take the cold pack into his hand and only a few seconds later dig his sharp fangs into it. Mick drank hastily and with long, deep gulps so that the package was empty in no time and he had to go for another one. It was strange but every time he had drunk Beth's blood he had not only been saturated within a few minutes but also completely relaxed and satisfied. He didn't need such volumes of her blood and the effect had lasted much longer. Was this again a matter he had to be worried about? Or was it just simply due to the fact that Beth was the carrier of the blocking substances, and thus her blood concealed a part of the cure? At least the sudden greed, the lust for _her_ blood which seemed to grab him at these thoughts, was alarming. That was just what they needed: that he sneaked into her room and drank her blood while she could hardly fight against it in her weakened condition.

Mick furiously chucked the second emptied bag into the sink next to him, shook his head and decided to leave the apartment. Beth would not notice so quickly that he was gone for she was too exhausted and slept much too soundly and he could not possibly remain in her vicinity in this ambivalent state.

In the hall he was met by an astonished Logan who was holding a tray with some delicious-looking sandwiches in his hands.

"Where're you going?" he asked confused before Mick had reached him.

"I… I need to move a bit," he replied evasively but stopped as his eyes got stuck on a particularly delicious looking tuna sandwich.

"Honestly, you really don't look like you need to do that," Logan said with slight worry in his voice. "Did you look in the mirror? Currently, the term 'undead' would fit you very well."

Mick did not respond to his friend's remark. The vampire inside had satisfied his hunger to some extent but the human's mouth was watering out of sheer appetite. My goodness, the term 'impulsiveness' slowly became a whole new dimension to him.

"Is that all for… for Beth?" he asked and despised himself for wanting to eat his girlfriend's well-earned food.

"These are _eight_ sandwiches, Mick," Logan replied with a small smile. "I give Beth credit for a lot, but if she ate all of them by herself, I'd really be quite surprised. Besides, I made them for both of you. The good uncle, Logan has in fact already thought that someone else…" He faltered a bit because Mick not only took the tuna sandwich and instantly bit eagerly into it, but also grabbed two more with his other hand.

"… is also nearly starving," he added with wide eyes. But when Mick closed his eyes in delight and breathed deeply through his nose he let out a chuckle. "It's great that you like it."

Mick nodded with a little smile and greedily swallowed the much too large bite which he had taken. "When you go into our apartment… don't wake her. She needs to sleep."

Logan looked a little disappointed but then nodded. "I wanted to go to my room anyway. Ruth said Gabriel has arranged a small work area for me."

"Mick? Logan?" asked a different female voice behind them and as they turned around Simone stepped out of another room and hurried towards them delighted. Her embrace spoke of slight desperation Mick thought, and he looked inquiringly into her face as she let also go of the badly embarrassed Logan.

"I'm so glad to see you again safe and sound!" her next words explained her actions. "Where's Beth?"

"She's asleep," Mick responded with a nod in the direction of their room. "She had a slight circulatory collapse and urgently needs to rest."

In Simone's gaze slight disappointment was shown but she nodded immediately in comprehension.

"And where's Josef?" Mick asked instead and Simone surprised him with a slightly annoyed knitting of her finely arched eyebrows.

"Down in one of the lounges," she said. "Just listen."

Mick furrowed his brows, confused, but then he heard what she was driving at: the soft tinkling of a piano. He had not noticed it before.

"_That_'s Josef?" Logan asked almost shocked. "He can play the piano?"

Simon nodded while a bad feeling crept up inside Mick that Josef wasn't doing so well emotionally either. It was an eternity since Mick had heard him playing the piano the last time and usually he did not do it in public.

"What happened?" he asked Simone concerned. Now that he looked more closely at her he noticed that she was also not really looking good. She looked tired and nervous and had an injury on her bottom lip.

"We also had a little encounter with soldiers of the Legion," she explained and the mockery had almost entirely disappeared from her voice. She uttered a little sigh while a nasty knot built inside Mick. "Josef had to put up with a lot… it was really a very, _very_ close thing…" She broke off unable to put what had happened to them into words because it was still punishing her emotions too much. But her words were enough for Mick.

"This has upset him strongly and he now has to process it," she added and Mick knew that she was also talking about herself. "However, I don't think he has chosen the right way to do that…"

Mick frowned slightly confused. "What way?"

Another sigh. "Just go and look for him yourself. In his current condition he will be happy to see you." She tried to smile which confused Mick even more. But finally he nodded and after a short farewell to Logan turned and walked off.

By the time he reached the room from which the piano music came he had already eaten all of his sandwiches and felt much better. He steeled himself to meet his emotionally troubled friend. The room he entered was distinctly more comfortably furnished than the other ones were. It was decorated in warm brown and red tones and included a small bar and a piano near one of the walls at which Josef was sitting with his back to him. Mick knew the piece he was playing but was surprised to hear it from Josef. It was, although played brilliantly, clearly too jazzy for him. But Josef had surprised him so often, why not today also?

Mick did not immediately make his presence known but approached him quietly, enjoying the swinging, lively music his friend was producing so relaxed and delightfully. The reason for Josef's relaxed, dedicated posture at the piano was quickly found. The half-filled bottle of Jim Beam and a full glass of whiskey which had both found a place on top of the piano within Josef's reach. Mick had to smile. It was really doubtful whether this was the right amount of volume for a man who for half an eternity was used to taking alcohol in vampire amounts.

Josef finished the piano piece with a skillfully played last series of tones and then turned to him a bit, his lips twisting into a slight smile. Apparently as a human he was still able to feel Mick's presence somehow. Mick, however, was _not_ able to hide the horror that gripped him at the sight of his friend's maltreated face. But also in Josef's swollen and now diversely colored face shock was distinctly written when his eyes roamed noticeably over Mick's body. Only now did Mick remember that he had still not changed his shirt and actually probably offered an equally terrifying sight as his friend did.

"Looks like we're coming from the same party," Josef noted with a slight slur and a little laugh followed his words. But in his fairly aware-looking gaze was written real concern.

Mick shrugged his shoulders and was a bit vexed with himself because this movement caused a slight pain in his now nearly healed wound. "I think _your_ guests were more friends of handicraft," he nevertheless replied coolly and now stopped next to Josef inspecting his face more closely. "Beautiful play of colors."

Josef nodded with feigned pride. "You know I like it flamboyant," he responded off-handedly and that tickled a chuckle out of Mick. "But _you_ like it rather plain today, don't you?" He pointed with a modest gesture at Mick's red 'colored' shirt.

Mick nodded with a smile enjoying the looming feeling of relaxation that Josef's closeness and his familiar sarcastic humor caused inside him. "But there wasn't much choice."

"No manual laborer at hand?"

"You know the modern age has caused people to become more and more lazy…"

Now Josef also uttered a small laugh but his eyes remained serious and adopted a slightly questioning expression as he looked directly into Mick's eyes. The pressure in Mick's chest to open up, to speak about his worries and gloomy thoughts grew with every silent second that passed, with every second he looked into Josef's inquiring brown eyes. Although Josef was slightly tipsy he was still able to read him and to notice that he was not well emotionally. And though Mick's heart was so full and wanted so much to get rid of some of the burden that weighed on it, he could not as he did not yet feel ready for this.

Josef nodded to another stool that stood beside the piano. "Sit down with us," he said, reaching for the bottle and the glass above him. "My friend Jim has whispered to me that he absolutely wants to meet you."

Mick did not make him wait but grabbed the stool and sat down next to Josef who handed him a freshly filled glass with a small smile.

"And he has such a nice soothing aura," Josef added as Mick took the glass. He struck a few notes of another jazz piece but looked up again when Mick threw down the drink and inhaled with a hiss. He didn't remember the stuff being that strong. Again, a thing he had to get used to.

Josef let out another laugh and patted his back unusually warmly. "Just wait 'til it starts to show some effect," he grinned as Mick's body shook shortly. A hot burning sensation went through his esophagus and then through his stomach. But it was pleasant, soothing. And that was the reason why he allowed Josef to pour some more of the whiskey into his glass even though he knew exactly how bad the whole thing could end up. Soon the bottle was back on the piano and Josef's fingers once again ran nimbly over the keys producing the most wonderful sounds.

"Music and Whiskey," Josef muttered and stopped again to look at Mick. "They make you even forget a 'near-death experience' pretty quickly. Or that your present condition is scaring the crap out of you, as well as the uncertain future…"

Mick stared at the brown liquid in his glass and nodded. Yes, because you could really forget your problems for a while. It did not solve anything, didn't save you from the future, but for some time you could relax and push your fears and concerns to the back of your mind. And maybe this was exactly what they both needed right now.

"Sometimes it's a real good feeling when slowly everything no longer matters," Josef added with a blessed smile. "And when all things don't matter anymore you can talk about them much easier …"

Mick nodded mildly and then threw down the burning liquid a second time. He grimaced this time only briefly. "I hope the hangover after this won't matter to you either."

Josef looked at him briefly, shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "I've never been afraid of remnants." He turned with a quiet chuckle back to the piano and hit cheerfully on the keys. Music and Whiskey… _That_ sounded like fun!


	32. Recovering

_If there were a hugging smiley here I would put it here! Thank you all so much for your last comments. I really loved them. _

_**Moonjat54**__: You're totally right. Mick won't stay that calm for long and Gabriel really has to let him in on at least a few of his secrets or he'll explode at some point. And how Beth will react when she wakes up you'll see in this chapter. _

_**Borntobemybaby**__: That's exactly the problem they would have if Beth stays human. I also think at a certain point it would be terribly difficult to stay together with Beth getting old and frail. And I as well don't know if she would stay with Mick then, no matter how much she loves him. I think in the end it's her decision… if she __**has**__ the possibility to decide about her fate…_

_**Lucretiareadsall**__: So what do you think is going on with Beth? *insert grin here* Concerning your question about Mick: Yes, he needs to supply both of his sides with the proper food. The vampire needs blood and the human needs normal human food._

_**Sandra Fegan**__: I also think Mick would have a big problem with Beth being a vampire. I don't say he would stop loving her but he would have a problem at first. _

_**Loveyoujar**__: Thank you so much for the compliments. I love to write such little sweet moments between Mick and Beth. Unfortunately there often not much time for them to be that intimate with each other. And I totally agree with you that Mick and Beth were Moonlight! I can't tell you about Gabriel's plans. He didn't want to tell me about them… *insert grin here* And if you want to smack Mick on the head – do it. I also think he really needs this sometimes._

_**Betsal**__: Great to hear you liked what I wrote. And I promise you'll get some answers soon. Maybe not in this chapter but in the next, for then Gabriel will be back._

_**Sci fi fan30**__: Yes, Mick is under a lot of turmoil and will be until the Legion is defeated. And he knows that. The question is how long he can still bear this without breaking down._

_**radiate689**__: Great to see you're still there! Thanks for your reviews. Though they're quite short they still show me that you esteem the effort I take to write and translate this story._

_And now I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter and will be back at Sunday for the next one. Best wishes, yours Jenna_

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_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

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**R****ecovering **

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_"Heaven has given to men to the many hardships three things as a counterweight: hope, sleep and laughter."_

_Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) _

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It was the feeling of being alone that woke Beth from her deep, restful sleep, this lack of a warm male body beside her, the warm breath, blowing over her skin. Just these two things that had let her fall asleep so happily and now they were gone... probably had been for a while she noticed after slipping somewhat disconcerted a hand over the cold empty space beside her. Only then could she get herself to open her eyes to see if she was indeed right or not.

A little wave of disappointment swept over her. Mick was really gone, had left her alone in this foreign room… in this unfamiliar, _quite dark_ room. She noticed with a quick glance out the window that the sun had gone down. It appeared she had slept for at least a few hours, and was in fact feeling much better. At least as long as she was lying down. Beth rubbed her eyes lightly to get rid of the remnants of sleep and then sat up cautiously. She raised her brows puzzled. Indeed - the vertigo had disappeared completely and had taken a large part of her exhaustion with it. She even felt almost energetic and vibrant and noted with pleasure that she also had no trouble getting up and climbing out of bed. Amazing what a little sleep could do. The loud growling of her stomach let her know, however, that the hunger at least was still there. It had even become a little stronger. Didn't Logan say he was getting her something to eat?

She briefly looked around the small bedroom, but there was no sign of food to be found. Maybe they were waiting in the living room with a plate full of delicious food for her. Hopefully Mick was there, then she'd have everything she longed for together. Beth walked to the door, opened it quietly and peered out. She dropped her shoulders disappointed. Not a soul to be seen… But there on the coffee table… her heart gave a little leap, and it led her to follow her first spontaneous need and rush over to the tray of delicious looking sandwiches. It only took a few quick steps and she was there, grabbed two of these delicacies and bit, full of enjoyment, into the first one and then the other. Tuna and egg and ham and cheese… Logan was really a sweetheart with surprisingly good sense for tasty food - considering he was a vampire. She chewed and happily sucked air into her nose, contented. Pickles wouldn't be bad, but unfortunately she didn't see any. Perhaps in the refrigerator?

Although she'd made her way to the kitchen in record time, Beth managed to completely finish one of her sandwiches. She had never felt so famished before. It felt like she could eat a cow. However, the next bite stuck in her throat when she opened the refrigerator and found only packaged blood instead of appetizing food. She swallowed with difficulty, coughed a few times, patted her chest with her hand and then took a deep breath. Great, now she felt sick, even though the sight of blood hadn't bothered her in the past. Nevertheless she had to put the half-eaten ham and cheese sandwich aside for now and breathe deeply. Sleep hadn't made her quite as fit and healthy as she thought before. Her eyes fell on two empty packs of blood in the sink and she frowned. Apparently Mick had already had his dinner. Yummy. She shuddered inwardly. The only question was why he still needed blood instead of human food. Of course the wound had been quite severe and he had lost quite a bit of blood. If she really thought about it, he had also been injured the day before and had remained in his vampire condition for quite a while, so his need for fresh blood wasn't surprising. Evidently he hadn't been able satisfy the need yet. She'd heard him complaining in the motel that there wasn't enough blood available. All together it wasn't that drastic and it was only natural his vampire side was now trying to catch up. Nothing to worry about…

But of course, she worried anyway, and since she knew she wasn't going to be able to stop as long as she didn't know where Mick was or what he was doing, she decided to put her little evening snack on hold for the moment and go looking for him. Besides, she was also curious about which of her friends had arrived by now. Hopefully Simone was already here.

The light in the hall must have been on a motion detector because it switched on immediately when she stepped out of the room and it blinded her slightly. She squinted her eyes a bit, but quickly noticed no one else was around. From somewhere the muted sounds of a piano could be heard. Were the old people around here having a party at _this_ time of night?

Beth threw a quick glance at her watch. It wasn't that late. Not even eleven o'clock. But she felt relatively sure there weren't any seniors housed in this part of the building, especially when there would soon be a lot of vampires arriving. Gabriel had said that this Ruth knew that for the most part there were only vampires housed here. She had certainly tried to ensure that they were kept separate. So, Beth decided to follow the music, rather than look into any of the other rooms in her search for Mick. Mick loved music and had been a musician at one time because of that. It was easy to imagine him being attracted to the piano playing down there and she was sure that was where she'd find him. The only question was who was playing so beautifully. Ruth or possibly one of the old people? Maybe someone from the neighbor's house?

After a few steps Beth's stomach started to growl again, her appetite had returned. She almost regretted leaving her ham and cheese sandwich behind and even though she was feeling better and a little more energetic now, she didn't really want to return to her room again just for that. She had to find Mick first and maybe she could even muster up something nice to eat down there… something sweet sounded good now, something chocolaty or maybe cookies…

She had made it half way down the stairs, when she ran into Ruth carrying a pile of towels in her arms. She gave Beth a friendly smile, which she returned heartily.

"Are you better?" she asked instantly and Beth nodded quickly.

"I feel like a new woman," she smiled.

"If you're looking for your boyfriend… he's down in the lounge," the woman replied with a modest nod in the direction from which she came. "He and his friend are a little…" She was looking for the right word. "… tipsy, and should perhaps be reminded again that we'll soon be turning in for the night."

The woman's cautiously requesting glance didn't escape Beth and she nodded understandingly.

"Then _they_'re the ones …" Beth hesitated. Was that even someone starting to sing now in a high pitch voice?

"… making music down there…?" she added hesitantly and very much quieter.

Ruth nodded with a slightly stressed expression. "And they've been at it for quite a while now." She couldn't resist uttering a small sigh, and Beth had to smile.

"I'll see what I can do to get them both back to their rooms," Beth said, and Ruth looked at her gratefully. She nodded once more and then continued on her way up while Beth proceeded down.

By the time she reached the landing, the piano playing had stopped for some reason and hadn't started back up again. Beth frowned and walked a little faster. She was able to find the lounge without the aid of music and it didn't surprise her to see Josef sitting next to Mick in front of the piano. _He_ had probablybeen the talented pianist. Somehow it fit. What surprised her - or rather worried her, was Mick's posture. He was bent forward, leaning on the piano with his arms and his shoulders jerking significantly, while Josef patted his back sympathetically. And the sounds coming from him… sobs…

Beth's heart clenched, and she was just about to take a few steps into the room toward the two men, but stopped, confused. Why was there now a broad grin on Josef's face?

"But I'm still right…," she heard him say much too slowly. "Thasss what he sounded like…"

Mick's head lifted slightly and turned towards Josef enough for Beth to see a little bit of his red face from where she stood. He indeed cried, but his face was not distorted with grief… Mick was laughing… hysterically. He laughed himself to tears and could hardly breathe. Beth felt as if a whole mountain range had been lifted from her heart and instinctively her lips lifted into a smile. She had never seen Mick like this before. Completely doubled over because he had been struck by a veritable laughing fit. He ran a hand over his face, wiping the tears from his cheeks and visibly tried to contain himself again.

"God…," he gasped, as he finally got himself under control enough to speak, and laid his hand on Josef's arm. "Don't ever do that again!"

"But hey, you recogniz'it didn't you?" Josef replied, grinning and the slur in his voice was unmistakable. "I… I can't help it if he sounds like a Pekinese being mated by a shepherd."

Mick responded with another snort, but got a grip on himself. "Wait… wait, now'es my turn," he announced, and Beth could also hear a slight slur in his voice as well. She raised her eyebrows in astonishment as Mick's fingers skillfully glided over the keys and produced an upbeat, slightly familiar melody. He could play the piano too? She was even more surprised when only a few seconds later she clearly heard his voice, deliberately rough and too deep to classify it as serious singing, but nevertheless a pleasant shiver ran down Beth's back. She genuinely liked his voice.

"Another bride, another groom, another sunny-honeymoon, another season, another reason…" He paused, and Josef added quite a bit lower, "… for makin' whoopee".

His fingers now took over Mick's piano playing because Mick had begun to laugh again, and when Josef started to sing along in a far too high, off key voice, Beth could no longer suppress a slight snort herself but managed to remain undetected by both. Mick cracked up with laughter again next to Josef, who sang on unmoved and Beth decided not to interrupt them, just wanting to observe for a while. It was fascinating to watch the two of them in this very loose, cheerful state, for it provided her with wonderful insight into their long and deeply devoted friendship. And why shouldn't she take advantage of the fact that their senses were so dazed from alcohol at the moment that they couldn't feel her presence?

Josef now showed his panting and writhing friend some mercy when he let both the piano and his voice become silent.

"That was way… _way_ too easy," he said with arrogantly raised eyebrows and grabbed the glass that sat in front of him on top of the piano. That it was empty, he didn't seem to notice until he brought the glass to his lips. He squinted into it a little confused, while Mick finally managed to get himself back into a somewhat upright position and breathing more easily.

"Sum'ons drunk all my whiskey," Josef uttered indignantly.

Mick wiped a hand over his cheeks and nose. "Wonner whoo's done that…," he replied with a grin.

"Prol'ly the same person whoo's emptied the bottle," Josef wondered loudly, grabbed it and shook it. "Es all gone, nothin' left… Too bad…"

Beth's mouth fell open. The two had seriously downed a whole bottle of whiskey?

Mick took another deep breath and then looked at the keys, and now with a much more serious expression on his face. "With this I could burn Coraline up…"

Josef looked at him, but seemed to be having difficulty focusing on him. He blinked a few times "What… empty the whiskey?"

"With the song," said Mick. "She hated it… _I_ thought it was _very_ appropriate."

Beth crossed her arms over her chest and inhaled deeply. She was no longer feeling so comfortable in her skin. Coraline. There she was again. Although Mick had only spoken her name, Beth somehow felt as if she would immediately appear in person with that wicked smile and slide in between her and Mick.

"Is it because it's abou' the failure of a marriage?" Josef asked now, and Beth knew he was right - this was also confirmed by Mick's nod.

"Do you believe in it?" He asked his friend.

Josef was visibly overwhelmed with the question. His befogged mind didn't seem to understand what Mick was driving at.

"In marriage…" Mick helped him and an uncomfortable feeling spread in Beth's stomach. Mick sounded so resigned, almost pejorative.

Josef responded with a chuckle. "I've lived for over fourhun'red years now and haven't married _once_ – does that answer your question?"

Mick thought a long time under heavy lids, then he nodded.

"And you?" now Josef asked. "Do you still believe in it?"

Mick shrugged. "Don' know… leas' it doesn't change anythin'. We're still the same person, the one we were before…" He shook his head very slightly, staring at his left hand, where at some point in time a wedding band had once been. "And marriage certainly doesn' keep ya from doin' what ya want, no matter how stupid, hurtful or dangerous these actions are. Basically, you can also leave it…"

"Sat means you won't do it again?"

"Don' know…"

Beth didn't want this, didn't want the conversation between two drunken men touching her inside, but she couldn't help it. A small sting passed through her chest, even though she had always been of the opinion she could get through her life without a ring on her finger.

"Haven't thought about it much," Mick added, and the uncomfortable feeling in her chest was reinforced.

'Don't feel rejected – just don't,' she said to herself. 'He doesn't mean it that way. He's just drunk…' Nevertheless, she felt the slur in his voice was slowly dissipating and his eyes looked a bit more alert, with the seriousness of the issues they were approaching.

"What about Sarah? Did you want to marry _her_?"

Josef just looked at his friend for a while slightly absent, so that Beth wasn't sure whether he had heard the question or not. Unlike Mick, he gave the impression that the effects of the alcohol were just now kickin in. But then an almost shattered expression appeared on his face and he nodded. "I… I think I would have… Not because of the conventions, or because she wanted it… but because… because _I_ would've wanted it. Just for us. To tell… to let her know she means everything to me… _everything_. To show her she's the one I've always wanted, without knowing it…" He stared at his hands for a moment. "I… I think it would've felt good to wear her ring. Not just to show others that I'm… I'm 'n a relationship… or whatever. But for me… 'cause the ring would've reminded me, that she's there, in my world, in my life… and that she loves me and is always with me, no matter… no matter where I go…"

Josef was breathing heavily, shaking his head. "God… this is bullshit," he uttered slightly hoarse, ran one hand languidly across his face and then managed a weak smile. "Well, go ahead… gimme ur bes shot," he invited Mick, but his friend only looked at him deeply touched.

"Damn, you really _loved_ this woman…," he replied emotionally and Josef's stilted smile vanished instantly, replaced with a profoundly sad expression.

"Hell, yeah," Beth heard Josef say very softly and she too had to struggle with her emotions, was deeply affected by the things Josef had said. She never thought she would ever hear something so touching, so romantic from him.

"I miss her every day…" The words spoken were even quieter, and she was having trouble hearing him, especially from her position, but Beth knew, had felt the same way the first time she'd heard about Sarah, felt so sorry for him, that her own eyes filled with the tears her friend was trying so desperately not to shed.

Mick's gaze was quite warm and soft. He put an arm around Josef in a compassionate gesture and patted his back gently, while his friend struggled visibly not to burst into tears. "Gabriel once told me that true love never dies," he said softly. "That it may change, get weaker, but never completely disappears… He's probably right…"

Josef nodded and inhaled deeply through his nose, wiped a hand over his eyes. "Because love, true love always has a reason," he added to his friend's words. "A true reason, which can only be found deep inside the one you love. And this doesn't simply go away…"

He paused again, and Beth's heart began to beat faster. 'Please don't do it… don't ask…'

"Do… do you think you still love her? I mean… Coraline…"

Beth stopped breathing.

Mick remained silent - far too long and then he did it, did what Beth had feared, shrugged his shoulders. A 'no' would have been so much better. A 'no' wouldn't have caused this painful contraction in her heart, her innards.

"Don' know," he had to add additionally. "In the past every time I had contact with her it would upset me terribly, even if I only saw her from a distance. There was this… this immediate tension between us… But now… everything's different somehow…" He shook his head as if he didn't understand it himself. "Right now, the sight of her makes me tense for another reason…"

"'cause you now know somethin' in your common history isn't quite true," said Josef and his words caused Beth to forget about her inner pain.

Mick nodded again, and a hint of anger showed in his eyes, which reassured Beth at least a little bit. "She's always been a hypocritical…"

'Bitch! Say it, Mick, just say it!' a little voice in Beth's interior pleaded. But Mick wasn't the one to accommodate her.

"… bich," said Josef and it brought further disappointment to Beth that Mick didn't even manage a nod. Instead, he simply went on. "It's hard to believe but I think there's something else going on behind the story of our first meeting."

"And what do you think it is?"

Mick shook his head a little, but Beth felt he knew more, but at the moment wasn't able to sort his thoughts enough to put them into suitable words.

"I… I'm not sure but… I believe the old vampires have a kind of list, a book maybe, in which they've written down all the people with rare blood types and somehow Coraline has had … access to it."

Josef looked at his friend with growing astonishment. His mind worked, despite the slur in his speech, good enough to be able to follow Mick's train of thought. "So you think she has chosen you 'cause of this lis'? Wha'… what makes you think so?"

"I… I suddenly remember things from my childhood. There… there was this woman who would watch me and my brother again and again. And every time I went to show her to him she was gone. So at some point I thought it was only my imagination."

"You… you mean it was Coraline?"

"She had dark hair… was very beautiful and had this strange aura."

"An' why would she do this?"

"My blood type," Mick said with firm conviction and had become almost sober by now. "I'm beginning to think Beth was right. She herself had suggested in the past that Coraline might have selected her because of her blood type. I now believe that's true. Coraline chose both of us because of our blood type. And I think we're both on this list of the old vampires."

"But why?" Josef repeated his question from earlier.

"Because people with our blood type may have the genes you can create the cure with. And you can only find this out if you infect these people with vampire blood. If they don't transform, they own this important genetic material."

"Don' transform?" Josef looked at his friend in disbelief and Beth's heart contracted one more time. She _had_ come into contact with vampire blood and had_ not_ transformed.

Mick nodded again. "Never. They are immune to us vampires."

"That means you don' own the stuff," Josef observed. "But…"

"Beth."  
Now, even Beth's innards cramped painfully and her throat tightened. Without thinking, she slowly moved backwards. She didn't want to hear this, couldn't stand it. So _that_ was what Mick and Gabriel were talking about the previous night on the phone. _That_ was what Mick has been keeping from her all this time, the reason for the sad, worried looks he sometimes gave her. She would never become a vampire, would not be at his side forever… Beth's chest tightened and she now had significant difficulty breathing. A burning rose into her nose and eyes.

"So she… she can't be turned," she heard Josef's quiet, regretful voice, as she stepped back further, stepped backwards into the hall.

"Theoretically."

Beth stopped, blinked away the tears that had filled her eyes against her will. Theoretically?

"Wha' do you mean by that?" Josef seemed to be as confused as she was.

"Haven't you noticed something strange with Beth?" she heard Mick ask and Beth's heart began to beat more quickly again, full of hope.

"You mean, through all this… this shit, that she's not so well anymore?"

Beth moved closer to the entrance, quick enough to see Mick shaking his head.

"How long does it take for a normal human to heal from the bite of a vampire?"

Josef was thinking – and thinking, much too long, but finally came up with an answer. "Four or five days… sometimes even a week…"

"When I bit Beth in the nightclub, by the next day you could hardly see it anymore."

He was right. The wound had healed amazingly fast, as well as the one on the inside of her thigh. It was just as mysterious as her hypersensitive senses, which she also possessed at the moment. She had just now noticed how well she could hear the two men, even though they were actually out of hearing range for a normal person. Just like she could see them razor sharp as if she were standing directly behind them. If she wasn't mistaken, her senses were working even better since her last qualm. This was indeed scary… and recently she had even suspected she might still transform. Didn't this completely contradict the other theory?

"And she… Gabriel and I feel she may even be able to perceive the ultrasonic frequency of vampires," Mick continued and besides the amazed look on Josef's face a touch of unease appeared. It almost seemed to make him a little more alert and clearer.

"Could this have anything to do with Hendrik's blood?" he asked bluntly.

Mick shrugged his shoulders for the second time this evening. "Gabriel told me that such effects weren't so uncommon with people who carry these particular genes. But they usually only last a few days…"

Josef nodded understandingly. "And with Beth it's now been almost…" He paused, seemed to be a bit overwhelmed in having to deal with this not so serious mathematical problem, and raised his hand to use his fingers as a support.

"… six weeks ago," Mick helped him and Josef let his hand fall again, with an expression of profound shock in his face. For a while, there was pensive silence between them. A silence that made Beth very antsy. This was about _her_, damn it! One of them just _had_ to say something!

"An… an' if she still changes?" Josef proposed after another and much too long hesitation. "Maybe it's just a bit delayed…"

"This is what I fear," Mick replied, and the turmoil in Beth's body increased. All at once there were so many emotions going on inside her that it was almost unbearable. Anger, disappointment, grief, fear, hope, and above all confusion.

"But Gabriel said that's never happened before," he continued, sounding as helpless as she felt. "Carriers of the blockade substances have never been turned."

Josef exhaled noisily. "Damn, why isit tha' everythin' we get involve'in always seems to get more complicated than it should be…"

There he spoke the truth. Beth herself took a deep, shaky breath and turned slightly to retire as quietly as possible. She couldn't approach them now, didn't want to talk to Mick now. She was far too upset and confused. And if she was honest, a good dose of what she felt was anger towards him. Why had he not told her all this long ago? It was _her_ life, _her_ body, and_ her_ future! She had a _right_ to know these things and to talk about what was wrong with her! She wanted to know, whether she'd mutate into a vampire, or would never be able to become one… would eventually grow old and Mick would one day leave her …

There they were again those awful tears, forcing their way into her burning eyes. Apparently the idea of being a vampire - no matter how much it frightened her - was easier to accept than not having forever with Mick, that she would eventually grow old while he remained young and attractive… how would they be able to stay together then? And even if he stayed with her, at some point he would have to watch her die. Beth tried to bravely blink away the veil of tears before her eyes, while she approached the broad staircase that led up to her room. Someone was coming down towards her.

"There you are! I've been looking for you!"

Logan. It was clearly Logan's voice and Beth turned away from him quickly, wiped her eyes and took a few deep breaths. 'Calm down… nothing is certain… you still can't be sure. Just don't give up hope… just don't give up. And don't let anyone see what's wrong with you!'

"Beth?" Logan sounded worried, but by the time he had reached her and walked around to look at her face, she had gained enough control to even give him a smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked still suspiciously.

"Yeah, yeah," she replied quickly. "I… I was just a bit dizzy for a second. But I'm okay now."

"You shouldn't be up walking around yet," Logan reproached her and looked in the direction she had come from. "I'll get Mick and then we'll bring you back up…" He started to leave, but Beth quickly grabbed his arm, trying to hold him. She didn't want to see Mick just now…

"No, wait, that's not necessary," she uttered quickly and Logan's forehead wrinkled, expressing his lack of understanding with her behavior. "I'm really feeling well again. This… this was only a small qualm. It's all over now…"

"But it might suddenly come back again," Logan knew and grabbed her arm, pulling her with him. "And Mick should've been taking care of you. Why did he leave you alone for so long? It was clear this would happen again…"

"Logan, please… I'm fine." She struggled against his firm grip, but couldn't prevent that inch by inch, the room in which Mick and Josef still sat, was getting closer. But they weren't sitting anymore, for at that very moment the two were staggering out of the room arm in arm. Well, 'Arm in arm' might not be quite the right term, because Josef was more hanging in Mick's arms, who also seemed a little unstable on his feet, and was now fighting with both their weights. Josef's face was far paler than before, he looked so bad that Beth quickly freed herself from Logan's grip and ran over to her friend to help support him. But before she could put Josef's other arm around her shoulders, Logan was with her again, pushed her aside and took over as a second assistant.

"You've been up to long already," he muttered to her, while Mick just stared at her with wide eyes and open mouth. It seems as though, under the influence of alcohol, his mind was taking slightly longer to process the fact she was no longer sleeping blissfully in her bed.

"How… how long have you been awake?" he stammered, and she knew he was afraid she might have overheard their conversation. He really did deserve to know the truth, but one glimpse into his troubled eyes was enough to let a big part of her anger subside for the time being. He looked so wasted and certainly wasn't going to be able to bear any further emotional stress. He was probably only trying to protect her with his secrecy again, regarding her condition.

"Not long," she answered in a reassuring tone and Mick was immediately ready to believe her, took a deep breath and gave her a slight smile that she simply had to answer.

"Are you feeling any better?" was his next caring question, and her smile became even warmer.

She nodded slightly. But that was all she could manage before Josef uttered a faint groan.

"I feel sick…" He closed his eyes tortured. "I… I need to lay down…"

"Yes, I know…" said Mick and nodded briefly at Logan to ensure that they simultaneously set into motion to transport Josef slowly towards the stairs. "… and we're taking you to your room now. But please tell me if you have to puke again. That was a close call before."

Beth, who was now walking next to Mick, raised her eyebrows astounded. Apparently during her brief escape attempt a lot had happened – and not very pleasant. Apparently the alcohol had a much greater effect on Josef than it did on Mick, who, except that his lids were a little heavy and he spoke a little slower than usual, showed no major signs of being drunk anymore. Actually, it only made sense, because his healing processes were working at a much faster pace than that of a normal human being. Beth frowned. Were her own healing processes already working as fast as his? Were not all the processes in her body much like those happening within him when he wasn't in his transformation mode? Her heart began to beat faster as she tried to go up the stairs with her friends, outwardly quite calm.

What if for some mysterious reason the processes within her body made her into a kind of hybrid as well? If she became like Mick - only without the need of medicines? The idea was frightening but not as frightening as the others. She could live with it and that was why she clung to this idea with all her might right now, why she tried to expand it, to justify it logically. She had the ability to form the blocking agents that fought against vampire hormones. Good. Then… then the vampire hormones she had been infected with by Hendrik had not been completely destroyed inside her, but were somehow still there, had somehow latched onto her body and now made it possible for her to develop a touch of super powers, without turning into a vampire. Yes, it could possibly work that way… had to be!

"God, if'ya let me live I'll never drink again," Josef uttered and she looked at him again. He looked so miserable. With his black eye and pale face, the glazed look under heavy lids… She had heard from Gabriel that Josef and Simone had also met the Legion, and apparently Josef hadn't survived the encounter completely unscathed.

"Mick… Mick my dear," he stammered, and then brought his face closer to his friend's. "Nes' time…" He paused, once again had to sort his thoughts. "Nes' time you needo stop me if I starto drink too much… okay?"

"Okay," Mick gave back with a small smile.

A blissful smile appeared on Josef's lips. "You're thebes'," he murmured, and looked at Mick full of warmth. "You… you know I love you?"

Mick's smile became a grin, but it showed so much affection and warmth, that Beth's heart was also warming up, while Logan was staring at the man who was hanging in his arms, mouth wide open.

"Do ya love me too?" Josef mumbled on.

"Who wouldn't, bro," Mick replied smiling and Josef now looked at him full of joy. His head turned to the other side and he smiled happily into Logan's face until he realized who he was looking at. The smile faded and his eyebrows rose in bewilderment instead.

"Where… where'd _he_ come from so suddenly," he said directly into Logan's face and Beth let out a little snicker.

"From my room, and no, I _don't_ love you," Logan replied, smiling friendly. "I like you a little, even though you're not very nice to me… but love…" He shook his head. "That's stretching it."

Josef turned his face again to Mick. "Do you know what the hell he's talkin' bout?"

Mick uttered a slight laugh, while Beth's laughter was now clearly audible and drew Josef's attention to her.

"Bethie!" he beamed. "There's our lil Bethie…"

"Bethie?" Beth repeated with raised eyebrows and Mick's grin now reached almost to his ears.

"It's cute, don't you think?" he replied and she cut him short with a grimace, just knowing that she'd be hearing this nickname more often in the near future.

"You all righ'?" Josef drew back her attention. "Mick's been so worried bout you…"

Mick's attitude changed immediately, became tense, cramped. "Josef…" he tried to stop his friend, but this wasn't so easy.

"He thinks he's to blame for you feelin' so bad… that he's destroyin' your life…"

Apparently the two men had spoke before her appearance on a whole host of other topics before they became so jolly. Alcohol was known for losing the tongue. And that was probably a good thing concerning some people.

Mick looked at her, with a gaze that was intended to tell her that Josef was just talking nonsense, and shook his head, but she knew he was only trying to minimize the effect Josef's words had caused. It was good she had heard it. Knowing Mick was concerned caused her slight resentment to diminish a bit.

"But I… _I_ said…" Josef paused again, looked at Mick inquiringly. "What did I say?"

"How bout you just shut up and concentrate on walking again," Mick suggested, even though they were already upstairs and didn't have that far to walk anymore.

Josef moved his brows toward each other and shook his head. "Thasss not what I said…"

Mick rolled his eyes just as a door nearby opened and Simone stuck her head out. When she discovered the small entourage and quickly realized what state Josef was in, she shook her head with a deep sigh and opened the door a little further so Mick and Logan could bring her boyfriend into the small apartment. Beth followed them and the two women hugged each other briefly.

"God, it's good to see you," Simone murmured into Beth's ear and she immediately felt the immense need to talk with her friend undisturbed. That this wasn't going to be possible, Josef made immediately clear by loudly complaining about the tasteless decor of the small apartment and adding that this made his need to vomit grow even more. Well, Josef might have said that even in a sober state. Literally, he called to them: "Whoa, it's sooo ugly in here! I… I… gotta puke."

Simone uttered another deep sigh. "Men," she muttered, and followed the aforementioned species into the bedroom. Beth also shook her head. Simone was basically right. Instead of talking about their problems, they'd rather keep everything bottled up, to keep from showing anyone their weaknesses, only to get drunk instead, and end up blurting out more than they would have if they'd stayed sober - with the addition that they made a complete fool of themselves with their behavior. Josef was going to be in an 'excellent' mood in the morning.

"Don'… don' wanna be a human anymore, Micky," Josef lamented now. He was already sitting on the bed a little shaky and Mick and Simone helped him to take off his shoes while Logan watched the whole scene from a distance with a mixture of disbelief and fascination. A drunk, emotionally exposed Josef Kostan was an event in itself - Beth had to admit.

"Can't you gimme just an… an itty bitty sip of your blood?" He raised his hand and showed a tiny space between his forefinger and thumb. "Only a tiny smig…?"

Mick sat up fast, staggered backwards a little, but caught himself in time. The alcohol probably wasn't completely out of his system yet. "I can't. But August is supposed to be here soon…"

"He… he just better stay away from my neck!" Josef growled. "Traitor… lousy…"

"But if he gives his okay, I'm sure Logan here would be more than happy to turn you back… wouldn't you?" Mick looked at Logan inquiringly, whose mouth flapped open in sheer amazement.

"Me…? _I_ shall be Josef's…" He swallowed hard. "Josef's… Sire?"

Josef looked from Mick to Logan and then uttered a little laugh. "You're kiddin right…?"

Mick shrugged. "If _I_ were in your shoes I wouldn't be so picky…"

Josef cast another look at Logan through half-closed lids. Then he shrugged his shoulders and Logan almost leaped into the air with joy.

"YES!" it burst out of him and Mick raised his hands.

"Logan… calm down…"

The young vampire bravely pressed his lips together and nodded quickly. But the joy wouldn't allow him stand still anymore, so he withdrew into the living room.

"So, just lie down now and sleep it off," said Mick, grabbed Josef by his shoulders and pushed him into the pillows. Beth saw from the corner of her eye that Simone had spread a blanket over her friend, for Logan's little jig in the living room was claiming too much of her attention. At this very instant he was making circular motions with both arms outstretched, singing softly, "I'm gonna be Josef's Si-re, I'm gonna be Josef's Si-re …"

She couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes Logan could act just like a teenager… or even a little boy.

"Beth..." Simone touched her shoulder gently and Beth turned to her. Behind her, Josef had seized Mick by the arm and was trying once again to persuade him to turn him. He had probably witnessed Logan's behavior and it scared the hell out of him.

"See to it that Mick gets to bed," Simone whispered. "He looks pretty bad, and Gabriel has just dropped a few comments which have me a little worried."

"What kind of comments?" Beth asked sharp-eared.

"I think there's a few things that aren't going so well and…" She gave a little sigh. "All this will probably become even more exhausting and perilous than it already is… So take care of yourself and above all try to get some rest. Use the time you have now for actual sleeping…"

Beth couldn't help it. Heat immediately rose to her face because she knew exactly what her friend was referring to. She hadn't really thought much about such things since they'd left the car. But now however, the thought had returned very vividly in her mind. But she didn't get the chance to respond to her friend, because Mick had finally gotten loose from Josef and stepped up to them with a fairly stressed line around his mouth.

"Let's get outta here," he whispered to her. "Before he comes up with the idea to bite me…"

Beth looked at Mick in shock, while Simone already nodded coolly. "Quite conceivable…," she said, pushing Beth immediately out of the room.

"Mick! Where ya goin'?" It came immediately from the bedroom, alarmed, and Simone rolled her eyes and turned with a faint, not so serious "Run Mick… runnnn!" back to her boyfriend.

"Is there no way to sober him any quicker?" Beth asked Mick on their way through the living room toward the main door. Somehow she felt sorry for poor Simone leaving her with this giant baby at her side.

"Well, yeah, if we turn him right away…," Logan addressed her with shining eyes from aside. Mick stopped abruptly and looked at him reproachfully.

"Have you ever done something like that before? Have you any idea what all goes along with it?"

Logan lifted his chin and crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you think!"

Mick seemed to be really taken aback for a moment, while it immediately dawned on Beth.

"Seth…" it slipped from her with a small, knowing smile and Logan nodded not without pride.

"_You_ turned Seth?" Mick could hardly believe it, and somehow there was also a trace of anger in his eyes. "Why?"

"Why?" Logan repeated blankly. "He _wanted_ it! And he was sick, like many people who make the decision on their own to continue their lives as vampires! And besides, he's my best friend! Do you think I'd deny him his request? You also didn't…"

"Logan!" Mick's voice was so sharp that the young vampire stopped immediately.

Beth mouth fell open. She stared at Mick wide-eyed, who was still fixated on Logan with a threatening look.

"No matter how well Seth's transformation went," Mick said, now more subdued, "you'll not touch Josef until we have his 'okay' while in a sober state of mind and August's consent - is that clear?"

Logan nodded intimidated and now cast a shy look at Beth, who was struggling to digest the latest information. Despite her own troubled feelings, she felt he deeply regretted having revealed one of Mick's well-kept secrets so rashly. A secret that shook Beth more than she'd realized. Perhaps this was all due to the fact that in the last half hour she had learned so many things that were upsetting and couldn't process it all quick enough to recover her composure, which she needed so badly at the moment. For a heartbeat Mick continued to look at Logan, then turned and opened the apartment door, obviously avoiding eye contact with Beth.

"Logan!" It was Simone's voice, which held them back once more. The young vampire turned to her surprised, gave the stressed looking young woman standing in the doorway to the bedroom, a questioning look.

"Josef needs something from you…" She made an impatient, beckoning motion, but Logan hesitated, instead he looked at Mick questioningly.

"Does it have anything to do with turning him?" Mick asked now firmly.

Simone shook her head. "It's something else he wants Logan to do for him. He said he needs the little computer genius…"

Logan's eyes lit up pleased. "Did he really say it like that?"

Simone nodded wearily and Logan looked back over to Mick. "That's me. The computer-genius."

"I got it, Logan," Mick replied. "But if you go to him…"

Logan gave a waving motion with his hand and stopped him in mid sentence. "Don't worry, don't worry, I won't let him persuade me to turn him. He'll bite on granite with me."

Mick looked at him searchingly for a moment, then nodded slightly, and finally managed to leave the apartment. Beth followed him deeply entangled in her own thoughts. There was suddenly so many things she urgently needed to speak to him about, so many things churning in her head that she felt like she would burst if she didn't get at least a few of them clarified. She knew only too well that Mick was far too tired and exhausted to allow himself to be caught up in a serious conversation with her. He didn't look as if he had allowed himself much rest or sleep, looked exhausted and emotionally wound up and overwrought. And that wasn't good. And yet, she still couldn't bring herself to act as if everything was okay. Not because her own emotional state wouldn't allow it, but because his whole posture told her he had long since prepared for her unpleasant questions. He would notice if she was play-acting and thus would definitely not feel any better. Perhaps she could still carefully feel around for answers to one of the sensitive issues…

Beth took a deep breath. "Well, that'll be fun…" she murmured into Mick's back, as they reached the door to their own little apartment. "Do you really think he'd let Logan turn him back into a vampire?"

Mick turned to her and shrugged his shoulders undecided. "No idea. If he likes the other vampires even less and is desperate enough…"

He opened the door and nodded to her. Beth hesitated for a moment, but then she said what was already tingling on her tongue.

"When… when did you do it?"

Mick looked at her, frowning, trying to look as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "What?"

"What Logan's said… Mick, I know you turned someone…"

He avoided her gaze, instead pushed past her into the apartment and walked purposefully toward the kitchen, and headed straight for the fridge.

"Mick?" She followed him, even though she knew she was forcing him into a corner, was tormenting him in some way. But all these questions burned so strongly inside her, made it hard for her to think clearly, made it so difficult to hold back for his sake.

"I don't want to talk about it," was, after a moment's hesitation, his quiet but clearly irritated response. Mick opened the refrigerator and took out two packets of blood. His thirst had returned - probably from the struggle his body was having against the alcohol.

Beth shook her head in disappointment, although she already knew this was how he would probably respond.

"What _do_ you really want to talk about then," she murmured softly, but apparently loud enough for Mick to hear. His head snapped around to her.

"What?"  
Beth bit her lip. 'Swallow it! Don't say it! This will only lead to an argument! You don't want to fight with him again!'

"I said: what _do_ you really wantto talk about." Now it was out. Stupid Beth. Stupid, stupid Beth…

Mick's chest rose and fell under a heavy breath, and his cheek muscles twitched treacherously. Now the outburst would follow. Immediately he would start to shout at her, would pace up and down, only to run away again, away from her and her questions. But he surprised her. He gritted his teeth, turned around and grabbed one of the glasses from the shelf to pour the blood into it. "I… I don't want to argue with you," she heard him say softly, and with evident effort in his voice.

"Me neither," she replied emphatically. "But for quite some time now you… you've only bottled up your worries and won't talk to me about the things that are bothering you. Sometimes I don't even know what's going on inside you…"

"You don't _want_ to know," Mick gave back quietly, almost sadly and emptied the glass of blood in several quick gulps.

Beth's stomach surprised her with a small lurch. She lowered her eyes to the ground trying to breath deeply and quietly and not let the feeling of nausea overtake her, then lifted her gaze again almost shocked because she'd suddenly realized how Mick would interpret her behavior. But it was too late. A mixture of surprise, shame and hurt, appeared for a brief moment in Mick's expressive eyes as his gaze wandered from her to the glass in his hand and then slipped back to her. He then turned around, stammered a "So… sorry…" and put the glass into the sink to immediately clean it.

"No… no, Mick, wait," she blurted out and grabbed his arm, pulled at his sleeve but still couldn't keep him from removing all traces of his food. He even pushed her gently to one side to put the second blood packet back into the refrigerator.

"Mick… Mick!" She seized him by his arm with both hands now and pulled, but only after he had closed the refrigerator door again, he let her turn him around to her. She had expected him to once again play the completely cool guy in front of her, to push all his emotions back, but the alcohol that remained in his blood, and the exhaustion that seemed to now come back with a vengeance, wouldn't allow him to do that. He struggled visibly with his emotions, but still couldn't bring them under control. The pain her behavior had stirred in him was now all too clearly seen in his eyes, as well as the disappointment and fear… the fear of rejection, of the negative reaction to his current form of existence, and especially of her disturbing questions. His chest rose and fell much too rapidly with the fast breaths his inner struggle forced him to take and the flicker in his eyes told her it wouldn't take much to cause an emotional outburst in him. She knew she currently didn't have the strength to deal with it, to catch him, to give him the support he needed to recover after. De-escalation was the only thing that would help in this situation - even if it meant she'd have to put her questions on hold and wait for a better opportunity to get some answers.

"It really had nothing to do with the blood, Mick," she said quickly and took great pains to look at him as firmly as possible, to let him read in her eyes that she was telling the truth - although this wasn't really the case. "I myself have eaten so little today that I just felt sick right now. I have no problem with you needing to have blood sometimes. You know this…"

He closed his eyes, inhaled audible, and when he lifted his eyelids again, a little inner peace had returned. At least the expression of deep hurt had slowly disappeared. She gave him a small smile.

"I think we're both just a little overwrought," she said with a sigh, simply stepped closer to him, pushed her arms around his waist and pulled him into a warm embrace. He was slightly tense when he reluctantly put his arms around her, but at least he didn't struggle against her vicinity, appeared conciliatory and willing to open up to her.

"I just don't want you to… to think you _have _to endure all this," he murmured into her hair and she looked up directly into his light blue eyes.

"And I want _you_ to feel comfortable around me, Mick," she replied softly. "I want you to feel you can completely be yourself around me. And I really only felt sick for another reason… do you believe me?"

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Another deep breath followed and Beth saw in his eyes that something was working inside him, that he had made a decision. "Do you… do you really want answers to your questions right now?" he asked composed and she felt sure he would indeed give in to her, that he would strain himself further to alleviate some of her fears and anxiety.

Deeply touched she raised a hand to his cheek, stroked gently over the stubbly skin. She then shook her head. "I can wait a little longer," she added to her gesture and felt it was really true. She _could_ wait. At least until tomorrow.

"And now you take a little more blood to you, we'll sit down on the couch for a few minutes and eat the rest of Logan's sandwiches and then we'll go to bed," she said. "How does that sound?"

Mick was finally able to return her smile and she could almost feel the deep relief herself running throughout his body. "That sounds like a fantastic plan," he said, and his body also relaxed in her arms. She got up a little on her tiptoes, and stole a small kiss from him.

"Let's see if you still feel that way tomorrow," she added with a smile. Although Mick uttered a slight laugh, she felt sure that the thought of the following morning was already frightening him a bit. And he was right. Tomorrow she wasn't going to let him off the hook. Tomorrow was the day of truth.


	33. Surprises

_So it's time again for a new chapter. Thanks a lot again for your feedback!_

_**Sci fi fan30**__: Yes, there's a lot about to happen soon and you'll get a lot of information in the next chapters. Hope you'll like it._

_**Lucretia**__: The title of the last chapter was meant ironically. Our friends actually should recover but that's not what they're doing there. And poor Josef… maybe someone helps him in this chapter? I don't tell… You need to read it._

_**Borntobemybaby**__: I totally agree with every word you wrote in your comment. And I also think that Mick's secrecy concerning his feelings and worries and his indecision concerning his feelings towards Coraline is a real danger to his relationship with Beth. I hated it in the series when he stepped into the shower with Coraline and started kissing her. I'm not quite sure if he would have even slept with her but you could see that she still was able to somehow touch him inside, also in 'The Mortal Cure'. And I wanted to stay close to characters and the things one could see in the series. To me Mick doesn't really know what he's feeling for Coraline. He knows that he somehow should hate her but he can't do this and that's the reason why he asks himself on and on if he still loves her somehow. That doesn't mean that he's right with that, for it's possible that you see feelings inside you that aren't there or you interpret your own feelings wrongly and only much later you realize what these feelings are. Mick is terribly confused at the moment and totally overwhelmed with all the things going on around him. Of course this doesn't help Beth at the moment. She's a quite strong woman and able to hold back her own emotions for a while. But also her strength is decreasing and at some point she'll explode and that can indeed lead to a break up. In my eyes she has much pride and she would never stay with a man who loves another woman. And if she has to go on fighting for their relationship alone she'll stop this at some point and leave Mick. So he really, __**really**__ has to start fighting for their relationship as well! And don't get him wrong: He does love Beth as much as Josef loved Sarah if not even more._

_**Judy albert**__: Great to hear from you again! It was such a fun to write Mick and Josef in their drunk state. Loved it. Yes, the thing with Beth is worrying but you'll soon get to know what's going on with her._

_**Betsal**__: You're not a bad person. I also laughed while writing this. And I think that Josef somehow enjoyed the state he was in – at least in the beginning. And Beth and Mick for sure urgently need to talk._

_**Moonjat54**__: You're right. Mick should better tell Beth what he feels for her because she's fighting so hard for their relationship and needs at least that he shows her that it's worth the effort, that his love for her is strong and deep and he's only hampered through his trauma in showing her his feelings. Concerning the thing Logan had to do for Josef… You'll see it in this chapter and then you can decide if it's something safe._

_**Sandra Fegan**__: Logan is really thrilled with the thought of being Josef's Sire. But Josef was drunk. And yes, Beth needs someone to talk about her problems. Best would be if she could clarify all this with Mick._

_And now I leave you all alone with the new chapter, wish you a great Sunday and will be back at Thursday again. Yours Jenna_

* * *

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**S****urprises**

"Please, I did _what_?"

Logan blinked innocently at me and his calmness and the patient look on his face almost drove me up the wall.

"You asked me to turn you back into a vampire," he again repeated his outrageous statement in a tone usually used when speaking with a mentally retarded person.

I uttered an affected laugh and did not even regret it when a sharp pain flashed through my temples. "Never," I replied almost scandalized and emphatically shook my head. "When would this have happened?"

Meanwhile, a little disappointment could be seen in Logan's brown button eyes, but he remained persistent. "Well, last night." A strangely amused gleam appeared in his eyes. "Between your confession of love to Mick and your realization that I'm truly a genius," he added with relish.

For a few heartbeats I only stared at him tongue-tied, then I began to grin. "Confession of love," I repeated, now quite certain that Logan was pulling my leg. That was what came of drinking yourself into unconsciousness and not being able to remember how you had gotten from the piano at which you had been sitting just a moment ago, into your bed, fully dressed. This was, of course, an excellent opportunity for guys like Logan to serve up fairytales. At least I knew how seriously I could take his claim that I would have chosen him as my new Sire.

Apart from the blackout and Logan's brazen lies I was tormented by headaches and limb pains that were unbearable and made it really hard for me to move at all this early morning. Each movement was connected with enormous strain and stabbing headache and my head hummed like a whole hornet's nest. 'Hangover' was not quite the right word for my state. It was too mild. 'Brutal punishment' or 'torture' was a much better description of the state I was in.

After I had endured hunger, pain and exhaustion in the last few days, I had actually believed that it could not get worse for me. I had been wrong. And this time there was really no one I was able to blame for it except myself.

"If you don't believe me just ask the others who were there," Logan replied now grinning. "Yesterday you said a lot of things you should've probably kept to yourself. Including your last meal."

I grimaced slightly disgusted. Yeah, the nasty taste in my mouth confirmed Logan's report at least in this detail and that made me a little nervous. Was there then also something to the other things?

"Well…" a lot more pleasant voice was heard at my other side and when I turned a little Simone sat down next to me on the couch towards which I had dragged myself in agony only minutes before, holding a glass of water in her hand. "You should swallow these…" She pressed two headache tablets into the palm of my hand as she held the glass out to me. "… and flush them down quickly with this. Then you should soon feel better."

She stood up again. No smile, no caring, loving caress… not even a slightly anxious interest in my current condition. I wrinkled my brows thoughtfully watching as Simone walked through the room, put on a light jacket and then walked over to the main door. She had behaved pretty strangely since I had awakened, so reticent and cool… as if she was somehow mad at me.

"Where're you going?" I said just in time to keep her from leaving the room without explanation or a nice word in my direction.

She turned to me quite reluctantly. "I know it's hardly imaginable for you, Josef, but _I_ also have needs that I have to assuage sometimes. In this case, it's hunger. So will you excuse me?"

I nodded, although I certainly didn't understand what was going on and where her testiness came from. Had I hurt her emotionally yesterday in my state of mental derangement?

Logan let out a small, sympathetic sigh. His gaze rested for a moment on the door which Simone had closed quietly behind her. "It's just not easy to bear when you find out that your own boyfriend actually loves someone else."

I almost choked on the water I had just swallowed along with the pills. "Simone knows me," I croaked indignantly with a slight cough. "She knows I only love Mick as a brother and nothing else!"

Logan cast a confused glance at me, then a light seemed to dawn on him and he waved it off quickly. "I don't mean that at all. It's about Sarah."

I became hot and cold at the same time and froze. Sarah? What the hell did Logan know about Sarah?

The young vampire seemed to guess my thoughts because he moved a little away from me as if he was afraid I would attack him. If I was honest, I even felt like it for a split second. No one, least of all Logan, should know anything about Sarah!

"Hey, you started to talk about her totally on your own," Logan defended himself quickly and raised his hands.

"_What_ did I say?" I replied sharply and unintentionally slid closer to him. This was too much for him and he rose quickly and created a certain distance between himself and me. Apparently he'd forgotten that I was only a human and couldn't be a real hazard to him.

"You… you asked me if I could contact a certain Tamara Gail via Internet and when I asked you who that was, you said she's taking care of the greatest treasure of your life for you."

I raised my eyebrows in horror. "I said _this_?"

"Yeah, I also think it's a bit turgid, but apparently there's a small poet slumbering inside you," Logan replied with a shrug. "In any case, I asked you what kind of treasure it is and you said it was the love of your life, your Sarah, who you tried to turn and that she had been in a coma for many, many years now and you still hoped that she would wake up one day… and then you started to cry."

"Never," I exclaimed in horror, starting to feel weak in the knees.

"Well, yeah, at least you had tears in your eyes," Logan corrected himself. "Simone did as well, by the way - but I think for a different reason."

I thought this too and now I even felt sick. I had planned to talk with Simone about Sarah someday, but certainly not now and certainly not so clumsy or unprepared. No wonder she was so angry with me and treated me so coolly. I leaned back on the couch and let out a deep sigh. I really had no idea how I could bring this back into order again. And even less did I know how to face the awkward talk that would certainly approach me very soon. It already filled me with horror. Basically it was not so bad that she had decided to first retreat. That gave me some time to work out a good strategy. At least I hoped so.

"Well…" I heard Logan start again hesitantly. "What do we do now? I mean with your other problem."

I gave him such a dark look that he instantly took another few steps backward.

"_We_ do nothing here," I growled at him and got up. Logan as my Sire. That would be the day! Besides, strangely enough, I was currently not in the mood to let anyone turn me back. Even though my last transformation was already an eternity ago, I could still remember how nerve-wracking and exhausting it had been. I just lacked the strength to do it now and my current emotional ups and downs didn't make things better. What I needed now was a bit of advice and since my dear, best friend hadn't kept me yesterday evening from fuddling my mind away, he simply deserved to now take care of my problems.

"But August told us it's no longer a problem."

"Don't talk about August!" I hissed at Logan and he dodged one more time clearing the way to the door for me. My head punished me for the harsh tone with a painful pounding in my temples, but I gritted my teeth not wanting to give the little freak a reason to gloat.

"You were in a much better mood when you were drunk," I heard him mutter toward my back as I stepped from the apartment into the hall. This time I did not respond to him but simply walked on, although I didn't know where to go.

Fate seemed to be favorably disposed toward me this morning for only a few seconds later Beth came my way in the hallway, carefully carrying a tray with a truly sumptuous breakfast for two on it. She was so focused on not spilling the coffee while walking that she didn't notice me, at least until she stopped in front of a door wondering how she could open it without jeopardizing her breakfast. Just at that moment I reached her and moved my hand past her to the door knob and opened the door.

Beth had winced slightly with my unexpected appearance and now stared at me with her mouth open. "You're awake already!" she said in disbelief.

"Good morning, Beth," I replied somewhat schoolmasterly. "Yes, I'm also glad to see you."

There it was, the small, sly smile she could use to twist the toughest guy around her little finger with. "I actually thought you'd need a little longer to get out of bed," she said, deliberately ignoring my invitation to a cordial welcome and walked ahead of me into the small apartment she shared with Mick. I looked around briefly. No sign of him.

"Didn't Simone talk to you?" I asked along the way while I inspected the interior of the small apartment with a critical frown. Who had told the interior designer that old people not longer had taste. This was terrible.

When I looked over to Beth her expression had become serious again. Not a good sign. She put her tray in front of her onto the coffee table in the middle of the room and looked at me searchingly. "Have you had a fight? She looked so sad, but said she didn't want to talk about it, just needed to rest."

I took a deep breath and moved toward the bedroom door. "Where's Mick?" I asked instead of answering her question.

"He's still sleeping soundly," was the answer. This was not so good for me. "Yesterday he immediately fell asleep when he lay down. I think the last few days were just too exhausting for him." She approached me and I felt that she was afraid I would wake him out of pure selfishness. She wasn't wrong about that. What had Mick once claimed very bigmouthed? He could sleep when he was dead – really dead, of course.

"His body should be given the opportunity to get the sleep and rest it needs," she added in an almost admonitory tone and I now stopped directly in front of the door, longingly staring at the shiny silver knob. How beautiful the world had been once, before I had started to care about the other people around me.

I let out a sad sigh and then walked with sloping shoulders over to the sofa to slump down on it like a sack of potatoes. Beth immediately followed me and sat down next to me, looking at me with a questioning gaze. I could not immediately respond to her unspoken invitation to pour out my woes to her, but wallowed for a few seconds in self-pity. A few seconds that someone else knew how to use.

A quiet cough from the doorway made us both turn our heads. It did not surprise me to find Logan there, for it had been clear to me that he would follow me. _What_ confused me, however, was his slightly reproachful look in my direction before he addressed Beth.

"May I come in too?" he asked politely.

Beth blinked at him somewhat confused. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Well, yes…" he drawled and looked back at me reproachfully, "it might be that you and Mick perhaps want to spend some time alone with each other and don't want to be bothered by us right now."

Now my eyebrows moved to each other, expressing clearly my anger at this statement. How dared this rascal! That was_ my_ best friend and his girlfriend – he wasn't allowed to interfere here!

"Mick's still sleeping anyway," said Beth with a too lovingly smile. "And I like having company for breakfast … So come in."

My gaze wandered at her words in surprise to the tray Beth reached her hand out to. "You plan to eat this _alone_?"

She paused in her motion, let her hand hover over a slice of toast and gave me an affronted look. "No! Of course I wanted to leave something for Mick." She shook her head angrily, grabbed the toast and began to butter it now and to put cold-cuts on it clearly upset.

"And if _you_'re hungry, I won't mind if you take something as well," she added softly, without looking at me.

I critically inspected the food. Toast, cold cuts, fruit, jam, peanut butter, cornflakes and milk… coffee… actually it all looked pretty delicious - certainly better than the stuff we had had to eat the day before.

"Maybe you'll get into a little better mood then," said Logan, who, to my displeasure, sank down on one of the free armchairs.

"Oh, is he in a bad mood?" the now happily chewing Beth addressed Logan and the sarcasm in her voice wasn't hard to notice.

Logan nodded profusely and yet dared to grin. "He's got a hangover and it doesn't help that he can't remember the things he said yesterday at all," he informed Beth about me as if I was not even there in person.

Beth's grin became almost a little wider as she turned back to me. "Really?" she said smirking and bit again into her sandwich with joy. I wondered if her joy was indeed only linked with the food and not due to the fact that she was now able to take revenge on me for my remark, although it was really not meant as an offense. Women and their sensitivity concerning their body volume was really a touchy subject.

"Logan tried to persuade me that I had consented to let him turn me back," I got quickly to one of the topics which really bothered me.

To my horror, Beth nodded immediately. "You did," she said with a seriousness which caused me to almost believe her.

"I did _not_!" I replied although I could actually remember nothing of yesterday evening.

Beth stopped short and moved her delicate eyebrows with an expression of deepest blankness towards each other. "What would be so bad about that?"

Now _I_ blinked at her in confusion. "Is that a serious question?"

"My blood is not good enough for the distinguished gentleman," I heard Logan say snippily and as I turned to him he crossed his arms over his chest deeply offended.

"That's not the point here," I growled at him. "A Sire and his Fledgling are in a way bound to each other forever, Logan! There would be forever a connection between us. In some ways it's like… like a marriage. And do you really think I would want to marry _you_? Your lifestyle and mine aren't even compatible!"

"But you would marry Mick." Logan pouted.

"Of course! He's my best friend," it slipped from my lips and only at that moment did I realize what I was saying and quickly shook my head. "I… I mean the turning and the connection that grows out of it, okay?"

My eyes moved from Logan to Beth to make sure that she didn't understand me wrong and I noted with mild confusion that the merry twinkle in Beth's eyes had disappeared and had made room for a deeply thoughtful, almost sad expression. It crossed my mind boiling hot that according to Logan's statement I had announced last night that I loved Mick and now this slip. Not that Beth had the idea that between Mick and me there was more than just friendship. Although I had in the course of the long time that I had spent in this world, been very keen to experiment - just out of boredom - and was far from being homophobic, this kind of interest had never grown between me and Mick. And Beth should know this. Unfortunately I only was able to inhale because the next moment there was a short knock at the door and then Gabriel came in without waiting for an answer. Probably he had long since felt who was assembled here and knew he would not disturb anyone. Oh, how I missed this skill!

The old vampire looked a little tired but honored us with a warm, confident smile as he approached us with rapid steps. His gaze slid briefly over my body and I noticed that he almost imperceptibly screwed up his nose.

"Had a little party last night?" he asked with a grin as he stopped next to Logan and set down at his feet a fairly big suitcase that I had not noticed until now. "Actually, I hadn't expected to find you here still as a human," he added. "Now that August has said that a transformation shouldn't be critical anymore…"

"I'm still looking for a suitable donor," I replied, trying to let the stimulative character of my gaze in Gabriel's direction not appear quite so pathetic.

Of course, Gabriel's glance immediately roamed over to Logan. "But here sits a young man who certainly would have had mercy on you much earlier," he now added and Logan's flattered, almost smug grin almost burned me up.

Beth's faint coughing next to me stopped me, however, from throwing an insult at his head that really wouldn't be easy to digest.

"Gabriel, would you maybe have a little time for a private conversation with me," she asked with a slight strain in her voice. The so amused expression on Gabriel's face became in a matter of seconds rather serious.

"I have - but not right now. There are a few important things that I first have to discuss with all of you."

The disappointment that washed over Beth was not to be missed, but she nodded bravely.

"Shouldn't Mick also take part then?" I asked.

Now it was Gabriel who nodded and again a small smile appeared on his clear-cut face. Seconds later I knew why. The door to the bedroom of the apartment opened and my best friend staggered into the living room blinking against the bright light and dressed only in jeans.

"How… how long have you been sitting here?" he stammered and now headed a bit clumsily toward us. It seemed as if sleep had not yet let him properly slip away from its claws causing his movements to seem a bit uncoordinated.

"I only just arrived," Gabriel replied immediately and even my human senses couldn't miss the warm, almost fatherly, loving expression in the bright eyes of the old vampire. "And we haven't discussed anything important yet."

Mick nodded, blinked a few times and ran a hand through his short, but completely rumpled hair. "What… what time is it?"

"Almost twelve a.m.," was Gabriel's surprising answer and like my best friend I raised my eyebrows surprised. My goodness, we had slept a long time! So I had been very wrong with my estimation of 'early morning'.

"The other vampires will show up here soon," Gabriel continued, bent down and opened the suitcase at his feet in order to get a clean shirt for Mick who took it gratefully and immediately put it on.

"So we don't have that much time." Gabriel closed the case again and straightened up. "Let's get to the organizational things: I arranged for a suitcase with fresh clothes for the next few days to be brought into each of the rooms. Go easy with it. We don't know the next time we will have again the opportunity to get fresh clothes. The same applies to the food. Ensure that you get filled properly here and when we leave take enough food with you. We'll face stressful times."

Gabriel's words caused an uncomfortable pulling in my stomach. Stressful times… that sounded almost as if all that had happened previously had been a walk in a park.

"That doesn't mean that our situation is much worse than before," he instantly added to calm us. "It's only that a few things have developed that force us to take swift action and probably carry an increased risk for all of us. So, be sure that you renew your strength - in every possible way."

He paused and stared for some heart beats at the floor, probably to better sort his thoughts. When he raised his eyes again they moved immediately to Mick. "I don't know what Josef has already told you about my short trip, but…" He breathed quickly in and out. "We, that is, Tony, Thomas and I, had hoped to gain from Henry possession of Cynthia." Another heavy weighing break. "We were able to do that."

Even without owning vampire senses, I immediately noticed how tense Mick's whole body became. No wonder, this woman was the reason that he had fallen into the hands of the Legion.

"After careful consideration Lance, Tony, Thomas and I have decided to bring her here today. So she and Henry will arrive in a few hours with them," Gabriel went on and I immediately asked myself what was probably the reason for this change of plan. "I want you to know this, Mick, so that you can brace for it and don't attack the two through a deep, and to all of us, totally understandable urge. We need them to get hold of Frank Peterson."

"Cynthia has information on Frank?" Mick probed immediately, upset and unable to conceal how great his hatred for this woman was.

"At least she seems to have contacts who know where the professor resides right now," Gabriel said slightly tense. "She promised to cooperate with us if we spare her."

I could not help it - I gasped for breath, outraged. "She has set conditions?"

"She _and_ Henry," Gabriel admitted openly. "Although I have to say that Henry is giving a more compliant and cooperative impression than she is."

"And you want to give in to their conditions?" Mick probed with undisguised anger.

The head shaking was hardly recognizable as such, so light was it, and yet it was stricter than any word could have been, for a strange, cold, threatening gleam in the eyes of the old vampire came along with it. "I'm going to force _my_ conditions on_ them_ and in the end they will receive their punishment for their betrayal - both of them. For the moment we need them, however. Can you live with this?"

For a moment Mick seemed to be fighting with himself, then he nodded and at last relaxed his frozen posture, came over to us and sat down next to Beth on the couch, who immediately in a compassionate gesture put one hand on his forearm.

"Well," said Gabriel, and now decided to also allow himself to sit down on the armchair opposite to Logan. "Let's get to the next important point. Ben Talbot and Carl Davis are on their way back to LA where they are likely to be directly escorted to Judge Ruthers. They're both convinced that the Legion must be strictly observed and will support our cause. I asked them again to make sure Judge Ruthers gets the CD that you have handed over to Ben, and they'll try to convince Ruthers that he has to meet with me for a private conversation."

CD? Judge John G. Ruthers? Did I miss something?

"What exactly is going on there, Gabriel?" Mick asked emphatically, leaning a little toward the old vampire. Between his eyebrows this vigorous line had built which indicated certain persistence in this matter. Apparently_ I_ was not the only one who hadn't been informed properly about this story. Although Mick certainly knew more than I did, as his next words testified.

"Where do you know the Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice from and what has he got to do with the Legion and this… this nightmare?"

"I can't tell you all the details yet, Mick," Gabriel responded after a short hesitation. "There's simply too much at stake, and I still don't know exactly how internal information from our inner circle got to the enemy. And as long as this is so, I simply have to keep a few things to myself."

Mick leaned back against the backrest of the couch, but the dark look he gave the old vampire clearly said that his response hadn't satisfied him at all.

Gabriel took a deep breath. "_What_ I can tell you is that I'm still looking for a way to stop this from becoming a more violent war with the Legion in a way that evokes the least possible damage. And to do this I need people with lots of power and prestige in society."

"Does Ben's uncle belong to the Legion?" Beth asked hesitantly.

"No," was the reassuring answer. "But as a neutral representative of the Human Society he's of immense value to us because it's not us who currently isn't honoring their agreements."

"Wait! Wait!" I lifted a hand in a braking gesture and shook my head because I could not believe what I was hearing. "Does that mean there's a _third_ party also who is involved in all this … and probably always has been?"

Gabriel dropped his gaze a little guiltily. He had probably forgotten under all the stress, that he had withheld this important detail from us so far. Well, even a man like him could sometimes prattle away.

He drew another deep breath through his nose and then looked at me again. "There isn't always only the one or other, good or bad, black or white. Our species in particular should know this. There were always periods in our long history in which the humans who knew about us were well-disposed to us. Idealists who dreamed, as I do, that one day vampires and humans can live together peacefully and with complete knowledge of each other. These idealists I found in some wise heads of various governmental systems and I managed again and again to make friendships with them, to gain influence on these people. The advantage for me was that with their power they could control and discipline the Legion. Only because one of these wise heads had been sitting at the negotiating table had it been possible to negotiate this contract between us and the Legion at all."

"Well, that means clearly that there's another secret circle among men who knows about us and the Legion but usually tries to be impartial," Logan summed up for all of us and Gabriel nodded.

"They only intervene when one party behaves completely contrary to contract," he added, explaining.

"Uh… do they actually still know _today_ that they should do this?" Logan asked with raised eyebrows. "Because… hardly anyone could behave more falsely and defaulting than the Legion."

"That's what I am trying to determine," was Gabriel's shockingly honest answer and I wrinkled my brows confused.

"Does that mean you don't know?"

Gabriel let out a small sigh. "All this is far more complicated than it looks." He closed his eyes briefly, probably trying to decide where to start. "The contracts were concluded in the past in Europe. In the U.S., the whole thing happened much later and less well conceived and the neutral man who attended then at the assembly - which didn't happen here because of an emergency situation, but ought to serve as a reminder not to let a war arise in the first place - at that time was probably a little overwhelmed and inattentive. In any case, there were in the local contracts some loopholes for both parties which urgently need to get cemented. And the responsible person didn't take the handing over of his role as the ultimate proctor of the vampire society and the Legion as seriously as he should have, which means that all the people who had had to take this role so far had more likely stayed out of the conflicts and had simply let things slide. They did not really know what their job was and got little support from Europe - perhaps this was my mistake as well. And what's worse: from what I've learned, the Legion has through cordial relations grown quite close to the group of representatives of human society and has some influence on them."

"So that _means_ that the Judge works together with the Legion," I concluded immediately.

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't think so. Then the organization would have been much more successful. I think Judge Ruthers is only keeping still while the Legion once again is running a delicate operation."

"Then maybe someone should remind him what his real job is," Logan snorted indignantly.

Gabriel nodded firmly. "And that's what I plan to do."

"Do you think this will work?" Beth asked insecurely.

"It's definitely worth a try. And if I succeed we will have gained much. The Legion will be careful not to judge it's sword against the state."

"Then the CD is something like a small 'Remind-me'?" Logan asked with a hidden smirk, which Gabriel returned immediately.

"Something like that," he agreed.

"Why didn't you simply sent it to him much earlier – by mail?"

"Because the Legion has got a few men directly in his vicinity who serve as his advisers, but in fact take care that no vampire can contact him. And he does not even know anything about it."

"Then… then maybe that was the reason for Talbot's surveillance," Beth exclaimed in surprise. "They wanted to prevent us from approaching his uncle through Talbot! It was not just about his cases!"

"That's what I suspect, too," Gabriel agreed with her, but then threw a cursory glance at his expensive watch reminding us all that we were running out of time. "But that now leads to too much detail. We can talk about that later when we have more clarity about who is getting information about our plans and how they are getting it."

"Are there suspects?" I immediately adopted the new topic which was moving me very strongly. 'Black-eye, for example,' I wanted to add, but then let it be. Nevertheless, Gabriel appeared to read my mind.

"There are," he admitted. "But Lance is above suspicion, if you were driving at him."

"Why?" That wasn't my question but Mick's, and he got it out far more aggressively than I would have dared. "In Mexico you gave the impression that you didn't think much of him and thought him capable of anything!"

"But not betrayal, Mick!" Gabriel replied immediately and his bright eyes flashed at him in agitation. "Never betrayal!"

"But doesn't he constantly hang around with these French people of the _Cercle du Sang?_" Logan objected thoughtfully.

"Not all French people belong to the _Cercle_, Logan," Gabriel replied now indeed a little displeased. "But you're right. Lance does not only _operate_ with the _Cercle _- he in fact _belongs_ to them. Because_ I_ want it!"

For a few seconds incredulous silence gaped between us. Only a few days ago, Gabriel had made us believe that Lance didn't belong to this strange organization and now he openly confessed before us that he even _wanted_ Lance to be a member of this group. Such a thing was not easy to digest.

Beth was the first of us who found her tongue. "Because… because you _want_ it?" she repeated so quietly as if she was afraid to say these words. I myself was hoping to have misheard. But this hope quickly burst with Gabriel's nod.

"If you want to fight your enemies effectively you need to know them, you need to know how they think and what they're planning," he said. "This has always been and is still my survival strategy. On this my success, my power in this world is based - on spy work and exchange of information that usually cannot be traced back to me. That's how I was able to find you in Mexico and to keep our actions from going completely wrong. It's only important to assess correctly the persons with whom you work and even that I'm able to master like no other." He paused for a breather. "It is with good reason that Lance is known in our circles to be a difficult, power hungry person and his sight on the coexistence of humans and vampires actually overlaps in some respects to that of the _Cercle_. In addition, he and Luis were almost like real brothers to each other. That made it easy for him to be admitted into the _Cercle_. But all his actions for that organization have always been coordinated with me so far - even when no one noticed. Through him I also learned of the ambush Etienne, Clement and Emile had set up for us in Detroit. To walk into their trap was the best way to convict them and to punish them in front of all the other important vampires of our community without risking blowing Lance's cover. We've always practiced it that way so far."

"But if he's kept company with this circle for such a long time now, he must know a lot more names," Logan interjected. "Why don't you get them all?"

"Because that would deprive me of the chance to get to Nicolas de Chambour and if I don't get_ him_, I can't destroy this group."

"Additionally, we still don't know exactly how the _Cercle_ works together with the Legion and why," I added thoughtfully.

"I think we're going to learn a whole lot more about it today," Gabriel replied with firm resolve in his voice, and the certainty that he would be able to squeeze a lot of information out of Cynthia and Henry provided for a very light sense of satisfaction inside of me.

"Just so I understand…" now Mick chimed in again, strangely edgy. "Lance basically works for you. That means everything he does he does at your behest? Even the attack on Josef and the others in Mexico shortly after I was freed?"

"No," Gabriel said after a moment's hesitation. "That went against our agreements and had a different reason."

"Then I'm curious to hear it," Mick responded and crossed his arms provocatively over his chest. I probably was not the only one who fought internally tooth and nail to regard Lance as a friend. "Perhaps this reason once again causes Lance to no longer be under control."

"That won't happen," said Gabriel now much stricter and irritation sparkled visibly in his eyes. "And that's all I've to say about this for now."

"That means we should trust Lance just like that? Although he tried to kill Josef, probably wanted to hand me over to the Legion and for a time had totally withdrawn from your control?"

"He was never _totally_ out of control," Gabriel growled. "And he didn't want to deliver you to the Legion. It was about something else."

"And what's that exactly?" Mick's eyes sparkled as pugnaciously as the ones of his counterpart. Apparently, due to the events of recent days he had lost his patience concerning Gabriel's secrets. Even though I could understand that, I was not sure if this was really the right moment to demand the truth of the old vampire, just before this next stressing meeting with the other vampires.

Gabriel's facial expression had become so gloomy and threatening that I unconsciously stopped breathing when he inhaled loudly through his nose and exhaled again. Never had something so simple had such a threatening effect on me, but Mick held his gaze and did not show the slightest sign of fear. In fact, it was Gabriel who shortly closed his eyes, shook his head and dropped his shoulders. When he again opened his eyes, he seemed resigned rather than angry, and I knew that Mick was indeed going to get an answer to his question.

"You should never judge people just purely by their actions, Mick," he said softly and deep down in the bright blue of his eyes a little sadness and… guilt shimmered. "Everyone can make a mistake once, can do things that seem to be right in one moment and regret them deeply in the next. No one is devoid of that and no one can fight forever against their instincts, their deepest desire and their strongest feelings. At some point you will lose this fight and it's impossible to predict whether this loss of control will have a positive or negative effect. Often you only realize this after a long, long time when the recent aftermaths of your actions have finally died away." Gabriel took another deep breath and looked past Mick to the open window through which a gentle breeze was blowing. The look in his eyes got somewhat absent and I knew he went mentally a little further back in time, tried to remember exactly what things still affected the present time, our present situation.

"Lance made some decisions in his past, did things that he regretted deeply very quickly and has tried to make amends since then," Gabriel continued his detailed explanation. "Only it's precisely these attempts that often brought him to his own limits." Gabriel shook his head, a small sympathetic smile on his lips. "After Luis had stolen the cure in the 18th Century and I had won it back only with great difficulty, I gave it to Lance and ordered him to hide it, to guard it and to prevent anyone from using it for research again. What at that time was not clear to me was that Lance felt guilty toward me because he had believed in Luis so long and had not stopped him in time."

"Feelings of guilt?_ Lance_?" it escaped Logan with a small laugh, but he instantly choked on it, as Gabriel gave him an angry glance.

"And because he knew why I had made the cure a long, long time ago and the temptation was always within reach for him, he began after many, many years to research the cure behind my back."

This did not really surprise me. I had suspected for some time that Lance hadn't washed his hands of it when it came to unauthorized research on the cure. In my imagination it was even he for whom Cynthia and Henry worked and so he also did business with the Legion. And that was the reason why I didn't want to say goodbye to that idea yet either.

"His biggest mistake was probably that he included Coraline in his research," I heard him go on, "for through her relationship with Cynthia the _Cercle_ was immediately informed about this. Because of that Lance was forced to make his results and further research available to this circle and simply dropped his work after a while by claiming the ingredients for the cure no longer existed and it would in any case make no sense to further research the cure and one couldn't improve it."

"So the _Cercle_ contacted the Legion because they were far-better equipped and experienced for research," I concluded from his story and united my ideas with his words. And I was indeed not that wrong.

"It probably happened like that," Gabriel agreed with me. "The_ Cercle_ forced him to hand over a part of the cure and his recent research findings to them."

"And the other part was stolen from him by Coraline," added Mick. "No wonder he was mad as hell and wanted her to be punished so hard."

For a few seconds we were all silently caught up in our own thoughts.

"If you say his appearance in Mexico had not been arranged by you," Beth finally voiced her thoughts and brought us back to our main theme, "what exactly did he want from us? Did he want to take Mick in order to do some further research with him and the cure?"

"Not Mick," Gabriel replied and I nodded, upset with my slowly dawning realization.

"He wanted Frank," I said softly. "He said as much to me. I just thought he wanted to take him to the Legion."

Gabriel uttered a chuckle. "Did he tell you this?" He shook his head smirking. "Such a big kid… No, he wanted Frank Peterson because he's the only doctor who has managed to achieve a lasting effect from the cure with a vampire. His knowledge is of immense value to everyone who has ever researched this cure. Lance suddenly saw not only his original research goal within his grasp, but also the possibility of saving himself from the whole mess surrounding the loss and retrieval of the cure. He thought a new success would appease me and when you denied him what he needed so badly…"

"… he totally freaked out," Logan finished his sentence with wide eyes. One could tell that those were not quite the words Gabriel would have used, but he nodded non-committally.

"Only he didn't foresee Mick's new strength," I added thoughtfully.

"Who _would_ have at this time," said Gabriel and the look in Mick's direction was more than conciliatory, slightly proud. "His horror at the out of control situation in Mexico ultimately forced him to inform me about everything and to, so to speak, deliver himself to me. Only there were again and again moments of temptation in which he thought to maybe again take advantage of the whole situation and be able to offer me something that would appease me. That he made everything worse for himself was not clear to him at the time."

"I think we've given him a pretty hard time," Logan noted with a certain amount of malice in his voice.

"You did," Gabriel admitted frankly. "And that's why he approaches you with so little kindness."

_Little kindness_? That was really _the_ understatement. Lance hated us deeply as if we were in some way to blame for the fact that he had failed miserably.

"What you should be aware of is that Lance will never pose a threat to you again," the old vampire now went on with a piercing gaze. "Not as long as I live. He is on your side and will fight with you, come what may. I want you to keep this in mind and to no longer doubt his loyalty to me and also to you. This is really very important and the only reason why I told you all that I did. I need Lance - _we_ need him to survive this fight against the Legion and perhaps even against the _Cercle_."

Even if I did not like to admit it, Gabriel was right. There probably was hardly anyone who could pull off the role of the dastardly traitor who worked secretly against Gabriel better than Lance and that was what made him an excellent spy. On the other hand, this also made it terribly difficult to trust him as Gabriel wanted us to. Why was the old vampire so sure that he wasn't wrong about this sycophant of a vampire? What was the reason he trusted him so much despite his crimes in the past that he even entrusted him with such important tasks? How could he be so sure of his loyalty?

"I've known Lance for a very, very long time now," Gabriel continued after a moment of thoughtful silence between us again. "And he has shown me time and again that he's one of the few who will stick by me in times of need and if hard times come would give his life for me, if it was necessary. He has saved me from several attacks before and more than once has given me back the strength to go on fighting with his own blood; the last time being in our battle in Mexico. If there's _anyone_ in my circle who really fills the role as a caring, loving foster-son, it's him. He's one of the few people whose love for me is true and that love will protect you as well."

Again silence followed his words. Probably like me Logan, Mick and Beth were having difficulties joining the words 'love' and 'Lance'. It sounded so absurd, but when I considered it, most people around _me_ would have huge problems trying to attribute something like the ability to love to me, also. I would have never even thought myself that one day I would throw myself into the hail of bullets for another person, but in Mexico I had been set right. Why then should not also a cold fish like Lance feel something like love? The world was full of wonders.

My gaze slipped from Beth's deeply thoughtful face to Mick and I clearly saw that there was still something that moved and disturbed him, this was shown by the deep line that had formed between his eyebrows and gave him a slightly stubborn expression.

"One thing I still don't understand properly," he finally began and I could feel that Gabriel really had to bite back an irritated sigh. "What was it that Lance hoped to achieve with his research? Why did he ever start it again if he knew that you were finished with this issue?"

This time it was an obviously long while until Gabriel responded to the question. After a touch of defense and anger had shown on his face, he simply avoided Mick's stare and looked again over to the window, seeming again to go back in time, trying to remember things that could perhaps give an answer to this question. Then he shook his head and looked at Mick openly and honestly. "There was a time when I too wanted to be a human, Mick. A normal human being without supernatural powers or a special position in society, something that I never could be. I wanted to feel life to the fullest, to live with the woman I loved, have a family, grow old… die sometime." His gaze roamed to his feet and he shook his head sadly. "Wishes that most vampires don't have… wishes they don't understand."

He looked up again. "Therefore, what happened to you, Mick, of course stirs me up strongly, makes me curious, fascinates me, because… because suddenly there's a small glimmer of hope on the horizon. But if it was possible to end that all at the expense of the research that had been done to you, I would do it. Just _because_ I know what harm the research on the cure already has caused, what dangers it entails and how quickly people can become ruthless and power hungry. I would have never allowed Lance to investigate the cure. Ultimately, however, his need for redemption and his knowledge of my deepest longings has driven him to this action, I think."

Gabriel gave the impression that he had not yet finished his statement, but he still stopped, frowned and seemed to focus his senses suddenly at something else that was outside of my perception. I was quite happy about it for I first had to fight with my huge shock at Gabriel's confession. Gabriel had wanted to be a_ human_? Did all vampires go bananas as time drew on? My sight alone actually should be enough to forget that desire quickly.

"Malik, Elizabeth and a few others have just arrived," he quickly explained his distraction to us all. "I'm sorry, but we probably need to defer this conversation to a later date."

His eyes got stuck on me and he wrinkled his brows thoughtfully. Then he leaned forward abruptly, grabbed one of the glasses on Beth's tray, brought his wrist to his mouth and bit. Seconds later I watched, blinking bewilderedly, as his blood dripped thickly into the glass until the bottom was covered, then he pushed the glass into my hand and got up with a smooth movement pressing one of Beth's napkins against his wrist. In my head, it rattled. I found it really hard to follow these quick changes in issues and actions around me. Just now I had wanted to ask surprised 'Elizabeth's back?', but now thought that the question was already obsolete with Gabriel's blood in my glass. 'What's the point of that now?' seemed to me now far more appropriate, but this question also had no real chance to see the light of day.

"Maybe you should add a bit of orange juice. Then it'll taste slightly better," Gabriel advised me, responding to my confused blinking and the open mouth with a small smile. "And no, I won't bite you and weaken you further. That is not necessary with my blood, apart from the fact that the vampire in you is actually still there and just needs to be tickled awake a bit." He turned back to Mick who was staring at the old vampire just as perplexed as I was. Gabriel, however, had again slipped completely into the role of the leading, wise eldest and didn't let our confusion rattle him. "Please eat something so that you have enough strength for the meeting. And it would be nice if you could come down to us soon so that we can clarify once again the little dispute between you and Elizabeth."

Gabriel now turned to Logan. "I would also like to briefly sit down together with you and Seth. I have a small order for you both. So, it would be good if you came right down with me."

"Seth is…" Logan didn't go on. Instead, his eyes lit up overjoyed at once and he rose quickly. Apparently he had just sensed his friend himself and could now hardly wait to see him. The joy of reunion caused him to completely forget that Gabriel had just relieved him of his role as my new Sire, if he had even noticed it. _I_, however, could not cope with it as fast as he could. I was still staring at the glass in my hand completely churned up and barely perceived that Gabriel exchanged a few final words with Mick and Beth and then left the room with Logan. I was finally able to avert my gaze from the red liquid in the glass as Mick slumped with a deep sigh against the back of the sofa and ran his hands over his face, as if this gesture could help him eliminate the chaos in his head. Even Beth closed her eyes and shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"My goodness," she stammered, "why must everything always be so very different than it looks? This… this is so confusing."

"You're telling me!" Mick murmured and raised his head again to look at me. "And? Want a bit of orange juice?" A little smirk was playing around his lips, but I lacked the strength and also the will to return it. Instead I just stared shattered back into the glass.

"This… this is so…" 'Unromantic' almost slipped from my tongue, but I was still enough in control to not voice something like that. Mick had a pretty good memory and would love to tease me later with this careless remark.

"Unspectacular?" he suggested and now I nodded almost sadly.

"Well, if I were you, I would set the glass aside at least for a few minutes, take a deep breath and enjoy a really good breakfast one last time in your life," Mick suggested now and looked, hoping for approval, at Beth who immediately nodded eagerly. Her own appetite had apparently returned with his words because she immediately bit again firmly into the sandwich she had held in her hand untouched during the whole conversation.

I looked at this very tasty-looking breakfast, then looked into my glass and put it with determination on the table. I knew I had not used my short trip into the existence as a human being as much as I should have done, but now at least I had the chance to say goodbye to it properly and in a nice way. And who knew, maybe I'd miss one or the other part of it every now and then.


	34. Honesty

_So, I'm back again with the next chapter. Thank you all for your motivating comments. _

_**Scififan30**__: There will be even more information in the next chapters. And Lance… yes, he will be there in person soon again. _

_**Borntobemybaby**__: Yes, Mick is half human so no one knows if he will age somehow or not. At least he won't age as fast as a normal human… maybe he doesn't at all. No one knows. I also loved Beth right from the beginning for she's such a strong women and somehow also a heroine – a real great character. That's why I tend sometimes to write her a bit too strong, let her endure too much without exploding. But I don't want to change it now for I also think that it's possible that going through so much makes you even stronger. And she informed herself via internet about the behavior of traumatized people and so can tell herself again and again, that Mick just behaves so terrible because of his trauma. That helps her a lot I think. For the shower scene… maybe he wouldn't have instantly slept with Coraline for he discovered the Fleur de lies on her shoulder but I think he somehow fell for her again and Beth still had a boyfriend. I don't think that it's love what he felt towards her in that moment but he definitely lusted for her. And lust is not enough to go searching for her or try to rescue her. After all he killed her once…_

_**Lucretia**__: Yes, Josef wants to say good bye to his human life with a tasty breakfast… Somehow they always only eat breakfast in my story… funny…_

_**Sandra Fegan**__: Yes, now Gabriel is Josef's Sire and this is indeed how it should be. You'll soon see why, as you'll see what will happen to Cynthia and what's still going on with Lance._

_**Betsal**__: Simone is really sad. I think anyone in her place would feel the same. And Josef really needs to try to fix this somehow._

_**Moonjat54**__: I really had to chuckle at your comment about the breakfast. I think my problem is that I'm German and I don't really know what an American breakfast looks like. Maybe I should have asked one of my American readers before posting this chapter. Than I could have changed it. I too found Lance quite an interesting character and that's why I started to give him a background which will be revealed bit by bit. I also don't believe in black and white and so Lance as well has some surprising sides in my story, although I don't want to change the sides we saw in the show. And yes Cynthia will have a hard time with Gabriel._

_Now I wish you all much fun with the next chapter. I'll be back at Sunday again. Have a great weekend!_

_This chapter is inspired by the song 'Snuff' performed by Slipknot, for I think it describes perfectly Coraline's feelings._

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by Sg6169  
_

* * *

**H****onesty**

* * *

"_**Honesty is a high wire swaying in the gale-force winds of human weaknesses. And unfortunately, all too close to the supposedly safe ground: the treacherous swamps and quicksand of lie."**_

_**Markus Weidmann**_

* * *

_Back and forth. To and fro. He felt like one of these poor beasts vegetating in their cramped cages, thirsting for freedom. Except it wasn't _out _he wanted, but _inside_ - to this woman who drove him to madness. And it wasn't freedom he was thirsting for, but something else no less essential: for honesty, openness, and answers to his questions._

"_Coraline! Open the door, now!" he growled again and much louder than before. "We need to talk!"_

"_But I don't wanna talk!" came her immediate angry reply. "Just go away! Leave me alone!"_

"_Not until you tell me what's wrong with you!"_

_He had heard her approach the door breathing heavily several times. "You… you're driving me crazy – that's what's wrong! You always want to know why I'm behaving this way or that way… It… it just infuriates me! Why can't you just accept that that's the way I am?"_

_Mick didn't respond to the question, just shook his head stunned. Coraline hadn't come home all day, had disappeared until late into the evening, like she'd done just before they separated the last time. And when she'd finally showed up she'd behaved so strange, so tense, almost distraught, and moody, alternating from one mood to another, totally unpredictable. At first she hadn't reacted to his allegations, his anger, had just looked at him strangely only to hurl herself at him the next moment with a hiss and attack him. She had forced him to defend himself, had provoked him into this duel, which ignited his darkest desires, had goaded and aroused the vampire in him to such a degree that he had totally lost control – like always. And like always, it had ended up with them eventually ripping their clothes off, with bites changing to urgent, brutal kisses that ended with them pouncing on each other in a raw, almost violent way, while each fought for dominance. _

_She'd stood up without saying a word after, retired, leaving him agitated and distraught as usual. Only this time he hadn't given into her whims, had finally had the courage to stand up to her, to confront the insanity in her eyes and fought it with all his might. He had to do it… had to find out why she had become so irrational, what had caused her to loose her footing so badly that she could no longer behave like a normal person. He had to fight, to keep her from once again destroying the love between them with this sick behavior, had to prevent her from turning the wonderful time they had spent together in the last few weeks, into a distant memory. He didn't want her to turn him again into this emotional unstable, insanely jealous, violent man, she had already forced out of him several times before. He didn't want to start to despise himself again. Never again._

_He heard her breathing at the door again. She was waiting, waiting for him to finally say something, to continue to fight for them - he could feel it. She wanted him to stop her, to save their marriage, wanted him to lead the fight against her that she couldn't do herself. But she couldn't, even for this couldn't fight against herself. He just didn't know whether he had the strength to do it for her, if he was strong enough to continue to endure her attacks on his soul._

"_Coraline, open this door now, or I'll break it down!" he growled one more time "And then there'll be no more bathroom door for you to lock yourself behind!"_

_He waited. No answer. Just her strained breathing. Mick took a deep breath and tensed his body, gathered his strength to break the door off its hinges._

_It clicked briefly as the door was unlocked from inside, then it opened and Mick looked into Coraline's pale face that reflected this dangerous, gentle smile._

"_So violent today," she said with a salacious undertone, but her eyes remained motionless. Apparently she had returned, on her own, to her regular, cool facade. "Isn't that over doing it a bit?"_

_She gave him a questioning look and he had no choice but to once again shake his head stunned. 'Stay calm! Take a deep breath!' he told himself. 'She's just trying to provoke you.'_

"_Explain this to me," he told her, looking in the direction of their somewhat demolished living room. "Explain to me why this is starting all over again."_

_Coraline raised her eyebrows in mocked surprise. "Do I really have to explain it to you? We're vampires, Mick. We need it from time to time. And don't act like you didn't enjoy it as much as I did…"_

_Her words caused an uncomfortable pull in his chest - not just because she was trying to provoke him again, but also because there was some truth behind her remark. His vampire side had enjoyed letting itself go free, not having to think of anything or anyone. It had been completely satisfied - but only for a brief moment. Now it was even more agitated and nervous, wasn't able to calm down and made sure Mick no longer felt comfortable in his own skin, felt insecure and wounded. His darkest desires, his cold, merciless side scared him, for it was usually only revealed during mortal combat. It had no place in a relationship, in love - and yet it hadn't been the first time Coraline had been able to awaken this side of him and pull it into their relationship, into their physical contact._

"_I didn't," he pressed out lowly between his teeth and had great difficulty hiding his thoughts and feelings from Coraline._

_She uttered a short laugh and gave him a gaze that was so belittling that in addition to Mick's shame and insecurity, his anger was now awoken. "Don't lie to yourself! Even though you convince yourself again and again – you're no different from me and certainly no different from any other man. Admit it, you enjoyed dominating me…"_

"_Is that what this is all about?" Mick picked up on her last statement despite the seething anger rising in him. "Is it about trying to prove to me and yourself that I'm no better than the men who've abused and raped you when you were a human… _Caroline_?"_

_Coraline winced as if he'd struck her and took a menacing step toward him. "Don't call me that," she hissed and in her dark eyes flashed anger and horror. "I never want to hear that name come from your lips again!"_

_Mick studied her face. He couldn't believe he had actually succeeded in penetrating her wall of cool arrogance and haughtiness, to grasp why she behaved so strangely towards him sometimes. Maybe this time he had a real shot at getting through to her, to let her see he wasn't just her husband but also her confidant, her friend, someone who wanted to help her cope with her problems, to heal the past and finally truly start living._

"_What… what exactly happened at the party yesterday," he tried to tackle the sensitive subject more cautiously and get to the bottom of the resurgence of her trauma. "Why didn't you come home?"_

_Coraline rolled her eyes briefly and then pushed past him, walked quickly through the living room and headed for the stairs to the second floor._

"_Coraline!" Mick couldn't prevent himself from getting louder again as he followed her quickly. He couldn't allow her to escape now, couldn't give in._

"_Why did _you_ leave the party so early?" she threw at him over her shoulder and disappeared around the corner. Mick knew she was heading for the walk-in closet in their bedroom and caught her just as she was about to open it._

"_I already told you," he said as patiently as possible, while he clearly felt she had begun to elude him again, that she had somehow managed to quickly recover from the attack on her otherwise well-hidden feelings. "Josef and I…"_

"_Josef and you… Josef and you! Always the same," she hissed at him and began picking out clean clothes, directing the entire dispute to a less dangerous path. "You always do what _he_ wants! Never what _I_ want!"_

"_Actually I got the impression yesterday I was being somewhat of a burden to you," Mick replied and subconsciously fumed that he had allowed himself to be manipulated by her change of subject. And yet he couldn't do anything about it. "You told me several times that I should leave you alone so you could talk with your old friends. You accused me of being insanely jealous!"_

_She shrugged her shoulders. "You _are_," she said lightly and stepped with a silky dress held in front of her to the mirror._

_Mick uttered an incredulous laugh, shaking his head. 'Remain calm,' he said again to himself. 'She's just trying to goad you into another fight so she won't have to talk about what's really important.'_

"_So, you're saying I shouldn't have left you alone, even though that's what you wanted," he simply interpreted her statements. "Why? What happened after I left?"_

"_Oh… I slept with all the men present there," she said quietly, concentrating her reflection in the mirror._

_Heat shot up in Mick, although it was clear all she wanted to do was provoke him, to try and infuriate him again, so he wouldn't get close to the real problem. But he wasn't going to fall for it. Not today._

"_Did someone upset you? Was it something or someone that disturbed you, that reminded you of something from your past?" he remained determined. He remembered Cynthia showing up with two men, partners from Europe – French people. Coraline had claimed to know them and had immediately turned on her feminine charm. Mick had felt her tense up, show signs of anxiety. Just like now, the brief hesitation, the frightened flashing in her eyes hadn't escaped his notice. She turned away quickly, so he wouldn't see her reflection, and began to undress, to free herself from the torn evening dress, that had a few spots of blood she had slung after their violent encounter._

"_Coraline," he said now much calmer and stepped in close behind her. "Talk to me. Tell me what's going on with you…"_

_She laughed exaggerated and shook her head, not turning to him. Instead, she pulled the clean dress over her head, and took her time adjusting it._

"_Then at least tell me what happened yesterday."_

_He saw how she inhaled deeply. "Nothing happened yesterday," she said, turning to him finally, an artificial smile on her lips. "I was just angry that you hadn't stayed. But I survived. The two men at Cynthia's side were very receptive to comforting me in a pleasant way…"_

_There it was again this hint that opened an old wound, one she loved to pick at over and over again. Mick knew she was capable of cheating on him. She had done it so many times before he was almost used to it. Almost, because it always hurt, was always hard to bear and the fear she would do it again was immense, painful, and exhausting. And she knew it, played with it. Josef had advised him to just accept it as part of Coraline's life-style, to treat her the same with infidelity and simply enjoy the various freedoms. He had tried to - but he couldn't do it, didn't have the necessary indifference. Furthermore he knew Coraline's jealousy knew no bounds and that any women he might become involved with would have to suffer for his actions and he couldn't allow that to happen. So he had to endure the things she did to him that he didn't have the heart to do and she even tormented him with it, toyed with him. But today, he wasn't going to allow himself to fall for it again, he wouldn't let her distract him from what was important, no matter how painful the jealousy, and anger in his chest burned._

"_You're lying," he responded, anxious to sound convinced, but his own mind betrayed him, searched his memory for signs that told him it wasn't a lie. Was that another man's scent clinging to her body?_

"_Am I?" She gave him a provocative smile through her reflection in the mirror, and his anger boiled higher, increased the tightness in his chest. He couldn't allow her to win, he wasn't allowed to fall for her games again…_

"_Yes," he uttered softly. "Something's happened to throw you completely off the track, and it's caused you to take it out on me."_

_There it was again the telltale flicker in her eyes and she once again tried to turn away from him. But this time he grabbed her arm, forced her to turn back around to him, put his other hand on her cheek, so she was forced to look at him. He had to win here… had to… He already felt so angry, so worn out. If she got the upper hand again, he would lose his temper, and he would change into that animal she thought he and all the other men of the world were._

"_Coraline, a few weeks ago when you had that breakdown, you said you needed me, that I shouldn't leave you alone. Well, here I am. I'm here for you, to listen to you… to help you. We can get through this together… You just need to let me in! Let me help you!"_

_He watched the emotions in Coraline's eyes fighting each other. Longing, fear, shock, anger… but unfortunately it was anger that won out, that pushed protectively to the front of her fears, in front of her buried desperation. "I don't need any help!" she uttered contemptuously and freed herself from him with a jerk. "It was the drugs. That was all nonsense. You didn't really believe that, did you?"_

_A painful sting wandered through his body, increased the queasy feeling in his stomach, this unbearable pressure on his chest. Deep disappointment and unconscious fury was all he felt at the moment and it took all he had to keep control, made him inhale haltingly. He couldn't answer her, could only watch as she regained her cool self control with his reaction, and her lips curled into this false condescending smile that drove the red hot dagger further into his chest. _

"_God, Mick sometimes you act like such a child," she brought out with a chuckle. "You think you can save the world - that you have to. But you can't…" Her face again wore a hard, hostile expression. "I don't want your help! I don't need _anybody_…"_

_This time it was Mick, who uttered a soft chuckle, without betraying his inner pain. "You really are a terrific liar," he added softly, and couldn't help the slight tremor in his voice. "You're so convincing that even you believe it yourself…"_

_The look Coraline gave him was now almost hateful and Mick had to pull himself together to keep from backing away from her as she took a step towards him. She took a deep, slightly tremulous breath._

"_The only person fooling themselves here, is you, Mick!" she forced out strained and her eyes glowed in anger and despair. "You can't save me! You can't change me - you _never_ will! And I'll never, _never_ belong to just you. I'll never need you the way you want me to! And I'll never be to you the family you wished for so much! Your love for me doesn't make your mother proud and it certainly won't bring your brother or your father back to life! They'll rot in their graves, as it should be…"_

_Something exploded in Mick and his hand shot forward, struck Coraline's cheek with such force, that she stumbled a few steps to the side. And still this violent response wasn't enough, everything inside his painfully, aching interior screamed for release from this unbearable pressure that had built up in his chest. The anger and disappointment, which threatened to burn him up, screamed to be let loose on the person who had hurt him so deeply, had made him so mad. He pursued her, grabbed her arm, and drew back his fist breathing heavily. The look in her eyes, the horror and deep fear that was found there reined in his rage, it shook him and it was only then that he realized what he was doing, that he had once again become the aggressor that Coraline saw in every man._

_His heart beat loudly in his ears and his breathing came in quick spurts. The urge to resist was difficult, the anger, all the raging emotions too much for his nerves, but he managed to lower his hand again, let go of Coraline, shocked with himself. She herself had attacked him many times in the past, had forced him into fighting back, only to turn this aggression into brutal vampire-sex, but this time it was something entirely different. Here _he_ was suddenly the aggressor, had become the perpetrator, without realizing it, without being able to do anything about it and only confirmed to the woman in front of him just what she'd always suspected. And that shocked him, made him back away from Coraline. He wasn't that man, never had been. He had always protected the weak, had always been reserved concerning them… He despised men who could act that way, and now… now he was well on the way to becoming that monster himself._

_Coraline said nothing, looked at him, still terrified and deeply shaken, and he shrunk back further out of the door, shaking his head again and again._

"_I'm sorry," he whispered before he left the bathroom. And then he ran, just ran, left the house, and left Coraline. He wouldn't return. Never again. He wouldn't allow this woman to destroy the one thing he clung to so frantically in bad times: the last remnant of humanity he still felt inside._

* * *

"Are you even listening to me?"

It was Josef's slightly huffy voice that ripped Mick from his unpleasant memories and he accepted this distraction thankfully, lifted his head a little confused and gave his friend a questioning look.

"What?"

Josef grimaced annoyed. "I said if she cuts me short again, I'm not going to put up with it. She too has a bad habit of not letting me finish sometimes when I'm talking to her. Besides I'm not guilty of anything. It's not like we're married or anything …"

Mick needed a moment to recall that Josef was still talking about his problems with Simone. His friend was explaining, after Beth had disappeared into the bathroom to shower by herself, that he had, while under the influence of alcohol last night, probably told Simone about Sarah and the young lawyer was now, understandably, pretty pissed at him. Unfortunately the topic of 'Women' and 'hiding your feelings' reminded Mick of experiences he had had during his marriage to Coraline, which were now converted into concerns he was having in his relationship with Beth. He withheld too much of himself, repeatedly refused to talk to Beth about his emotional state, to tell her about his fears and nightmares so much so that he felt like he was slowly becoming like Coraline, behaving like her. And he absolutely didn't want that to happen. If he didn't want his relationship with Beth to end, he was going to have to start opening up. He had to give in to her need to talk, no matter how hard it was, and to not feel relief every time something interrupted or if she put her own needs on hold because of him. This had to stop and soon!

"Mick?" Now Josef sounded even angrier.

"Yes, you're… you're probably right," Mick replied quickly, but his head instantly flew about, when the bathroom door opened and Beth, wrapped in a large towel and with a slightly embarrassed smile, hurried into the bedroom and then quickly closed the door behind her.

"You know I am," Josef returned with vigor. "Have you ever noticed the tone of voice she speaks to me in?"

Mick furrowed his brows intently, really trying to concentrate, but it was impossible because his need to talk to Beth right now was growing with every second that passed. Yet he managed to nod at last.

"It may be that she's right, but no one's allowed to talk to me like that," his friend went on upset.

"But at the moment she's _not_ speaking to you," Mick responded distracted and took another glance at the closed bedroom door.

"Yes, but that will probably change soon," Josef sighed and leaned back in his arm chair exhausted. "Then she'll just go off in the complete opposite direction. They all behave like that…" Another, even deeper sigh followed the first. "Do you think anyone here has roofies?"

Mick gave his friend an incredulous look and Josef raised his hand soothingly.

"I was just joking," he added tired and closed his eyes.

"You all right?" Mick asked with mild concern in his voice. About half an hour ago Josef had taken Gabriel's blood and had turned back very quickly. Before him lay four-emptied blood bags on the table. But the last half full glass of blood he hadn't been able to get down. Mick strongly suspected this was why Beth had gone into the bathroom. She had made a significant effort to not let anyone see that the sight of blood had nauseated her but Mick had noticed, had almost felt her tension. It had stung a bit because this was a sure sign that even a person like Beth, who was willing to live among vampires and showed how much she trusted and sympathized with these beings, still needed more time to get used to them.

"Yeah, yeah," Josef murmured with closed eyes. "I'm just a bit tired. For some reason, this transformation has consumed a lot of my strength…"

"Maybe you should see August before the meeting starts," Mick suggested before he cast another glance towards the door.

"When hell freezes over," Josef replied and took a deep, heavy breath. "I just need a little rest – that's all… and no, it won't bother me if you go to Beth now and talk to her about whatever's occupying your mind so intensely that you don't even care about your best friend's problems. So, buzz off and let me have my little nap!"

Mick opened his mouth, closed it again, opened it again… but there was really nothing he could say. So he got up slowly, but then stopped again undecided.

Josef opened an eye lazily. "I won't die without you here," he grumbled. "I'm now back on the winning side, so… beat it, shoo!" He made an impatient gesture with his hand and closed his eyes again.

Mick's mouth lifted into a small smile, he then turned and hurried over to the door.

Beth was so surprised when he entered the room, that she uttered a startled gasp and held the towel in front of her chest, although she was wearing underwear at least. She dropped her shoulders and rolled her eyes briefly.

"Why do you always have to sneak up on me like that?" she complained not really angry and grabbed one of the dresses which lay next to her on the chair, and replaced the towel with it. For a moment Mick felt the need to turn around or even leave while Beth was changing, but then quickly told himself that they were now living in the 21st century and it was actually quite normal and acceptable to see the woman he loved in her underwear – unless of course it was embarrassing for her. Which it didn't seem to be, because she now held, with a critical frown, first one and then the other dress in front of her looking in the mirror and didn't seem to be aware that his eyes were instinctively roaming over the seductive curves of her beautiful female body. There hadn't been many opportunities to watch her so undisturbed. At the most one or two times, once when he had awoken during the night without waking her and the blanket had slipped off her naked body. And it had always been dark. Maybe it was that or the fact that their relationship was just beginning and that they hadn't spent a lot of time alone with each other why he suddenly felt so insecure and didn't really know how to deal with the situation. Apart from that, his yearning to be physically closer to her again had grown immensely in the last few days, and the sight of a half-naked Beth was really difficult to bear and caused all sorts of turmoil in his body.

When his eyes arrived at her face again, he noticed that she had been watching him from the reflection in the mirror, and only then acted as if she was weighing her decision on which dress she should wear again. However, the darkening of her cheeks revealed, that perhaps there was a another reason she was taking so long to get changed and it motivated him to take a step closer, a small smile playing on his lips.

"What do you think?" she now asked him directly and held a simple dark-blue dress in front of her body. "This one…" She changed, for his needs far too quickly, one dress for the other and he stepped directly behind her, inhaling deeply the smell of fresh soap, shampoo, and Beth, letting his gaze slide over her shoulder down to her soft, round breasts, which were hidden under a touch of white lace.

"… or this one?" she added a little hoarsely.

Mick found it very difficult to lift his eyes again and look at the dress in the mirror. It was different shades of brown, with a flowered pattern and about knee length. Not really his taste. He indicated shaking his head. "The other one," he replied softly and his eyes stuck to every inch of bare skin Beth revealed to his greedy eyes as she put away one dress and pulled the other over her head. Somehow it completely contradicted his need as even more fabric came between them but he also knew that this wasn't the time to really become intimate with each other. Josef was sitting in the living room and Gabriel was waiting for him in the lounge downstairs. And basically he had walked into this room for a very different purpose, a much more important matter.

"Beth, about yesterday…" he began awkwardly, as she was arranging the dress, watching herself critically in the mirror. "I know we don't have much time for it now, but if there's something, you urgently need to know…"

She looked at him through the mirror, gave him a warm smile. "I can wait a little longer," she said. "I think we should take more time for our talk and not do this when we're so pressed for time. It… would probably lead to an argument. And I just don't have the strength for that anymore."

There it was again, this selfish feeling of relief. He couldn't help it, even if it was just a postponement. It didn't mean he was going to escape the unpleasant, anything but harmless conversation.

"I just don't want you to think I'm trying to avoid this talk and hide myself away again," he admitted softly. "That's not what I want to do – really I don't. Even though I sometimes act like it and can be so distant at times. I… I just can't control this sometimes…"

Beth said nothing, just turned to him, took his face in her hands, stood on tiptoes and kissed him, long and tenderly. "I know," she finally whispered against his lips. "And I've decided to be patient and not harass you with all my questions when you're at the end of your rope." She let him go again to fall back on her heels, but this time Mick gave in to his need, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him.

"Maybe I should make sure I don't come to the end of my rope so often," he considered, while his eyes were glued to her enticing lips. They had felt so wonderful, so warm and soft. He wanted more.

The corners of her mouth lifted into a mischievous smile. "_If_ it should happen, it should only be in a very pleasant way," she added in a tone that clearly betrayed her own longing to be physically close to him and he couldn't help but kiss her, feel the silky softness of her delicate lips, and let himself sink into the sensation that everything he needed to live and be happy was here in his arms. Of course, the innocent and tender kisses flew by quickly, turning into a deep need for more, fueled by the bare, warm skin Mick felt beneath his fingers, when he pressed Beth closer to his body and one of his hands slipped into the back of her still open dress.

Beth's low moan was drowned by another deep kiss, mingled with the sensual sounds he was making. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pushed her body even closer to his, showing him with her whole body, how much she wanted him, how great her need for him was. Micks pulse was catapulted within a few seconds into a fairly unhealthy pace and forced his blood into the exact area of his body that had been short-changed too often in the past, but at the moment shouldn't be allowed to come to life. Only Mick had no real control over it, couldn't stop kissing Beth hungrily, let his hands glide wherever he could find bare skin, and moved entirely without will towards the inviting looking bed with her. Beth's instincts seemed to have shut down her mind as well, because her hands were not idle, had slipped from his chest down and had found a way under his shirt, where they now wandered with cruel slowness up his sides.

Mick's lips slipped from her mouth to her chin. His tongue touched her neck, had to taste her, feel her rapid pulse under the delicate skin. A low growl pressed against his will from his throat as one of her hands slid across his chest, digging her fingers in an incredibly exciting way into his muscles, her thumb grazing his hard nipple. His lips pressed more firmly into her neck, sucking on her skin, her pulse, very close to the source of deep satisfaction.

The realization hit just in time, just before the beast in him extended its teeth and bit. Mick tore himself away from her neck with a deep gasp and looked at Beth in shock. But she still had her eyes closed in pleasure, hadn't seemed to notice what had just happened.

"Beth… we… we should…" he stammered, and after a little while she looked at him, wondering why he had stopped.

"Wait on this?" she brought out with a slightly disappointed expression, but nodded before he could answer her. "I know… but sometimes it's just so hard…"

She didn't go on, but instead gave a chuckle Mick could only half-heartedly join in, while he half reluctantly, and half relieved let go of her. What the hell was wrong with him? Last night there was no doubt he had taken enough blood, yet each time he came close to Beth he felt tempted to bite into her neck, to drink this amazingly extraordinary tasting blood. It was as if the vampire inside him longed to take possession of her this way, because the last time he had been allowed to bite her it had been so incredible, so deeply satisfying for him to love her with the taste of her blood, of her climax on his lips and tongue. Maybe he shouldn't have done it. On the other hand, after he had, they had been able to sleep with each other without him being obsessed with biting her. Perhaps the reason for his immense thirst, for this greed was quite different; perhaps the balance between his two sides had fallen into imbalance because of the numerous combat missions back to back and allowed the vampire in him to get the upper hand over his body. That would explain a lot. And it might be necessary for him to use the medicine once again after a while.

Beth's beautiful eyes studied his face and her fine brows furrowed pensively. "What?" she asked inquiringly, and he shook his head quickly, immediately slipped back into his old habit of blocking and putting up a front.

"Nothing… I… I just realized what a difficult evening lies before us and that it's going to be a while before we can be alone again," he said, and hated himself for not being able to stick to his own resolutions. Not even to a small extent.

But Beth seemed to believe him, gave him a pout and let out a deep sigh. "Well, that's probably our curse," she added in a somber tone, but then took a step towards him, to once again stand on tiptoes and breathed a last tender kiss onto his lips, which immediately left a small smile behind. "But don't think you can escape me," she added, in a slightly seductive tone and gave him a look under lowered eyelids, that evoked a direct response in his crotch, and then turned her back to him.

"And now, zip me up please," he heard her say, and immediately lifted, without thinking, his hands to the zipper of her dress.

"How long do you think this will take?" Beth asked, while Mick had to fight with the stubborn zipper and the continuing strong sexual tension between them, which was still being fueled by the repeated contact his fingers had with the velvety smooth skin of her back. Why did fashion designers always come up with the idea of constructing such delicate zippers that one could hardly seize them with their fingers?

"This here or the meeting?" he asked back somewhat frazzled and even wanted to breathe a sigh of relief when the slider moved up a good amount, but then the damned thing was stuck again, had become caught in the delicate fabric of her dress. This almost doubled his torture, considering everything inside Mick was crying out to rip the dress right off Beth instead of hiding this beautiful body, which was so devoted to him, under even more fabric.

Beth uttered a slightly amused sound. "Probably both…"

"I think I'll have this under control soon," he promised optimistically, although his forehead had wrinkled significantly with concentration and effort. "And the meeting…" He shrugged his shoulders. "No idea. It all depends on how much there is to clarify and how quickly we can all agree on our future actions."

"Do you think we'll have to leave here right away or will we still have time to _rest_ a little?" she asked and Mick's lips twisted into a little smile, not only because he finally managed to close the zipper but because he also knew exactly what Beth was hinting at.

"_Rest_… I see," he repeated, now even grinning, as she turned to him, a little pink around her cheeks. Her smile quickly turned into an indecent grin.

Nevertheless, she nodded with an innocent expression. "Has Gabriel planned anything else with you? Any other discussions or meetings?"

"Not so far…" he replied, and finally had to laugh. "I can hardly believe it myself, but do we really need to start making appointments for… 'resting'?"

A chuckle also escaped her. "Maybe," she said, and acted as if she was opening a notebook and checking it. "Ah, yes, honey, between 5:30 and 5:45 I'll have exactly fifteen minutes for you. Can we do it in that amount of time?" she asked with feigned coolness and looked at him with raised eyebrows up from below. She had no idea how adorable she looked, and how strong the need in him was to pull her back into his arms and kiss her.

"_Honey_?" he repeated with a smile

Now, she also bit her lower lip in a very cute way and nodded. "Would you prefer a different term of endearment?" she asked in a gently teasing tone that always caused showers of the most pleasant kind to run down his spine - this time as well. She took a step closer to him, lifted her blond curls in a seductive gesture over her shoulders then put her arms around his neck, crossing them at his nape, looking at him questioningly with raised eyebrows. "How about 'baby', or 'sweetheart'…?" teasing him a little.

"Honey's all right," he replied with a grin, "… Bethie… "

Her own smile became a grin. "I knew you'd remember that…"

"Don't you like it?" He smiled back and his face came closer to hers again.

She tilted her head slightly glancing at the ceiling. "I'll need to think about it…"

She hadn't much time to, because at that moment a man's voice, coming from the living room, reminded them both they weren't really alone.

"I wouldn't go in there just now! Position 69 is currently in the testing phase… but they may have finished by now."

Beth's eyes widened in amazement and indignation. But Mick also saw a bit of embarrassment in those bright blue eyes, and he was sure he presented the same mix of feelings on his face as he stared at her with his mouth open.

"Uh, Mick?" it was now Logan's timid voice he heard from the living room, and Beth finally managed to let go of him, so they could both turn to the half-open door. How embarrassing - he hadn't realized it wasn't closed, and Josef was now a vampire, which meant he had excellent hearing again. And of course he hadn't left them alone just to treat them with a little undisturbed togetherness.

"Everything's okay Logan, you can come in," said Mick to the young vampire. But he seemed to hesitate even more.

"Are you sure you're done?" came the hesitant inquiry and Beth let out a low, incredulous chuckle, while Mick just shook his head with a smile.

"Not completely, but come in anyway," he simply couldn't resist answering and Beth nudged him with an admonishing-laugh "Mick!".

The door moved a little and Logan's curly head peered cautiously into the room. Relief showed on his boyish face as he realized Josef was only trying to tease him again.

"And? Are they still naked?" one could hear the said vampire laugh in the background. Apparently, he seemed to be feeling quite well again.

"Very funny!" Logan shot back slightly angry and only then dared to step into the room. His gaze, for Mick's liking, slid a little too excitedly over Beth's shape, and he countered Logan's smile and thumb, which he had stuck in the air, with a disapproving frown that didn't escape the young vampire. His benevolent smile died away instantly and was replaced with a somewhat uncomfortable expression. "I… uh… Gabriel sent me here. You need to come down now, please. He's waiting for you in the lounge. He says there's not much time left before the meeting starts…"

Mick nodded understandingly, cast an apologetic glance towards Beth and then at once set into motion. Gabriel's impatience was justified. Mick had been up there quite a while, even though the old vampire had been waiting for him, and once again had been distracted instead of clearing up any important matters between himself and Beth. But he really couldn't be upset about it because somehow these last few minutes in Beth's company had done him incredibly well. He now felt calmer and more relaxed than before.

In the living room, he met not only Josef, who had got up from the couch, but also Seth, who stood a little hesitant in the middle of the room not knowing exactly what to do. Mick gave him a smile.

"Great to have you with us again," he met him with sincerity and a beam slipped over the face of the young vampire.

"Yes, glad to be here," he replied and turned with Mick who continued to walk towards the door. "I've been pretty busy…"

"… too bad you missed Josef's performance as a human," Mick added, watching with great satisfaction as Josef immediately rolled his eyes and dropped his shoulders in resignation. Naturally all he wanted to do now was get the hell out of there to avoid a conversation with the rather garrulous Seth.

"Really?" The boy now turned around with wide eyes and forced Josef to meet him with a very tense smile.

"Yes, and he has _so_ much he wants to tell you!" Mick just had to add, before disappearing out the door. The ominous face Josef gave him was like balm for his soul, and once again it lifted his spirits.

* * *

When Mick walked into the lounge, not only Gabriel and Elizabeth were present but also Malik and Coraline. Of course it couldn't have confused him more, for these were the exact people who had participated in the little incident in New Underwood, and could help to explain the conflict. But to endure the sight of his ex-wife after going through the unpleasant memories he had just had and being consumed by his fears and concerns over his behavior towards Beth, was a challenge that demanded a lot from him - especially since he hadn't known she had been back together with Gabriel. Immediately the images were back from this and many other negative memories of his marriage with this woman. There had also been some great memories, moments in their common past he didn't mind remembering, which confirmed he hadn't blindly and without good reason fallen in love with this difficult woman. But somehow these memories didn't seem to want to surface. Not even when Coraline gave him a warm, almost loving smile, while Elizabeth acted as if she hadn't even noticed him at all and instead inspected one of the more interesting paintings on the wall from her seat.

"Ah, there you are," said Gabriel, and stood up, even walked towards him a few steps. "We had just started to discuss the little incident that happened several days ago and I feel sure we'll now be able to get this problem sorted out as quickly as possible."

Gabriel's hand in his back pushing him gently forward disturbed Mick a little, but he didn't show it, instead nodded to the others, willing to look friendly and then settled on the chair Gabriel offered him with a brief gesture.

"Elizabeth has already explained that her hostility towards you wasn't actually directed at you, but rather at Coraline," Gabriel rose to speak again as soon as he had resumed his seat in the middle of the small group. "There's an old conflict, which the two still urgently need to sort out, hopefully - _after_ our successful fight against the Legion. By no means do I want the hostilities to continue to grow within our closest circle, which could decisively hinder our success in this war." He leaned in a little towards Mick and looked at him seriously. "Since I now know that Elizabeth was the aggressor in the dispute and you were only trying to defend yourself and Coraline, you have the right to demand her punishment, to restore the emotional balance in our ranks."

Green eyes wandered over to Mick, suspicious, anxiously searching for an emotion in his face. Elizabeth was quite different from the day he had last seen her, so introverted, pale and nervous, even though she actually remained quite calm outwardly. For a moment Mick wasn't sure what to say. Of course he'd been angry with Elizabeth that day, the vampire inside him had thirsted to show her in a most painful and lasting way that it wasn't smart to mess with him, but this feeling had left as quickly as it had appeared and hadn't returned even now as he looked at her once again. He had never been a particularly unforgiving person. Of course there were lapses, moments where the need for revenge became so great he'd loose control, simply had to give in to it, but it was only while the incident was happening that he was so angry, not days later. And if he really thought about it, nothing drastic had actually happened between him and Elizabeth. A small scuffle they'd been able to stop quickly with the help of Josef and Malik - nothing more.

"As far as I'm concerned this incident hasn't really created a problem," Mick replied calmly. "We were all a bit over-wrought, and edgy. Any one of us could have lost his temper at some point…"

A minimal smile played about Gabriel's mouth as he nodded understandingly. "Does this mean you're okay with the situation and see no problem continuing with the collaboration?"

Mick nodded and searched Elizabeth's gaze, whose relief wasn't just shown in her eyes, but her energy was also palpable. She gave Mick a warm, thankful smile and then returned his nod.

"Good then," Gabriel said contentedly, and leaned back in his chair. His gaze wandered to Coraline then back over to Mick. "Now that we've cleared that up…" He took a deep breath. "The coming events are going to be very challenging and will demand a lot especially from you, Mick. We still have a lot of things to tackle and it's going to require a high degree of concentration, therefore, I don't want either of you…," his finger pointing from Mick to Coraline, "…in any way discussing what still needs to be cleared up between you two."

Totally on their own Mick's brows furrowed in anger and his mouth opened in indignant amazement.

"I know you feel you have to do this right away…," the old vampire continued quickly, before either of them could object, "but we don't have the time or the nerves for this now. And just touching on the subject will only cause confusion and anger which could jeopardize our plans. You'll simply have to wait a little longer."

The reluctance to bow to Gabriel's will was enormous, but Mick was able to overcome his anger over the ban, and responded to the determined questioning look of the old vampire with a hesitant nod. From the corner of his eye Mick noticed that Coraline had done the same, but secretly he knew one couldn't really count on her agreement. And he was perhaps hoping for that as well…

"I want you to go to your room now, Caroline," Gabriel said directly to the surprised woman. Even Mick frowned a bit puzzled.

"But…" she began but was immediately interrupted by Gabriel's surly gesture.

"No buts," he commanded strictly and his bright eyes twinkled threateningly. "We've already talked about this. You know my reasons!"

Coraline got up, took a deep breath, but let the air escape again unused with Gabriel's threatening look. Her eyes wandered to Mick, who avoided her gaze immediately. He wasn't going to let her use him again. This had to stop once and for all.

"Caroline, ne tirez pas sur la ficelle!" Gabriel growled and Coraline turned at last, hurried with noticeable anger and disappointment from the room.

"Does that mean she isn't allowed to attend the meeting?" Mick just had to ask. This measure simply confused him too much.

Gabriel's face relaxed a little and his lips lifted into a slight smile. "Cynthia and Coraline love each other, Mick, you know this as well as I do. No matter how angry Coraline might be with her best friend for handing you over to the Legion to rescue her, she knows that she only did it out of love for her. Do you think she'll stand by as we interrogate and threaten this woman? She couldn't do it any more than you could stand by and allow someone to attack or even kill Coraline before your eyes. Love is a strong bond."

Mick wanted to protest, to disagree with him, but he couldn't because he knew the old vampire was right. Coraline had always loved Cynthia – more than anyone else in her life and she had certainly not ceased to love her. No one could just forget someone, give up on them so fast, no matter what they had done. And perhaps _he_ did still indeed love Coraline - in a different, much weaker way than before… Maybe love wasn't the right word, but he wasn't unfeeling towards her, even if that was what he might have wanted.

"And maybe we can control this love," Gabriel added and caused Mick's eyebrows to furrow a little more.

"You mean you want to blackmail Cynthia by leading her to believe you'll hurt Coraline, if she doesn't cooperate?" he immediately voiced his thoughts and a slight uneasiness spread through his stomach.

"Among other things," Gabriel replied calmly. "We'll see how much pressure it'll take for her to submit to our will. And you should know, Mick, that my threats are usually serious. If I voice them, I'll carry them out, no matter how much I may regret it. And I don't want you to intervene. Coraline is my fledgling. I have known her much longer than you and know what she's been through and how it's affected her. But that doesn't change the fact that she's done things others would have been far greater punished for. If that's what it takes to pressure Cynthia into telling us what she knows, I don't want you rebelling against it or trying to come to her rescue. She will not suffer undeserved. Cynthia's conduct alone will determine her punishment. You have to restrain yourself! This I ask of you! This is one of the reasons why I brought you down here in advance. I need your assurance that you won't interfere - no matter what happens with Cynthia, Henry or Coraline."

Mick avoided his pressing gaze, trying to breathe deeply and calmly and fought against the cold claw that closed around his gut and slowly began to squeeze. It wasn't just Gabriel's forewarning that there may be violence carried out against Coraline, but more that a situation was looming that he might not be able to handle emotionally: specifically that a person, held at the mercy of others would be tortured - who it was or what reason there was for it, didn't matter. Of course, Mick should have guessed what was going to happen after he heard that Cynthia and Henry had been taken prisoner. However his own desire for revenge and satisfaction had consumed him so much that he hadn't really thought about what kind of scenarios would come into play and what parallels to his own martyrdom this could bring. Now that it was about to happen, just the thought itself stirred up terrible memories for him, made it difficult to breathe, to sit there and look at the others. How was he expected to maintain control during the actual situation then?

"Maybe you should simply leave if the situation becomes too difficult for you," Gabriel suggested gently and Mick almost hated him for the calmness in his voice, for his barely tolerable understanding. "No one will force you to stay and watch."

Mick again managed only a nod, his eyes still fixed on the dark wooden table in front of him.

"This doesn't necessarily mean it's going to lead to such drastic measures. I just wanted you to be prepared for anything." Gabriel paused for a moment. "Do you think you have enough control over Beth to get her to leave if you think it's going to be too much for _her_?"

Now Mick felt compelled to look at the old vampire again and raise an eyebrow questioningly. "Is this a serious question?"

Gabriel gave a little laugh. "Let me put it a little differently: If the situation becomes critical, are you going to be able to remove her from the room, against her will if necessary, before she stirs up the whole assembly?"

Mick hesitated a moment, then nodded. There was no question that he had the advantage of strength over her but it would certainly create a whole new set of problems if he were to simply throw her over his shoulder thus excluding her from further action. Something she wouldn't stand for at all.

"Well, then we still have a little time remaining to attend to one more important item," said Gabriel, bending a little forward into the middle, letting his gaze roam over the faces of the ones present. "Something I don't want reaching the ears of others…"


	35. Fights

_Hi there! I'm back with the new chapter. I so enjoyed your comments and the muse is full of beans now. Thank you so much for them!_

_**Scfifan**__: Yeah, the meeting is now the most important thing and it won't be easy for Mick to handle this._

_**Lucretiareadsall**__: He, he… so you don't want any more cliffhangers? Sorry, but __**I**__ love to write them! ;0) And Beth and Mick really need to make an appointment for their 'resting'. There's no real time for happy togetherness._

_**Sandra Fegan**__: I hate it when in series or books the bad guys don't have a reason for being that bad. This will never happen with my stories. I don't believe in pure evil and pure good. Everyone has several sides and everyone has their reason for their behavior. And this I wanted to show with that last flashback. I'm glad you liked it. And you're right with Mick and Beth: They not only need to talk, they also need a bit of intimacy, some time with each other to find their balance in their relationship again. And you were that often in Germany? Wow! You've seen places I've never seen in my life here. And thanks that you want to ask your friends about American breakfast._

_**Betsal**__: Hm, talk __**after**__ 'resting'… maybe it's really better that way. *insert broad grin here*. But first there has to be time for 'resting'. About your question: There's always a bond between Sire and Fledgling. The only question is how strong it will be with a __**re**__-turning. We'll see this soon. And the meeting will for sure be very strenuous for all of them._

_**Moonjat54**__: I'm really happy that you liked that flashback. When I wrote it I wasn't quite sure if my readers will like it for sometimes people need a really evil person and don't want to hear that also the badies have a background story and their reasons for acting like they do. But most people liked that feedback (also on the German site) and even started to feel sorry for Coraline. And that's what I wanted. And Josef… yeah, he can't handle the situation with Simone. He's not used to that and doesn't know what he can or even __**wants**__ to do. The meeting will be hard for Mick but you're right there's no time for playing nice._

_**Loveyoujar**__: I love to write Mick-Josef-moments. They are so great together and I love how they tease each other and nevertheless you always feel how deep this friendship is. Concerning the flashback: I felt the same with the show. I really wanted to know more about Micks and Coralines relationship and had the same questions you have. I'm also sure they would have answered them if there had been a second season… sniff. But now I try to do this and I'm glad you like the way I do it. I love Mick and Beth so much too. And I love to write them. Would love to write only Mick-Beth moments. But there is this huge plot I have to write down… sigh…_

_**Borntobemybaby**__: Beth indeed thinks Mick has PTSD and he has. Who would not after that what happened to him. But I also think that __**she**__ needs time to rest and calm down. Great to hear you also liked the flashback and feel sorry for Coraline. And I also think she loves Cynthia dearly. So, yes, there will be hard times for her with that meeting. The same is for Mick._

_**Judy Albert**__: Coraline indeed carries around a dark past and there's still so much to reveal about her and also Mick… We'll see if Mick can handle the meeting and what will be revealed there…_

_And now I wish you all much fun with the next chapter and will be back at Thursday again! Have a great Sunday!_

* * *

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

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**F****ights**

* * *

"_The aim is always to fight, but not against the people, but for the people."_

_Sonja Metthes (*1930)_

* * *

To be in a relationship with a traumatized human-vampire-hybrid was, understandably, a challenge that demanded a lot of strength and commitment and always brought her to her limits – that Beth had already had to learn on several occasions. It was particularly hard whenever she was forced to reprimand herself, to suppress her own needs for Mick's benefit, and to not ask too much of him all at one time. Some wise person once said that the hardest battle one had to fight in life was the struggle against oneself and she had to agree. How many times had she been tempted to yell at Mick, to rant and rave and vehemently ask for what she needed from him: trust, confidence and clarity. That she seldom got that from him and then much too slowly, was difficult to tolerate and it cost her a lot in strength and nerves. However, she was often able to regain her strength during quiet moments, to motivate herself to persevere, to keep fighting, and again and again remember that this wasn't a permanent condition, that their relationship had actually developed quite positively considering the circumstances, and she needed to deal with Mick with patience and understanding while he was still so unstable psychologically.

It had also been that way the previous evening, after Mick had fallen asleep sitting on the couch and it had clearly showed her how much the last mission alone had taken its toll on him physically. He simply wasn't back to his old self yet, still had to fight with physical and especially psychological problems. That he was usually pretty good at hiding that from others wasn't good for him or anyone else, including her, as this could easily mean he was pushing himself beyond his limits, overtaxing himself. Basically, they just had to make sure that that didn't happen anymore, and that Mick wasn't necessarily involved in every operation. Why had she even bothered to look up all that information on PTSD and its life impairing effects if she wasn't going to apply it, didn't try to counteract Mick's harmful behavior with himself and others in a subtle way?

Although it was sometimes incredibly difficult, Beth had to continue to look for the signs of stress and strain that Mick would unconsciously exhibit and to let up on her questions at the moment – no matter how urgent or important – to put them off to a later date or even look for someone else to get her answers from. Not everything that concerned Mick had to necessarily be clarified with him. This thought had come to her last night and had comforted her immensely. There were a few people close at hand that could answer her questions at least as good if not better than Mick, when it came to specific issues. As luck would have it, these people were even here right now.

There were two important things she wanted to clarify today: One, the question of whether and why Coraline had chosen her and Mick to… yes, actually, to do what exactly? Until recently, Beth had had the impression Coraline had wanted to transform her to give Mick a family. Now with all the new background information about her blood type and the inherited Nigong-DNA this concept was becoming considerably shakier - not only for her but also for Mick.

Her second important question was actually related to that: What exactly was going on with her right now? Was she about to turn, even though she couldn't really? And if so, how had it happen? And what did all this have to do with her blood type? When Beth really thought about it, she only needed one person to clarify all these important questions: Gabriel. Only he was so busy, so occupied at the moment she would probably have to wait quite a while before she could catch him alone to ask him. That wouldn't be good for her or her nerves, even though she had recovered a little overnight, she was still pretty frazzled, and it didn't help that her thoughts kept going back to the same issues, stirring up her fears and concerns, which did nothing to help her recover further. Distraction… A distraction was what she needed now and that was why Beth now turned to Seth, trying to give this constantly babbling boy her full attention.

"I think I even surprised Gabriel when I conjured up this tiny thing. And considering I didn't even have the right materials on hand and I was under considerable time pressure, I actually succeeded in coming up with a small miracle," he just finished his long and very excited narrative, Beth had only been half listening. She gave him an appreciative smile, although it wasn't really clear to her what he was talking about.

"And this transmitter you have, where is it installed now?" she asked out of the blue, hoping she was right in asking that, as she followed him and Logan from her apartment out into the hallway. Josef had separated from them earlier, with the excuse he needed to hit one of the freezers that had been placed in an apartment accessible to all, for at least ten minutes. After twenty-minutes of Seth's rambling, he had really given a pitiful impression, so much so that Beth almost believed he actually needed to cool off for a few minutes to regain his strength.

"Gabriel didn't really want to tell me," Seth answered her question now. "I think it's because it has something to do with one of the people he suspects of being a traitor. In fact, the transmitter can be easily attached be simply touching the clothes of another person without him noticing. It's far too small to be discovered so easily."

"Even smaller than the one you put in the lid of the fake-cure?" Logan asked with wide eyes and Seth nodded proudly.

"Did that one actually bring in any results?" Beth asked now really interested. Josef had told her about this strange, fake cure that this Jason together with Cynthia had wanted to pass along to the Legion. So far none of them had figured out what was going on with this whole story. That would probably change if Cynthia were to actually appear here today.

"Well," Seth looked around briefly, as they continued down the hall, "at some point the signal died, so it may have been discovered, but at least it made it as far as South-Arizona, in the vicinity of Casa Grande."

South-Arizona? Hadn't the doctor at the hospital mentioned that Gallagher's new laboratory was here in Arizona?

"Gabriel's pretty sure the Legion has a hidden laboratory somewhere in that region," Seth confirmed her thoughts. "He may bring it up at the gathering. If you ask me, I think it's just a matter of time before we find Frank. The question is, whether we'll be able to free him then. There's no doubt he'll be well guarded."

"Gabriel can do it," Logan replied full of confidence. "I'm sure. He's already prepared and planned so much… I'm always amazed at how he manages that…"

Seth nodded in agreement. Beth, however, was distracted again, because they had reached the stairs and a clearly subdued looking Simone was approaching them. She responded to Beth's questioning look with a restrained smile and then continued on without a word, but Beth couldn't let her go that easily.

"Excuse me," she said quickly to Logan and Seth, "I'll be right back, I just need to check something out."

She didn't wait for a reaction from the two, just turned and quickly hurried after her friend. Although they didn't have time for a long talk between them, she at least wanted to share a few words of comfort with her.

"Simone," she called quickly, before she could disappear into her room and the young lawyer stopped, looked at her with a mixture of resignation and mild annoyance.

"Beth… I'm really not in the mood for a lot of questions right now," she let out very tired. "I just have to work all this out for myself first."

"You mean the thing with Sarah," Beth responded sympathetically, when she had caught up with her.

Simone gave her a sad thoughtful look. "So you knew about her too…"

Beth nodded a little guiltily. "I… I found out about her just after the assassination attempt on Josef."

"Did Sarah have something to do with it?" Simone asked a little surprised. Apparently she had heard something about this too – it was no wonder with all the fuss the press had made about it, without even coming close to the truth. And Simone might have even worked for Josef at the time.

"More like her father…" Beth replied evasively, "but you should really talk with Josef about it, I'm sure he'll tell you everything."

"I'm not so sure I want to hear…"

Beth looked at her friend worried, saw that the resignation in her eyes was so great that it threatened to overwhelm Simone. The young lawyer took a deep, halting breath, tucked with her trembling fingers a strand of her rich, chestnut brown hair behind her ear.

"I… I've been fighting for so long for this man to return my love, Beth, for so long. Again and again he's demonstrated in one way or another that there are areas of his life he's not willing to share with me, things he excludes me from that he only shares with Mick, or even you. And just when I get the feeling that our relationship is developing and that he's finally going to let me get close to him, I find out about this other woman… this woman that's in a coma, and even in sleep she still holds his heart and refuses to let go." Her voice was trembling and her eyes slowly filled with tears. "I saw it in his eyes, Beth, and even though he was so drunk, I could still see how deeply in love he is with this woman, how much he misses her and longs for her - even though _I_'m the one by his side…" She took another quivering breath. "And I know I can't compete with her, although_ I'm_ awake, talking with him, I'm there for him…"

She let out a desperate laugh and caused the lump in Beth's throat, the knots in her stomach to become even larger. This resignation, that seemed to flow from every pore of her friend, was hard to bear.

"What if… what if a miracle were to happen and she woke up?" she asked a question Beth couldn't answer. No, if she was really honest, she knew the answer. She only needed to recall the look in Josef's eyes, as he stood by the side of the bed of his deeply sleeping beloved. But she still couldn't answer Simone's question, knew it was the wrong thing to do. Instead what softly came from her lips was, "She's not going to wake up."

"You can't know that," Simone said sadly. "And I can't bear this uncertainty. Not in this situation, not under all this stress. I… I just don't have the strength left, Beth."

"What do you mean?" Beth asked alarmed and her heart began to beat faster immediately. She had grown so fond of Simone, and didn't want to loose her. Were they all going to have to pay now for Josef's mistake?

Her friend looked down, let out a soft sigh. "I… I don't know. The only thing I know right now is that you can't keep a relationship alive when you lie to each other about such important things as we did. This can't continue. And I have to figure all this out for myself, what I want and what my options are." Her eyelids lifted again, and her brown eyes reflected so much of what she felt inwardly: deep disappointment, sadness, anger and helplessness. "I just need a little time to rest and think… And I need that now."

"Does that mean you won't be attending the meeting?"

Simone confirmed Beth's assumption with a slight nod and then opened the door to her apartment. But she didn't go in immediately, but stopped hesitantly. "Please don't be mad at me…"

Beth shook her head even before she had finished the last syllable. "Of course not. I just wish there was something I could do for you…"

Simone raised her hand and shook her head. "You already have enough to take care of Beth, so I'm not going to take up the last bit of your strength with my worries and relationship problems. Just take care of yourself and Mick, fight for your relationship and be happy together. Then maybe, I can only hope, that someday I'll be able to work this out with Josef somehow."

"I'll do my best," Beth promised fervently and a small smile lit up Simone's pale features for a second, then she disappeared inside the apartment and closed the door behind her.

Beth's own smile faded immediately and she needed a moment to collect herself enough to go back toward the stairs. Simone's words had moved her deeply, awakened her own anxieties, one thought she'd been successfully able to push back last night. Her fear of losing Mick to her rival - Coraline. Well, Mick had often told her how terrible his relationship with his ex-wife had been, how crazy this woman was, but he had also admitted that he had left her repeatedly, and had always returned again and again, even though he knew perfectly well she would only hurt him again. And yesterday he had not been able to say whether he still loved her or not, wasn't sure what he felt for this woman.

Beth had to stop, breathe deeply and quietly for a moment, because her intestines wanted to knot up again unpleasantly. 'Mick loves you,' she told herself. 'He's told you this so often... and proved it. How many times has he already saved you, putting his own life at risk? How often has he showed you in moments of deep despair how much he needs you, from both sides of his existence? He had fought Coraline, cursed her, and even killed her – was that something you could do to a person you truly loved? Probably not.'

Beth nodded to her own thoughts and felt much better already. She had felt herself how much deeper, more intense her relationship with Mick had become – especially in recent weeks. They had found a connection to each other and had built upon it, enough so that no power in the world could affect it, and certainly not a Coraline DuVall, no matter how beautiful and cunning she was. If Mick still had any feelings for his ex-wife, then it was most likely pity. Maybe even the urge to learn what foul play, even before her marriage to him, drove her to be interested in him. But that was all… it had to be. And maybe Beth could even help him out with this research. Maybe it would even be beneficial for her to speak with Coraline… this… this…

Coraline, there she was. Beth caught a glimpse of a dark-haired woman while passing an open door and she knew it was her, just felt it… and stopped. Of course it was a stupid idea. The meeting was going to start at any moment and time was short. Then, on top of that, she would be all alone with Coraline - for the first time since finding out that she was the woman who had abducted her as a child. She didn't know how this knowledge was going to affect her, nor how Coraline would react to the situation, knowing that Beth and Mick were a real couple now. Well, at least Gabriel was in the house and Coraline did seem to be somewhat afraid of him. Beth knew from Mick, that this woman could sometimes have real blackouts and was thus potentially dangerous. But she also knew there was no way that Mick would allow her to speak with Coraline alone, which made this opportunity even more favorable, one that Beth couldn't afford to pass up. So, she pushed back her fears, straightened her shoulders and moved with firm steps back towards the door. She was there, this dark-haired so dangerous beauty, still worriedly pacing back and forth in the room behind it. But then she paused in her movement and turned around slowly, looked directly at her with a light, almost pleasant smile on her lips.

"Beth, dear, come in," came her voice, that like so often wore this air of coldness in itself. "We really haven't had the opportunity to talk. If we did, maybe we could even put a couple of old disagreements behind us."

Beth couldn't help it: her heart started beating faster after she hesitantly stepped into the room, carefully leaving the door opened behind her. The last time she had seen Coraline was just before Mick's abduction, she had thrown herself into Mick's arms and Beth had retreated with a lump in the chest and tears in the eyes. It had been a difficult time for her back then, so soon after Josh's death and with the fear in her heart that she had driven Mick with her own negative, so deeply hurtful behavior back into the arms of his ex-wife and had robbed herself of the affection of the only person, that has been her last safe harbor in this ever confusing world. She had hated Coraline at that time more than ever and only wished the worst for this woman. Now that she was face to face with her, she noticed at once, how delicate and fragile her biggest competitor was and how little was left of the nightmare of her past. After all the terrible things that had happened, the woman standing in front of her now had lost a large part of that dangerous aura. There were more dangerous predators roaming the earth, and worse things that could happen than being kidnapped at the age of four by a crazy female vampire.

"I don't believe a short conversation is going to make the things that have happened in the past just go away," Beth said with a coolness and calmness in the voice that she never thought herself capable of in this situation.

"Oh, that's not what I want at all," Coraline said and moved towards her in this splendidly smooth way of walking. "I think the little 'accident' with the stake has made it quite clear that you're not open to reconciliation. But I'll take your willingness to come here to my apartment as a small step forward in our difficult relationship."

Beth wrinkled her brow thoughtfully, but then nodded slowly. "I can live with that, for now…"

Coraline gave a little laugh, looked her over briefly and then went to the small couch in the room. "I think, however, it was more your curiosity that has brought you here, than your desire to have a little chat among women," she stated and elegantly took a seat on the couch. "So, what exactly is it that concerns you so much that it's causing these unsightly little wrinkles on your ever so smooth face?"

Beth took a moment to cope with the scathing reference to her mortality, and was then able to respond to this open-hearted invitation to a serious discussion. "Let's start with one of the most current issues," she replied and then went without haste to the couch. "When we were down in the hospital and the soldier threatened my life… Why did you save me?"

Coraline tossed her thick, dark hair back with a mysterious smile, and then leaned back on the sofa. "Why, wouldn't I?"

"Because I staked you?" Beth gave right back blankly and the soft laughter of her opponent confused her even more."

"I'm sure if I were in your place, I would not have acted any differently," Coraline said and Beth was really surprised to actually hear respect in her voice.

"Or, maybe because I've won the heart of the man that you could never quite give up?" was Beth's next proposal to Coraline to force her to give up her masquerade, and show how she really felt about her. This time, she'd probably struck a nerve because the smile Coraline had kept up bravely now seemed much more cramped, fake and there was such a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"We're on the same side now, Beth," Coraline said after a brief moment to collect herself. "We've to join forces to fight an incredibly dangerous opponent - because of that, no one can afford to hold onto old conflicts and quests for revenge in this community. Whatever I may feel concerning yours and Mick's relationship - it doesn't belong here. I'm going to do my utmost to ensure we win this war."

"I don't think I'd have been that great a loss for this war," Beth said back with a smile that wasn't entirely convincing and immediately disappeared, just as a strange smile appeared on Coraline's lips once again, along with an amused twinkle in her eyes…

"It seems some people in our community see things differently," she said, and consequently forced Beth to now sit on the same couch but keep a certain distance from Coraline. This woman really had an amazing ability to know which words she needed to choose, to get her opponents attention. Beth's heart began to beat faster again and suddenly there was a pressure in her gut, a premonition that this beautiful female vampire sitting before her was actually in a position to answer some of her burning questions.

"Who?" It immediately shot out from Beth and she was annoyed that she couldn't hide her excitement better from Coraline.

Coraline picked up her eyebrows. "Well, Mick, of course," she replied, and enjoyed it immensely keeping Beth dangling.

"Anyone besides Mick?" Beth hooked impatiently.

"I think, you already know," smiled Coraline.

"Gabriel," Beth now felt compelled to answer her own question. "Why? Why does he need me? What makes me so special?"

"That you should perhaps ask him," Coraline avoided her question again and Beth shook her head vehemently.

"I have no idea when he'll have time for a conversation with me and I know very well that you're one of the few people who know some of his secrets, know what all this has to do with my blood type. That was also the reason you kidnapped me, when I was a toddler!"

Coraline looked a little surprised for a moment, but caught herself quickly, and it was now her turn to shake her head. "I wanted Mick back, Beth. I wanted a new start for our relationship. I wanted a family with him and for you to be our child. That's all…"

"You're lying," said Beth with firm conviction. "There's much more to it. You've had hundreds of years to adopt a child - but you never did."

"How would you know?" Coraline's voice was suddenly fierce, almost angry. "Just because I didn't do it with Mick, doesn't mean I never had the desire to start a family!"

Beth was speechless for a moment. Coraline's reaction really surprised her - especially because the woman before her wasn't maternal in the least. Hard to imagine that she ever had a desire for children.

"Have you ever turned a child?" Beth questioned further with great unease.

Coraline looked past her, seemed for a moment to delve into old, incredibly sad memories. "No," she uttered so softly that it was difficult to hear and continued to stare absently into space. "I had a biological child when I was a human. A daughter. She died of pneumonia before reaching her fifth birthday…"

Then she looked at Beth and the warmth and tenderness, mixed with the sadness in her eyes, shook Beth more than her words had. She had really loved her child.

"You looked so much like her back then… It really felt like I had suddenly rediscovered my family, and I wanted to give Mick what he had always wanted…"

"But you… you wanted to bite me… make me a vampire!" Beth stammered, confused, struggling to not develop some sympathy or compassion for this woman.

Again there was this strange smile, but this time Coraline wasn't able to continue to look her in the eye. She lowered her gaze, looked at her soft, manicured fingers. "You just don't understand. You know so little about our world."

Beth took a deep breath, trying as quickly as possible to sort her thoughts and focus on the really important questions. "I know at least that my and Mick's blood group plays a pretty significant role in your world, that it even has something to do with what's going on around us," she replied now with vigor. "And that's the reason I don't believe you, Coraline. I know there's more to my kidnapping, than you're admitting, and Mick knows it now too."

Beth's words forced Coraline to turn back to her and although she continued to try and smile, Beth saw in her eyes, in her whole posture that she was becoming nervous that her cool facade was crumbling once again.

"I also know that people with my blood type can carry a gene that protects them from being transformed into a vampire," Beth went on easily, all the while studying Coraline's facial expressions. "And that the vampire world has long been aware of that. And as a result, there's a book…" Beth said no more, but stared at Coraline, who paled noticeably, with a meaningful look.

"You… you know of the book of the Sangsujet?" The vampire cried out with eyes wide in horror. "Who told you about it?"

"So there really is such a book!" Beth exclaimed with unintentional force. She had not expected Coraline to fall so easily into that trap, and wasn't sure whether she should be happy about her success or be appalled by the new information.

Coraline, who had noticed her fatal error immediately jumped up with a mixture of anger and fear, and moved away from her a bit. She took a deep breath, shook her head and let out a soft chuckle. "It had to happened to me of all…"

Beth now stood up too, with firm determination that she would no longer be shaken off so easily. "The Sangsujet… are they people like Mick and me. Humans who have the same blood type, A0-negative? Humans like you once were? Were you a Sangsujet…?"

Coraline didn't respond to her question, turned from her and even went across the room to the large windows.

"_Sang_ means blood…," Beth went on, and followed her. "And _sujet_…?"

"Subject," it came barely audible from Coraline's lips, while she absently stared out the window. "Blood-subject?" Beth put together the word for herself.

"Or subject of the blood," Coraline corrected her quietly. "Gabriel prefers it that way…"

Beth frowned thoughtfully, fighting down her rising unease and excitement with a vengeance. "Is that another word for 'special Freshies'?"

Again a low chuckle escaped Coraline. "That's not so far off," she replied softly, and finally looked at Beth again. "But I'm not allowed to talk about it. Gabriel wanted to do this himself. He's afraid you and especially Mick might completely misunderstand and that you'd lose your confidence in him."

Beth closed her eyes, took a deep breath and fought back the strong urge to immediately march up to Gabriel and confront him. "This book belongs to Gabriel - is that right?" she asked Coraline instead, after she was again able to look at her again.

Coraline hesitated for a moment. It was obvious she was weighing exactly how much she could still tell Beth, without getting herself into trouble. Finally, she nodded.

"Why does he need this book? What does he need the Sangsujet for?" Beth kept on asking.

"He had once needed them to produce the cure," Coraline betrayed after another moment of apparent hesitation, and Beth stood open mouthed.

"This… this cure is made of… of blood?" she stammered.

"Of two different blood types and the sap of one of the rarest species of lilies known on this planet," Coraline said quietly.

"Then… is this a book of ingredients?" Beth asked, almost in disgust, and her resentment against Gabriel grew.

Coraline gave a bright laugh. "That's a bit exaggerated…"

Beth shuddered inwardly, admonished herself to get a grip on her emotions and to keep the facts in mind. Coraline was a skillful liar, because of that it was quite possible that she was just trying to instigate trouble against Gabriel.

"Gabriel said he'd stopped trying to research and produce this a long, long time ago," Beth went to the next important issue. "Why are people with my blood type still being listed there?"

"Not _all_ people with your blood type are listed," Coraline replied with a small smile. "The volume of the book would be astronomical with time."

"That means there are only certain people out of this blood type," Beth concluded immediately. "A specific bloodline?"

Coraline's smirk was transformed once more into this strange knowing, provocative smile. "I will not say another word, Beth. I told you I've already revealed too much. Gabriel will not be happy about it."

"_My _name is in that book!" Beth uttered with audible anger in her voice. She didn't like it that Coraline was now suddenly refusing to discuss it further. "I have a_ right_ to know the reason behind all this!"

"Is that so?" asked Coraline back with raised eyebrows and Beth was tempted to jump at her throat. How could this woman dare to leave her dangling after all these new findings?

"Not only mine – but also Mick's!" Beth growled back. "And somehow you managed to get your hands on this book and decided to chose both of us for… for… whatever you had planned. But something went wrong…"

"I did _not _chose Mick," Coraline replied unusually harsh. "_He_ wanted _me_! He wanted me so badly that he almost went crazy, when I rejected him! He was _crazy_ over me - so crazy that he proposed to me after only a few weeks. Wanted _me_ to be his - forever! And no matter what has gone on between us in recent decades and who's entered his life - he has, in the end, _always_ returned to me! _Always_!"

Coraline's beautiful eyes sparkled with rage and she took a deep breath, lowered her eyelids in order to calm down, while Beth had to fight hard to control her own emotions, doing everything in her power to keep Coraline's message from reaching her, from touching her. 'Don't get distracted! Don't get distracted!' the little voice of reason pounded in her temples.

"You mean he wanted you even when he was still a child?" Beth said with a coolness which contradicted her turbulent interior completely. Coraline's confused look, the twitch of terror in her eyes was a wonderful reward.

"What… what do you mean?" stammered the otherwise so controlled, confident woman before her.

"As far as I know you've been spying on Mick ever since he was a child," Beth helped Coraline's memory and the expression on the delicate features of her rival, confirmed Mick's conjecture and brought back a little peace to Beth's battered soul.

"This… this isn't true," Coraline brought out, anything but convincing, and Beth could see that her pale complexion became even a shade lighter. Wonderful!

"Mick and I met in the fifties at one of my parties."

"Sure," Beth said with a smile that once again brought highly visible anger to boil in Coraline.

"He was…"

"…crazy for you - I know," Beth cut her off in a cold manner.

Coraline stared at her for a heartbeat with open anger, but then bit her teeth together, turned away from her and walked back to the center of the room. Beth watched as she shook her head and then slowly turned back to her. The few seconds that had elapsed were enough to give her back the ability to smile falsely. Beth was already excited about what Coraline would come up with next to try to get to her, to make her feel insecure.

"We shouldn't do this, Beth," she said now, and came closer again. "Divide us even further because of Mick. We too must learn to work together. Not only in relation to the war, but also in relation to Mick. He never was a simple, harmless man - and now after all the horrible things that have been done to him…" She shook her head. "Instead, you should try learning from my experience with this man, I might even be able to give you some advice if he gets worse…"

Beth let out an angry laugh. "Hardly," she replied tartly.

Coraline put her head a little to one side. "Of course, Mick and Josef told you that _I_'m the evil one and caused the destruction of our marriage - that doesn't surprise me. But you as a journalist should know that there are always two sides, two different should listen to both sides before you come to a conclusion. Mick's no saint."

Aha, now it was the 'make her afraid of Mick story'. How pathetic.

"Yeah, but unfortunately we don't currently have time your wonderful version," said Beth back with sarcasm dripping from her voice and saw a flash of anger again in Coraline's eyes that were fixed on her. She started to speak, then paused however and looked over at the door.

As Beth turned also, Logan's curly head appeared in the doorway. "Oh, there you are," he said in relief. "We'll be starting soon!"

"I'll be right there," Beth replied with a gentle smile. Logan nodded, but remained a moment to look at Coraline with a critical frown. Then he disappeared again and Beth turned back to Mick's ex-wife. _Ex_… What a wonderful prefix…

Coraline said nothing for a while, just looked at her extensively.

"I'm actually a little worried about you, my child," she sighed finally, with an overly solicitous gaze that betrayed the lie behind her words to Beth. "I don't think you're going to be able to handle Mick, should he ever lose control in one of his violent moods. He's become so strong that he could easily smash your pretty little face with one swing…"

"He would never lay a hand on me," Beth replied full of conviction and it was getting harder by the second not to let it show how quickly Coraline's words upset her again. Why was she just so mentally unstable?

Coraline's smile was no longer just strange, it also clearly held a coldness. "It's really sweet how much faith you have in Mick's heroic side Beth, but you're forgetting that every man has the potential for raw, uncontrolled violence and Mick… in his new state he exceeds anyone else."

Beth shook her head vehemently. Her nostrils flared with suppressed rage. She wanted so much to just pounce on this woman, to drive a stake into her cold heart again. "Mick is not like that! He has learned to control himself and he would _never_ do anything to harm a weaker person…"

Now Coraline was also laughing lightly, making her feel like she had said something incredibly stupid.

"It seems he hasn't told you very much about his former life," she added to her outburst with an evil glint in her eyes. "In certain situations he's really no different from other men. Believe me, I've lived many years with him and he has shown me repeatedly that there are no exceptions among men. In the deep down they're all the same: dominant, impulsive, and violent. Perhaps Mick has tamed himself for you so far - he managed that for a while with me too - but at some point there will come a time when he can no longer do it, and the anger will overflow and in this moment it will be very dangerous for you, Beth. Your human body won't be able to tolerate such brutality mine could…"

"I understand," Beth pressed out from between her teeth. "What you're now trying to say is that you're the only one who could live with him and you're hoping to scare me away with your words… But let me tell you something. There's nothing in this world that could scare me enough to leave Mick. _Nothing_."

Coraline tried to keep smiling, tried to pretend as if Beth's words had no effect on her, but the hate-filled glint in her eyes betrayed her.

"And do you know the reason why?" Beth continued quite a bit more courageous. "It's the fact that we love each other - in such a deep, intimate way that your mind could not even grasp. Otherwise you would not try so pathetically to sabotage our relationship. You can't destroy it. No one can."

With that she turned and made her way out of the room. She felt Coraline's piercing glare in her back and knew full well that this woman would not forget this conversation. She would continue to try to unsettle her, to try and win back Mick's love for herself, no matter how many times she said that they had to stick together in this situation. And this knowing made Beth a little afraid, afraid of the future because she knew, without wanting to, that a few of the things Coraline had said had burned into her memory.


	36. Subjugation

_I'm so sorry but today there's no time for anything else than to thank you for your dear comments shortly and to post this chapter. Have to go to work. Will be back at Sunday! Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Lilith/Jenna_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**S****ubjugation**

* * *

"_**The road along the edge of the abyss is often the only one that leads around it."**_

_**Dr. rer. pol André Brie**_

* * *

_This pain, in my head, my jaw… in the chest and my stomach… no pain that was unbearable, that drove you crazy and helpless all at the same time if you didn't know how to fight it. No, it was more of a calling, an urge, a need to finally lift your eyelids, to wake up and hope that all these exciting feelings of the last few hours, days, would return, and pull you back into this sensual frenzy._

_But this time my awakening felt different, more controlled, more alert, as if some deep-rooted instinct was telling me that it was finally time to come around. Very slowly my mind freed itself from the solid grip of sleep, the soothing anesthetic. Slowly I raised my lids, blinked carefully into the dim light that welcomed me. It didn't hurt this time and the intense perception of my surrounding environment didn't overwhelm me as much the last time. Instead I was indeed able to grasp where I was when I lifted my head a little and realized that I still existed on some level, in the real world that I knew…_

_Satin, silk, decorated cushions, a canopied four-poster bed… Yes, I was probably still in heaven, or rather in Elizabeth's bedroom which she had set up in the basement of some house. Yet this was different from the other times I had awoken from my death sleep… The raging, crazy animal inside me had become calmer, had retired and with him, this high, this constant need for satisfaction of any kind had decreased. I was almost disappointed._

_The last two days, had been incredible, as far as I could remember. Rough, driven by instinct, brutish. Never in my life had I felt so free, so strong, so untamed; never had I let myself go so much that I was able to forget that I had been a civilized man only a few hours ago. This new energy in me, this superhuman power had shouted to be let out. The animal in me had wiped out my humanity and had taken control of my body, giving me delights that I had previously never imagined in my wildest dreams. My mind had been completely void, all reason gone - and I had thoroughly enjoyed it. But now it was back, and I was able to once again think clearly; I remembered how it was to be a civilized person, how to control my body and not act purely on instinct alone. Even if the animal inside me was still quite dominant, at least it wasn't hindering the workings of my mind any more and I was able to sit up cautiously. For the first time since coming to this strange chamber deep in the cool basement, I was really able to see, to use my senses for something other than searching for new food or my next sensual climax._

_The room I found myself in appeared to be some kind of cool storage facility for various foods and wines, because on one side were empty shelves and some barrels. Someone had decorated the cool, damp walls with velvet scarfs to create a more comfortable atmosphere and on the ground an expensive carpet had been rolled out. A few feet away from the canopy bed on which I now sat, were two steps leading to a heavy wooden door with a barred window. Next to that a single torch threw its flickering light into the otherwise darkened room, causing strange random patterns to appear on the rough, damp walls. A faint smell of blood and decay penetrated my nose and blood stains on the silky sheets, which covered the lower part of my naked body, caused not only fragments of memories from the last few hours to pass before my mind's eye, but also awakened my insatiable hunger again._

_I took a deep breath and then frowned a bit displeased. The last two days in this room had felt like heaven on earth - now it appeared cramped and gloomy. Perhaps it was due to the fact that this time, when I woke up, there was no one else there to immediately help me satisfy my thirst, no Elizabeth willing to help me burn off my new, excessive energy in a very pleasurable but also exhausting way. To be all alone with myself, with this aching hunger inside and my newly awakened mind, was really strange, almost unpleasant, for it forced me to think about what I had done in the past few hours and what would become of me - what _had_ become of me. A super-being? A monster? A higher form of existence? An immortal… a bloodsucker… a killer…_

_Oh yes, I _had_ killed in the last hours – I could remember now. I had fed greedily on other people, had not been able to stop in time, not even with Elizabeth's help. Some had died. Elizabeth had dismissed it with a shrug and a laugh, used the excuse that this would happen to all new vampires. At the time, I had hardly cared about what was happening, I had been so consumed by my overpowering instincts, and had fallen into this ecstasy, which allowed no pity or thought. It was different now, because next to my mind, my conscience had also fought its way out from the depths of my buried humanity, reminding me of the values and morals I had once owned a few short hours ago, ensuring that I was very much aware of the dark side of my new existence, and it was this side of me that had also started to frighten me a bit. I had made the decision to be turned into a vampire for a very good reason: I had wanted to retain control of my life. Only to loose that control to this demon inside of me that wasn't any better than being consumed bit by bit from my serious illness. Although I might be stronger and healthier than ever before, the demon inside me was now hindering my ability to taking my life back into my own hands. As wonderful as the high of the first few hours in this new form of existence had been and as much as I still inwardly longed to fall back into that ecstasy again, my mind was telling me that it was now time to tame the beast within._

_A strange tingling sensation deep inside let me close my eyes and sharpen my senses. A small smile slid involuntarily on my lips. Elizabeth. She'd come back, had not left me. And I could really feel her, felt her in the blood that rushed through my veins, felt her energy and her desire for me. Our connection was still so frighteningly intense…_

_The handle of the door was pushed down and one of the most beautiful women I had ever laid eyes on in my life floated into the room, closed the door behind her and then moved with swaying hips and a seductive smile on her rosy lips, towards me. Red, waist-length hair, poured in soft waves down her back like liquid fire, framing her pale delicate shape which was clothed in a dark green flowing robe. She took my breath away, like so many times before and my slowly beating heart was freed from its stillness._

"_How's my little darling today," she whispered to me as she reached the bed. She walked slowly and with smooth, graceful movements around the end of it, keeping her eyes glued to me. My desire had immediately been reawakened the moment she appeared, a part of me that still couldn't be controlled, was now burning hot and hard between my thighs, and I felt the strong urge to grab her and throw her on the bed to take what I so desperately longed for. _

"_Have you been able to recover a bit? You're looking much better…" she continued, and stopped just short of me, far enough that I wasn't able to reach out and grab her so easily. I knew she was trying to tease me, for I felt quite clearly that her own desire for me was growing by the second. Vampires were so insatiable… something I was really enjoying at the moment, as well as this new incredible stamina._

"_I'm hungry," I gave back quietly in a hoarse voice and I wasn't just talking about my hunger for human blood._

_She gave a bright laugh, which immediately sent very pleasant showers down my spine. "I don't think this is anything new – but the fact that you can express this wish verbally, I see as great progress."_

_My eyebrows wandered toward each other a little. Had it really been that bad? Was it really possible that I had acted for a short time without reason or speaking?_

"_Can you remember anything of the last few hours," she asked and then sat down on the edge of the bed with a grace that had me once again feeling deep admiration._

"_You… you did it…" I brought out quietly now and knew in that moment that we had not really spoken about what had happened. "You made me one of your kind…"_

"_And that's what you wanted," she replied smiling mildly at me. "I've freed you from the prison of your own frail body, from all the miseries of human existence…" She moved closer to me, raised one hand and skimmed it affectionately over my forehead and cheek - a touch that sent shivers of the most pleasant kind trickling through my entire body. "Eternal youth, Josef. No diseases, no more fear of death, because death has to bow to our way of life also. Incredible strength. Supremacy over all other creatures of this world. No one can match us, hold us back. The world is ours… if we want it…"_

_I closed my eyes, searched deep within me and knew she was right. I had never in my life been as healthy as I was now, had never felt so strong, so invincible, and yet it was different from the past few days. The intensity of the sensations had subsided. Although I still felt everything more precisely, clearer than I would have as a human being, it didn't bother me emotionally as much as it had before. I was so… so calm… so cool and unmoving, so very different from the way I was in my state of intoxication._

"_Something's different," I finally gave back thoughtfully, and sought the gaze of her beautiful emerald green eyes. She nodded once and her smile became a little warmer._

"_Your body and especially your mind has adjusted to your new form of being," she said quietly. "The last two days is only the beginning of it all. Now that you've survived your physical transformation, your mind is challenging you to set limits and to help you to adjust to your new lifestyle. And I'm going to help it."_

_She let her hand once again lovingly glide over my cheek and then put it back in her lap. "The fact that you haven't immediately pounced on me like before is already a good sign. It means your insatiable hunger for blood - no matter what kind - is over and that from this moment on it will only affect you in phases._

"_But I… I _am_ hungry," I stammered a bit awkward, longing for her touch again. The need to be close to her was so immense._

"_I know," she smiled. "But the control over your needs and your reactions to others will now slowly come back - if you allow it to happen. This doesn't mean you're ready to be among humans just yet - that would be too much of a temptation. But we can start to work on your behavior during feeding. Because you do want to move among humans again, don't you?"_

_I nodded, my eyes drawn to her throat with all her appetizing talk and my hunger grew. I immediately felt this tingling in my upper jaw, felt my slow heart beat become faster again._

"_So there aren't any more accidents and because I have no further desire to eliminate corpses, we should start your training soon," she stated, getting up, to my great dismay, before I could reach out for her._

"_And as much as I love our little interludes," she added with a sleazy smile. "You'll have to learn to suppress your instincts in public, slowly but surely, and to control the animal inside you to survive, to become what you _want_ to be, in order to be worthy of our community. I know you'll succeed. You needed the animal inside you to survive the transformation, to regain your strength. Now we have to tame it. And so…" She turned to the door and clapped her hands._

"_I have a little surprise for you," she said in my direction, as the door opened again and I straightened a little in joyful anticipation. The beguiling scent of two humans, a woman's and a man's, penetrated my nose, before the first dark figure appeared. A crude, dark-haired guy who gave the impression you could get anything from him for money - so not my taste. But he wasn't the one who caused me to freeze, made my heart beat faster, and threw me into turmoil. Instead it was the young, ashen woman pulled roughly through the door and then pushed into the room, so that she stumbled towards my bed, visibly struggling with her balance. Her anxious, imploring eyes turned to me immediately; the expression in her eyes changed to a mixture of astonishment, dismay and disappointment, while I was unable to move for a moment. Anna. My dear little, Anna._

"_This way, I think you'll quickly learn to control yourself better, Josef," Elizabeth continued gently and in that moment I hated her. "And I also think our guest will stay with us longer this time…"_

* * *

Anna had in fact stayed longer. A lot longer. Whether this had been Elizabeth's intention or not - on that fateful day it would be the first and the last time in my life that I would take a human against her will and without really realizing it, employed my first Freshie. Anna had survived my lessons. My affection for her as well as Elizabeth's watchful participation in my first reasonable attempts to feed as a civilized vampire had saved her from taking her last breath at such a young age. She eventually voluntarily stayed with me, had been my constant companion, my lover and at some point the first Freshie to become my fledgling. My intense energetic and emotional connection to her and Elizabeth, even then, had made it clear to me what a huge step it was to turn another person, what risks it carried and how much the fledgelings depended, with this step into this incredibly deep connection, on their Sire - at least in the beginning. And no matter how long you had not seen each other, what distance lay between you, this connection survived, allowed you to feel if something happened to your partner, if they felt good or bad. The death of a partner, whether fledgling or Sire, was something that shattered your soul deeply, pulled you for a period of time deep into a hole, leaving an empty space in your soul, where you had previously felt them so intensely. It had been Anna who had caused me to realize this back then, when for the first time in my life, I had come into contact with the Legion, had fled from them and had been hunted by them. Anna had become one of their victims and her death had not only caused an immense hatred for this group, but had also been the reason I had joined Elizabeth and a few other older vampires and had emigrated along with them to the new world. It had been a hectic time back then… and the connection to Elizabeth had given me the strength, and support I had needed to rebuild my life in the States.

Now, so many centuries later, this connection suddenly seemed faint, barely noticeable, even though my Sire was sitting right in front of me at the long table where we had all gathered before the meeting and gave me a small smile. Whom I felt instead much more clearly, was the man who had, in a quiet voice, just summed up the last events that had taken place for those who had not participated in our actions. It felt as though he were a little tense, even though he appeared, to the outside world, to be completely relaxed. I also felt he was a little worried about Mick, although he avoided looking in his direction, and I even felt that he was hungry, that he thirsted for the blood of a person here who was probably for all those present a real temptation: Beth. That really surprised me, for I had always had the feeling that Gabriel was one of the few of us to have absolutely no interest in Beth's rare blood type and that he had himself completely under control concerning her. Now that his blood flowed so freshly through my veins, providing me with such wonderful new energy, I could sense it, although it was different somehow… different from the normal hunger of a vampire. There was so much excitement, so much curiosity, so much… hope? Perhaps hunger wasn't the right word for what the old vampire felt when his gaze brushed the young, beautiful woman at Mick's side…

I almost winced when I met Gabriel's admonishing look, and was immediately aware that he must have somehow felt that I had mentally invaded his feelings. Creepy…

"What I don't really understand about the whole thing," John Wu now rose to speak and in doing so reminded me that we were already in the midst of a very important meeting, "is, why the Legion hadn't sent backup into the hospital. The people there surely must have sounded an alarm!"

Gabriel turned away from me and somehow managed to shield his feelings from me, leaving me almost completely without a connection to him. This was not only a thoroughly unpleasant feeling for a newly re-turned vampire, but also unsettled me deeply. I had not known that such a thing was possible.

"Well, one of the reasons is that we were able to cut the power supply from the outside, leaving only a few devices running on an emergency generator," Gabriel responded calmly, as if our little conflict had not affected him in the least, "furthermore, I had positioned a large force at one of the Legion's other bases, and had them start a feint attack right before the fighting in the hospital began. As far as I know, the Legion sent their backup troops there first and only heard about the incident at the hospital, when it was all over."

"And what information were you able to recover from there?" Grigori said with this typically deep line between his somewhat bushy eyebrows. He and John had been the last to appear at our staff meetings because they had had the longest route to take. Besides them, it was also Malik, Elizabeth, Guillermo, Logan, Seth, Max and Kurt sitting at the table. And of course, Mick and Beth, who had both effaced themselves so far. I suspected this was due to the fact that they already knew what had happened there and hadn't had any questions up to now, because they gave an anything but indifferent impression, seemed to be awake and alert. Their 'active' time was still to come.

"At the very least, important data on the composition of their latest weapon against us and some addresses," Gabriel explained now, still very relaxed. "Most of the addresses are just stopovers, where a legionnaire in need is sent if he must flee, but with a little deceptive maneuver, one of our teams has managed to go through these contact addresses to obtain a list of buildings and facilities, behind which, switching centers or laboratories of the Legion can hide."

"This new weapon… how dangerous is it?" One could tell how uncomfortable John felt with this question. His narrow eyes flickered with discomfort and his fingertips pushed a little cramped into each other.

"_Very_ dangerous, but I'll get to that later," Gabriel replied seriously. "At the very least it makes freeing Frank Peterson our number one if there's _anyone_ who can find as quickly as possible an antidote for it, it's _him_… First however, I need know a few more things: Have you been successful with your actions?" His eyes moved back and forth between Grigori and John.

"I think things are starting to shape up well in Asia and Eastern Europe again," Grigori explained and really surprised me with this statement. "The Legion had never really been able to establish itself in these regions and our actions had not only badgered the smaller groups there, but also the larger organizations in Western Europe. Moreover, their respect for you there is still immense. They said that their recent attacks are based solely on a huge misunderstanding and that they certainly wouldn't want to dissolve the existing contracts. One is willing to renegotiate with you and cease all military activities in Europe and Asia."

"However, the negotiators of the Legion in Europe have already made it clear they're not able to do anything about the problems in the States," John added to my disappointment. "They said they don't have any control over the groups here, that the American Legion has been quite independent for centuries now and hasn't listened to them very much."

"Why does this statement not surprise me?" Gabriel uttered with a slight shake of his head and then looked at Malik.

"In Africa and the Arab world everything remains quiet," he declared immediately with a composure similar to Gabriel's. "The people there are struggling with their own problems. They don't need a war between humans and vampires in addition."

"Well, this is quite good news so far," said Gabriel, and inhaled deeply, gathering himself for a brief moment. "That's how it should be, because the things occurring here are much less positive." Another breath, then Gabriel looked at us again.

"The rumors that some older leaders of the Legion are trying to reunite their organizations, have been confirmed. At least one of them has started negotiations between the two quarreling sides and therefore seems to have made some initial progress. It looks as if a few of the units between the two parties are now working together again, as well as some of the labs."

There it was again, this uncomfortable pressure in my chest, which always seemed to build when confronted with bad news. Those were not the words I wanted to hear.

"This man is also trying vehemently to fight against our strategy of sowing the seeds of dissension and opposition and is therefore a serious threat to us. By _no_ means is he allowed to be more successful than we are. At the moment the Legion is still split and we must ensure that it remains that way and that one of the two sides eventually breaks and contacts us to negotiate."

"Does anyone know who he is?" Beth now asked into the round and once again I felt Gabriel grow tense as he looked at her. Apparently it wasn't so easy to interrupt the connection to your fledgling and one could only keep it up for so long.

"Not yet," the old vampire replied and something deep inside told me that he wasn't being completely honest. "But we're trying to find this out and then we'll do everything possible to stop him. However, this will be no easy task."

"The supreme head of the Legion is so well camouflaged that it's almost impossible to uncover their true identities," Malik now added explaining. "But this man has ventured out quite far from his hiding place in order to regain control over the entire situation. He's currently very active, and perhaps circumstances will force him to drop his cover completely for moment. And when he does, we'll be there."

"What about our own strike force?" Elizabeth inquired and immediately looked over to Max and Kurt, who sat to my left. "Have you been able to recruit new employees?"

"Currently, because of our own actions, we've not had that much time for it," Max admitted, "but Patricia is excellent at this and has probably been very successful. The number of vampires beleaguered by the Legion who do not want to be intimidated anymore is growing daily. And we're also receiving, thanks to Guillermo and his family, reinforcements from Mexico." He nodded briefly towards the almost proud looking Mexican. Then his gaze wandered to Grigori and John. "By the way, some of your friends have already arrived as well."

"Well," Gabriel began to speak again. "We're still hoping to be able to negotiate with the Legion soon, so this first remains only a precautionary measure. What's important now is to plan our next big mission together." He gave Logan at his side a requesting gaze and the young vampire immediately got up overzealously, giving Seth a sign, who instantly switched on a projector that was connected to Logan's laptop. It only took a few seconds and a map of a large building appeared on the white canvas, which Logan had brought into the room before the meeting had started and had set it up at one end of the long table where we all sat.

"This is a diagram of the toy factory on the outskirts of Casa Grande, a small town in the south of Arizona," Gabriel continued. "It's of particular interest to us because it's not only on the list that Max obtained for us with his team, but also on the list Ben Talbot, who has decided to cooperate with us, gave us. For this reason, I have sent a request to one of my contacts within the Legion to provide me additional information about this factory at the risk of his own life. Yesterday, I received this from him." Gabriel nodded briefly to Logan and another, much longer and wider plan appeared on the screen. This really didn't look like a factory anymore.

"We now know with certainty that under this building there is not only a laboratory, but also one of the more important bases of the Legion," Gabriel explained further, while I just stared wide-eyed at the canvas. And it became even more incredible when…

"A few minutes ago these pictures came in…"

On the screen appeared a couple of bad-resolution black and white images of two men in white coats pushing an old, frail man in a wheelchair through a corridor and my pulse began to accelerate similar to Mick's, who had been sitting quietly to my right but had now come to life, as he leaned across the table in disbelief.

"That… that's Frank!" he exclaimed shaken and Beth at his side also craned her neck.

"God, he looks terrible," I heard her murmur shaken, as my own gaze roamed expectantly to Gabriel.

"Whether this is really him or not, we don't know for sure yet," Gabriel returned unimpressed. "The pictures are very bad and it could be a trap."

"You mean somehow they've acquired a person, who looks similar to Frank to lure us there?" Beth asked tense, but Mick shook his head several times, leaned in a little further, seeking intense eye contact with Gabriel.

"It _is_ Frank," he said emphatically, and the excitement that had befallen him, made me pretty antsy now. "Believe me! I'm not mistaken!"

My eyes darted back over to the greatly enlarged image, which wasn't very good quality and fairly blurred, but the longer I studied the old man's thin face, his posture, his stature, the more sure I too became.

"We have to get him out of there as fast as possible! He won't last much longer! Just look at him!" I heard Mick urging and looked again at the old vampire who gave a deeply thoughtful impression.

His chest expanded eventually with a deep breath, then he bent himself forward a little. "Well, let's suppose that it is in fact Frank Peterson… It could still be a trap, a method to lure us in, especially you Mick, to catch us with a superior force of soldiers. And even if that's not the case, this center will be full of soldiers. You saw how many soldiers were stationed in the hospital. And these only to secure the entrance to the laboratory."

"So what exactly are you thinking now?" Mick brought out with an impatience that told me exactly how much the sight of Frank had thrown him out of kilter. This was not good. "That this is about to be a delicate situation? We all _know_ this! But we _must_ get him out there somehow!"

"That's in fact what we intend to do," Gabriel responded seriously and held my friend's pressing gaze without a problem. "But first we must be very, very cautious and we absolutely need to find out how many opponents we'll be facing and what weapons to expect. And we need to wait for the safest possible moment before taking any kind of action. We cannot risk a loud, costly battle that may even alert the local police. All this must happen fast and without any flaws so that no one notices. And that means the teams that will be carrying out the mission, must be thoroughly prepared. Impromptu actions not only make no sense but would be suicidal!"

Gabriel's voice was stern and strong and the look in his eyes strangely set. I was hyperaware of the energetic tingling between Mick and the old vampire, felt how Mick was struggling against the calmness Gabriel was trying to transfer to him with all his might, but finally my friend gave in, leaned back and took a deep breath, that allowed a large part of his strain to disappear along with it. I was fascinated.

"And who will take care of Frank's liberation?" Beth asked now, with deep lines of worry on her forehead and I already knew what her concerns were.

"Max will lead one team, I'll be leading another, and there will be one under Malik's leadership," Gabriel explained a bit exhausted. Well, handling stubborn fledglings could sometimes be quite stressful. Although… Mick wasn't actually his fledgling. Why then did it feel like that to me?

"And who will be part of these teams," now Mick asked and his whole posture told me how much he wanted to be a part of one of these teams. _I_ wasn't the only one to notice this, for the fear in Beth's eyes was even _more_ evident.

"If you're curious to know whether you're in on this, Mick, then I can answer you with a clear 'yes'," Gabriel voiced the young woman's deepest fear and her eyes became much wider. "I absolutely need you for planning and preparing, but I would not want you to go into the station."

The relief that washed over Beth with these words was almost palpable, yet I felt Gabriel was again not being completely honest, that he was holding back some very important detail. I didn't like that at all.

Mick had to swallow hard over this information, but after a moment of reflection he finally nodded bravely. He wouldn't have been able to do anything about it anyway, because the surge of vampiric energy, aggression, anxiety and tension that assailed us from the direction of the main entrance to the building, caused each one of us to freeze for a few seconds. All the energy and smells I was picking up were in one way or the other familiar to me. Lance, Thomas, Henry and Cynthia. Now the stress was really beginning.

I felt Gabriel let the energies inside him come together, then my connection to him was cut off again and his face took on this cold, dangerous expression, which revealed he had now slipped into the role of the strict superior vampire. I didn't have much time to think about it further because the next moment the door to our meeting room opened and Thomas entered, followed by Henry and Cynthia, and finally Lance. They all gave a very tense impression, but the fear of death only emanated from Henry and Cynthia whose eyes quickly scanned the many faces at the table, and avoided dwelling on any one of them too long. The fear they had was justified because there were some people in this room, whose hatred was immediately apparent. The strongest wave of hatred came, as expected, from Mick, who had consciously turned his back to the newcomers, closed his eyes with his head bent down and tried to breathe deeply and quietly to get his raging emotions under control. Gabriel's fears concerning the control of his emotions had probably not been unjustified.

The old vampire rose and walked with a stony face up to the two apostates who immediately backed away from him, but were prohibited by Lance from moving any further. Gabriel stopped and pointed with a welcoming gesture to one of the still vacant chairs at our table.

"Please," he told Cynthia, who was now much paler than I remembered her. In fact, she looked pretty bad now that I watched her, as she reluctantly complied with Gabriel's request, followed by an equally pale Henry, who complied with Malik's motion to take the other chair. Cynthia had, over time, lost a significant amount of weight, becoming thin and bony and had lost all the attractiveness she had ever owned. The fear and the uncomfortable life of being on the run from her own species had distorted her once smooth face and the many deprivations of recent months had made her look sick and haggard. Her betrayal had cost her her attractive appearance - and it was anticipated there would even be more to follow, perhaps even today.

The hatred in me also grew with every second I had to spend in Cynthia's presence, even using all my available forces to struggle against it. The knowledge that this woman had caused my best friend, with her selfish actions, unbelievable suffering, that she caused me and Beth a year of anguish, was just too oppressive, could not be displaced so easily. All I could feel for her now was contempt.

Her eyes just brushed mine when she and Henry had finally settled, and roamed on to Mick, who kept his eyes lowered, still clenching his teeth visibly. I could feel the hatred and anger boiling up within him as he struggled with the rumbling vampire inside and I also felt the strength that flowed through him as Beth pushed her hand under the table into his, squeezing it firmly.

"You can do this Mick," I heard her breathe and really admired her for having her feelings well under control. Her anger towards Cynthia had to come pretty close to mine.

The disdain and anger of the others, on the other hand, was shown quite clearly on their faces. Guillermo also had great difficulty sitting quietly and even a usually relaxed Logan glared at them hatefully. Only Max, Lance and Gabriel gave a fairly impartial face, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. I knew just how fast each one of them could change and become a dangerous beast - Gabriel above all.

"You know why you're here?" Gabriel now addressed the two frightened vampires in our midst with an icy voice as he slowly walked around the table, clearly displaying with his attitude who wielded the scepter of power.

Cynthia and Henry nodded in sync, but Cynthia's eyes flashed again throughout the room, as if she were looking for something… or someone.

"You also realize your cooperation is the only reason you're still alive?" the old vampire went on with a frightening lack of emotion in his voice.

Again a humble nod followed.

"Good." Gabriel stopped next to Cynthia. "Thomas told me over the phone, that you remembered on the way over here that you had once been allowed to visit one of the laboratories of the Legion we're looking for…"

"Yes, but I also told him that I had been knocked out and only woke up later in the lab," she objected hastily, but didn't dare look at Gabriel while talking.

"Nevertheless, you should at least remember how large the lab was, how many soldiers were present and what was being investigated there," Gabriel replied strictly and forced another nod from her.

"Then we're very excited to hear that," he added, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that Mick was finally able to raise his head again to look at Cynthia.

"When exactly were you there?" now Max asked coolly.

"A… a few weeks ago," she uttered in only a very small voice.

"Why?" it slipped blankly from Logan's lips.

"Because I was forced to by the_ Cercle_," was her incredible response. My mouth wasn't the only one to twist into a mocking smile.

"Forced," Logan repeated with a false laugh.

For a brief moment rage flashed in Cynthia's eyes. "Yes, forced! Not everything is as simple as it looks! The _Cercle_ has tremendous power and you cannot counter it effectively if you're totally on your own!"

"Are you expecting us to feel sorry for you?" now Guillermo exclaimed angrily, leaning forward to Cynthia almost aggressively, but something caused him to stop and lean back in his chair again with a deep breath. Not just something… but a light energetic tingling that had emanated from Mick and when I glanced at my now very quiet friend, I noticed he was still looking at Guillermo admonishingly. Apparently despite his hatred for Cynthia he was very much interested in hearing what she had to say.

"I don't need your pity," the woman returned now lowly. "I've never received anything other than contempt from this society. I don't think there's any reason for this to change today."

"You betrayed us!" Grigori blurted out angrily and I felt exactly how hard it was for him to not attack Cynthia. Betrayal was something he absolutely couldn't stand because of his own history. "Actually, we would have judged you some time ago!"

"Grigori!" Gabriel raised his voice admonishingly and our old Russian friend was again able to pull back, to compress his lips and remain quiet.

Gabriel addressed Cynthia again. "You said the _Cercle_ forced you to… to do what exactly?"

"I… I had broken off contact with the Legion," she stammered. "I didn't want to… to do that… that anymore…"

"Continue doing business with them?" Grigori once again asked sharply and even Gabriel's warning glance couldn't keep him from staring at her angrily.

"Yes," was the honest answer.

"So, suddenly deep regret has seized you," it escaped me full of mockery and Cynthia's eyes almost pierced me the next moment.

"The Legion had started to use the cure to develop weapons against us," she hissed at me. "It would have been suicide to go on supporting something like that."

"Oh, so you're saying the _Cercle_ still wanted this, yes?" Logan said, shaking his head.

"No, certainly not," she said quickly. "They just wanted to be sure the Legion didn't cease their research completely."

"What exactly are _they_ hoping to gain from the research?" Elizabeth, who had up till now held back, asked. "After all, they too have been quite active concerning the cure…"

"Is it so hard a guess?" Cynthia replied. "They want exactly the same thing the Legion does. To mutate into super-creatures who will finally be capable of ruling the world and assigning the human race a place at her feet."

"Wouldn't it be much easier if they postponed this idea for a while and instead concentrated on exerting pressure on the Legion to ensure their attacks on the vampire world stop?" now John mingled in.

"It would be in fact," Cynthia replied. "But they're afraid…" Her eyes roamed cautiously over to Mick. "They're afraid of what Mick might become."

I was taken aback, frowned in surprise. "I don't understand. If Mick had indeed evolved enough to become kind of a Nigong… then… then they would have reached their exact goal. Why should they be afraid of this?"

Cynthia shook her head, a strange smile on her lips. "I'm not talking about his physical development, Josef – this is all much too uncertain to frighten the _Cercle_. It's more about what he _is_ now and what role he could play in this war."

Now I understood nothing at all and it was probably written on my face, because Cynthia let out a small sigh and inhaled again.

"The _Cercle_ doesn't want a peaceful coexistence with humans, Josef. They don't want a compromise. They want vampires to stand above humans, want to dominate and rule them. They believe it should have always been this way, that this is exactly what the future holds for these two species. So, is there anything worse for them than the appearance of a hybrid with immense strength, who stands exactly in the middle of the two parties, belonging to both sides, who could be a link between them, and perhaps have the desire and the potential to reconcile these two species?"

Cynthia had done it again: I was speechless. This was a direction I had never thought of. For me, Mick's hybrid state had always been something frightening, had felt unsettling, because the vampire inside him had such immense powers and at the same time was so unpredictable. That someone else could perceive him as a threat because of his _humanity_ and his love for the humans, would never have occurred to me. But it made sense, and explained the actions of the _Cercle_. They had to reach their goal as soon as possible before something, brought about by Mick, happened to join the two worlds in which humans and vampires lived one day. Or they would at least need to prevent him from living long enough to cause a change of thinking in all of us.

It was Mick himself who startled me out of my thoughts by uttering a low, not very real laugh.

"I'm not some kind of savior…" He laughed once more, but the troubled flickering in his eyes, told me that he thought this was anything but amusing. Another burdensome role he didn't ask for was now hovering over him. "No one alone can change the order of the world. And I'm certainly not the knight in shining armor whose magical sword brings peace to all of us… I'm not even at peace with myself!"

Gabriel raised his hands soothingly and shook his head and for a moment I had the feeling a small smile was hiding behind his cool façade. "This is only the fear of the _Cercle_, Mick," he returned in a deliberately soothing tone. "We here all know these are only fantasies brought on by fear, which go hand in hand with fanatical, pathological thinking. _We_ however are aware of what reality actually looks like. Nevertheless it's now become clear why the_ Cercle_ is out to get you, and we must keep that in mind. The fear of the _Cercle_ is a serious threat to you and all those who mean something to you." Gabriel's worried gaze rested for a moment on Beth, then he turned back to Cynthia.

"So, the _Cercle_ wanted you to re-supply the Legion with the cure… what was the purpose in ordering you to visit the lab?"

"To determine whether the people who work with the _Cercle_ are sticking to their promise to use the cure strictly for research on its improvement and not to invent new weapons with it," Cynthia said quickly.

"And this has been confirmed?" Gabriel asked a bit hypocritically. We all knew better.

"It looks that way, yes," Cynthia returned and wrinkled her forehead confused, when Gabriel nodded to Lance, and he stepped up to the table, brought forth a small vial containing a red liquid from his coat pocket and set it on the table in front of Cynthia.

"What… what is that?" she stammered in confusion.

"The Legion's latest weapon," Gabriel gave back quietly. "Against us. Developed from the cure that _you_ provided them."

Cynthia shook her head, but could not hide the discomfort in her eyes from us. "This… this can't be…"

"Because your cure is fake?" Gabriel asked with a cool smile.

Cynthia looked at him shocked.

"It argues in your favor that you _were_ trying, despite the pressure of the _Cercle_, to boycott the Legion's work on the cure," Gabriel continued calmly. "And you were right – the cure you gave them would not have turned a normal vampire. But the minimum amount of the real cure contained in it was apparently sufficient for them to continue working on this… poison."

"Poison?" Henry repeated horrified, who had been holding himself back tremendously the whole time. It appeared it had abruptly dawned on him that he too was to blame for the Legion being able to develop this weapon.

"Yes poison. It's said that when it's injected into most vampires, they die," Gabriel answered his incomplete question. "So,_ I_ would call that indeed a poison."

Henry became even paler than he had previously been, while I began to wonder. If what was on the table before us was the remedy that had turned me back into a human, then Cynthia's fake cure couldn't have had anything to do with it - at least not alone. Hadn't August told Mick that the new weapon contained the remedy in a highly concentrated form?

"But we don't know that for sure yet," Gabriel added, and something strange was lurking there in his eyes, something that Henry seemed to miss completely.

"I didn't know… I didn't want them to develop weapons to use against us… I…"

Gabriel cut him short with a sharp hand movement and Henry dropped his shoulders helplessly. I saw how it worked in his head as he searched desperately for a way out of this whole mess and asked myself why Gabriel had left him alive at all. The goal to get a hold of Cynthia through him had indeed been reached, and he himself didn't appear to have worked with the _Cercle_, for a few times during Cynthia's surveillance he had given the same equally astonished impressions we had and therefore hadn't seemed to be able to add much to our illuminations.

Gabriel seemed to agree with me, for he turned to Cynthia again who still looked stunned at the remedy in front of her on the table.

"Who showed you around the lab? One of our old friends?"

Cynthia looked up again, nodded, affected. "Gallagher… and Ritchcroft was there too at that day…"

My heart began to beat a little faster. Apparently, Cynthia had just visited the laboratory that we were planning to visit soon and Gabriel seemed to have sensed this, because a breath of satisfaction caused his hardened face relax a bit.

"So Gallagher is the head of this headquarters," he asked to be on the safe side again.

Cynthia nodded.

"Was… was Peterson also there?" now it burst out of Mick and I held my breath for a rapid heartbeat.

She hesitated a little. "I'm not sure. I didn't see him then, but I've heard that he should be there now." Her cautious gaze went to Gabriel. "You… you want to get him out of there?"

Gabriel's eyes rested thoughtfully on her face for a moment, then he nodded restrained.

Cynthia, however, immediately shook her head. "This is crazy… There's no way you'll succeed. This laboratory is guarded like Fort Knox. And even if you were able to get in, you won't be able to get out again. The laboratory is equipped with the latest security systems and once someone triggers the alarm, reinforcement will arrive in a flash."

Gabriel responded, surprisingly, with a smile to Cynthia's scare mongering statements. "And the Titanic was also supposed to be unsinkable," he replied calmly and walked around her chair, gave the frightened Henry a disinterested glance and then looked back at Cynthia. "Besides, someone will be coming with us, who knows the place… "Another long look into her eyes made Cynthia tremble slightly. "_You_," the old vampire added and for a moment she just stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. That's when the head shaking started.

"No… I can't go back in there… never again," she stammered and I could tell, she really meant it. There must have been something there that scared her terribly. "There had been no discussion of this before. All you said you wanted was information about the _Cercle_ and the laboratory - that was the agreement!"

"I don't remember promising you anything other than sparing you and Henry for now," Gabriel said in a cold voice. "And at that time I wasn't really aware of the extent of your actions." He nodded towards the remedy.

"We knew nothing of this," Henry uttered immediately. "At least _I _didn't!"

I couldn't believe it: in his panic Henry was now beginning to turn on Cynthia, who stared at him in disbelief.

"You were the one who tried to keep me from diluting the remedy out of fear of the Legion!" she returned angrily and Henry shook his head in panic.

"That's not true – she's lying! I tried to keep her from continuing to do business with the Legion that's all!"

Now even _I_ heard the lie hiding in his words and his voice and Cynthia gasped.

"_Your_ connection to the Legion was much more involved than mine," she hissed now, irrespective of his untiring head shaking. "You've even dealt with them on things other than the cure!"

Henry's panicked look flew up to Gabriel, whose eyebrow lifted a bit. "That's not true… she… she…"

"… she's lying?" said the old vampire lurking and I knew at that moment he had known about Henry's other business dealings with the Legion for some time.

This realization also seemed to transfer quickly to Henry, because his eyes reflected the great fear of death and he let out a barely audible whimper.

"Will you repeat that again?" Gabriel said softly, almost gently, and yet it seemed more threatening than any words he had previously spoken.

A tremor ran through Henry's body and the look in his eyes went from panic to pleading.

"Please, Mon Maitre," he began to stammer, "they… they put me under great pressure. They would have killed me otherwise… I…"

Gabriel stopped his whining with another cutting gesture. "I want to know just one thing, Henry. Were you the one who helped the Legion to develop the counterfeit cure into a reasonably functioning one?"

Henry swallowed hard. "They were going to kill me…" he whispered.

"And now they're able to kill many more vampires," Gabriel responded reproachfully.

"This… this hasn't been confirmed yet. After all the remedy hasn't really been used until now. Maybe these rumors were only meant to frighten us and in reality it's not nearly as effective as they're all saying…"

The smile that slid over Gabriel's face was cold and dangerous, and I knew at that moment that Henry had forfeited his life with his last sentence, his last lie. I felt Mick tense beside me as he was expecting a nasty turn in the interrogation. I was sure his feelings wouldn't deceive him.

"You may be right - at least _we_ don't know what effect the remedy has on a normal vampire yet," said Gabriel now and walked away from the vampire who was shaking with fear. "But is it our ignorance that's to pay for your betrayal?"

"No, no… I…" Henry broke off. His eyes flew hurriedly over our faces, looking for anyone who might take him under his protection, but he was only met with scorn and hatred. "Please… I regret what I did. I… I've agreed to give you all information that I possess… I will atone for my mistakes. Please let me make up for it… please…"

I almost felt sorry for him, as he sat there, begging for his life. But only almost, because I suddenly realized this man had been playing this foul game with us for an incredibly long time and had known the whole time he was cooperating with us where Mick was. He could have ended Mick's suffering much sooner. Hate was the more appropriate feeling for this traitor and his lovely companion.

"And how do you imagine doing that?" Gabriel asked with raised eyebrows.

"I… I don't know," Henry whispered. "I'll do anything… anything…"

"Anything?" Gabriel repeated with a mild smile and the nod of the trembling vampire was followed by a strange exchange of glances between Malik, Lance and Gabriel.

"Then surely you can enlighten us a bit more about how this new weapon of the Legion works," Gabriel added softly, and sat down in an empty chair with this cold shark smile.

I frowned slightly as Malik stepped suddenly behind the bewildered Henry, grabbed his shoulders and held him in a viselike grip. There was a mixture of confusion, fear and horror in Henry's eyes, for Lance was now approaching him as well, grabbed the vial from the table, took a syringe from his coat pocket and drew the remedy up in it under our astonished eyes. Henry was the first to realize what was about to happen here, because he uttered a panicked "Noooo!" and tried to get up. But Malik grabbed him more firmly, held the squirming, screaming man with a vengeance to the chair, while Lance quickly bent down to him.

"No! Please, no!" Henry yelled, but that didn't upset me anymore, instead I watched with some fascination as Lance rammed the needle into the neck of the desperately struggling man and injected him with the dangerous liquid. Only when I heard a tormented gasp next to me and a chair being pushed back loudly, did I notice that Mick had taken the actions with less enthusiasm than I did. He had almost become ashen and struggled violently to breathe, and only the shock and panic in his eyes made me suddenly aware that Mick had constantly endured the exact same thing last year - in exactly the same enforced way. This had to inevitably led to a flashback of his trauma.

Beth seemed to understand this more quickly because she too had become a little pale around the nose, but this didn't stop her from stepping up to Mick, grabbing his face and in doing so forced him to look her into her eyes. "Look at _me_! Look at _me _Mick!" she uttered repeatedly and he followed her instructions, clung to her with all his soul to regain control of his erupting emotions, to fight off the panic attack.

"This is not _you_, Mick… not _you_!" Beth talked insistently to him and I too approached him, tried to reach him mentally, to assist him in his fight against his trauma. I almost winced as his intense fear and helplessness carried me along, as rapid sequences of image flashed before my mind's eye, images I didn't want to see: people who leaned over me, hands that held me down roughly, injected me with liquids that brought about terrible pain, Gallagher's sadistic smile… but just as suddenly there were different images that pushed before these nightmarish scenes. Wide, beautiful landscapes, the face of a smiling young man who was chasing me and then we jumped into a sparkling lake… and then there was Beth… again and again Beth, laughing, looking at me endearingly, caressing me… naked, clinging to me… I broke lose so rapidly from Micks mind that I even staggered back a small step. I had never had such extensive access to the thoughts and feelings of another person, had never experienced them with such intensity, and Mick hadn't even seem to notice it, was still focusing with all his might on Beth to block out the memories of his time in the lab and what was happening around him. He seemed to succeed slowly, because his breathing had become more stable, the panic in his eyes decreased. _I_ however, was totally upset, because I still had to handle not only what had just happened, but also the things that were still happening around us.

All the others were now on their feet as well: Max and Malik grabbed a horrified Cynthia, who was preparing to storm out of the room, Guillermo, because he, like me, was worried about Mick, wanted to help and had approached us, and the rest of those present were in their feet, because all the things around them were too exciting to be able to remain seated.

Henry had fallen from his chair, writhing on the ground, now seized with visible cramps. His eyes were wide open, bulging out of their sockets and his whole body twitched and thrashed in excruciating pain. It had not been that bad with me…

Gabriel appeared, even in this situation, to remain calm and to know exactly what to do. He gave Guillermo and Logan a cautious hint, and they both approached Mick and Beth to help the young woman get Mick out of the room - which was probably the only thing that made sense. I myself, however, wasn't sure what to do, took a step to follow my friends, but then stopped when I heard Cynthia's quiet sobs.

The traitor had pressed both hands over her mouth and stared in horror at the now only slightly quivering body of Henry, as tears of shock ran down her cheeks. It was now so quiet in the room, that you could hear the weak, irregular heartbeat of Henry's, his halting, rattling breathing. And then it became silent. Paralyzing horror had settled into the limbs of all the others. None of us was accustomed to seeing a vampire die so quickly with such a minimal effort.

"_That's_ how the remedy works on vampires," we all heard Gabriel's deep and unapproachable voice and the unpleasant pressure in my chest, caused by his words, made it hard for me to breathe evenly.

"That… that's horrible!" came from John Wu stunned and he had to sit down once again. He shook his head sorrowfully and Grigori sat down beside him breathing heavily.

"All the same, maybe we should test the remedy once more to play it safe," Gabriel added, looking back to Cynthia, who had still not totally recovered, because she had not been able to force herself to turn her away from Henry's motionless body. It wasn't until she felt Gabriel looking at her, and became aware that he was speaking to her, that she finally looked up frightened.

"And I'm not talking about you, my dear," he said gently and even managed to give her a gentle smile. He almost seemed to enjoy all the mental anguish he was giving our 'friend' with his whole behavior. His gaze wandered briefly to Max.

"Get Coraline," Gabriel pointed to him and the man immediately set into motion.

Cynthia's eyes widened in horror. Now nothing would hold her back anymore.

"No! No! Please!" she cried out in panic and I noticed her eyes filled with tears anew. "I'll do anything for you! Anything you want! But don't make her suffer because of me! Please! Gabriel!"

Max had stopped at the door and waited for Gabriel's reaction, as we all did. The old vampire looked at the heavy breathing, totally distraught woman in front of him - blank, well-calculated. Then he nodded slightly to Max and he came back to our table.

Cynthia let out a trembling breath, and slumped down into her chair, weakened by her emotional outburst. Her hopes had dried up, her will was defeated. She yielded to her fate, knowing that even if she could accomplish the job awaiting her, her life was forfeit. Because with traitors Gabriel knew no mercy.


	37. Tailspin

_So here we go again… I'm so sorry but I still have no time left to comment your reviews. Somehow time is something quite rare for me at the moment. Please don't be mad. I really loved your reviews and was really motivated to go on writing. But at least I am able to write on this story and do the translations. I'll be back at Thursday and maybe I have then more time to write some comments. Best wishes, yours Lilith/Jenna_

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

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**T****ailspin**

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"_A healthy soul bears all things, an ill one not even luck." _

_ August Pauly, (1850 - 1914) _

* * *

"Are you sure you can handle this alone?" Guillermo's raised eyebrows told Beth he didn't really think she could, but her emphatic nodding finally convinced him to step from the doorway, out of their apartment. Together they had managed to get Mick back to their room - with great effort and a lot of persuasion, for although Henry's execution had completely thrown him out of kilter and he had initially shown signs of a physical collapse, a small part of him was still compelling him to struggle against his withdrawal from the assembly, his mind strove against not being able to witness the outcome there.

Still, they had managed, with combined effort, to persuade Mick that it might be better for all if he withdrew to his room for at least a few minutes to try and calm down. In the end, it had been Guillermo's and Logan's promises that they would tell him everything, down to the last detail, about the rest of the meeting if he still wasn't able to pull himself together in time.

"It… it's pretty bad, what's going on in his head," Guillermo added much softer and it was only then that Beth noticed how shaken the young Mexican looked. She automatically raised her eyebrows slightly, as she thought about it more and more and for a moment she wasn't sure what to say.

Guillermo's worried gaze flitted past her again, into the interior of the apartment, but he couldn't really see Mick from where he was standing. He was pacing up and down in the apartment like a caged animal, muttering something barely intelligible over and over again, which indeed gave the impression he wasn't quite all there.

"And his vampire side at the moment is much stronger, Beth," Guillermo whispered to her now gravely concerned and even Logan nodded slightly scared.

Beth had to pull herself together and focus on what Guillermo was saying, so that it eventually dawned on her what his warning was about.

"Mick won't do anything to harm me, Guillermo," she whispered back. "I really have a handle on it. Trust me - trust _us_."

Her friends gave her a long and searching look and she tried to put as much confidence into her eyes as possible. Of course Guillermo was right. Mick's condition wasn't that different from the way it had been when these attacks had afflicted him in Mexico and it was quite possible the vampire inside him would appear once he felt Mick's human side was not able to get his emotions back under control. But she was sure she had nothing to fear from the vampire. Mick had already proved to her several times that his love for her would help him overcome this side of his being. And if his lapse became worse, it certainly wasn't _her_ who needed to be afraid of him.

Guillermo finally managed to nod reluctantly, turned and set out to go back to the assembly. Logan also turned, but looked back at her once again. "If something goes wrong, just scream. We'll be back in a flash."

"I know," she smiled as she closed the door slowly. "Nothing's going to go wrong. But thanks anyway."

She saw an encouraging nod as he turned to walk away, then pushed the door closed and took a deep breath. She knew herself that this wasn't going to be easy. The things that had just taken place had upset even her, more than she'd let on. Despite the fact that Henry had been a traitor and was probably to blame for allowing all the terrible things that had happened to Mick, to actually witness the dispassionate nature in which the other vampires judged others of their kind was still frightening to her. Even then, when Mick had told her about the execution of Emma and Jackson, she had been deeply shaken, had, because of the taxing events surrounding it, had a moment of weakness, and for the first time since knowing Mick, had doubted whether there could be a common future with him and had tried to push him out of her life.

Today, she had indeed become richer in cruel experiences. Necessity had forced her to become used to the violent combat operations, murder and manslaughter that surrounded her, but to actually witness an execution for the second time was almost more than she could bear. However, she couldn't allow to show her terror, her inner turmoil, which had still not subsided. What was important now was taking care of Mick, to break him out of this agitated, almost manic state and help him to calm down again. She turned and slowly moved up to Mick, who had just walked into the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator, shook his head and closed it again, without having taken anything from it.

"He… he should have told me what was going to happen," he said in her direction, but unable to look at her. His confused gaze flew through the room, his body on the move, pushing past her, as he started to pace once again, continuing his restless and aimless path through the apartment. Beth followed him boldly, but with a pounding heart. She knew only to well that Mick wasn't himself at the moment, knew he was still helpless to prevent the onslaught of memories, was hearing voices and seeing images that hardly anyone could bear. After all the stress in the last few days it was no wonder his nerves were shot, that his soul collapsed.

"He should have told me," Mick stammered on, like many times before running his hands over his face and through his hair. "He… he cannot do something like that… Not that way… not like that…"

Beth nodded compassionately. She wasn't able to do anything else. She was at a loss for words, didn't know how she was going to get Mick out of this emotional tailspin.

"He deserved to die… but not that way…" Mick stopped now at last, looked down, breathing deeply and heavily, as if his lungs weren't working that well.

"He was a traitor!" Hate lit up in Mick's eyes, for a moment pushed away the misery, the pain she felt so much with him. "He knew it all… everything. He…" Mick winced inwardly. Again something changed in his eyes. Fear and helplessness now shown from his eyes. "_Every_ day… they do it _every_ day… several times… You… you finally stop struggling, because you know it won't make any difference and… and…" His ragged breath made it difficult for him to go on, but he did nevertheless, with this agony in his eyes, as if something or someone was forcing him to. "…you keep doing it… because... because you can't bear to just let it happen… and they come back again and again… with their syringes and their equipment…"

His chest expanded with the next trembling breath, while the tightness in Beth's chest increased and tears welled up in her that she tried to hold back with a vengeance. His helplessness was starting to pass on to her.

"Routine visit, they call it… _routine_…" He let out a strange chuckle that was somewhere between despair and contempt. "A year… you would think in that period of time they would have come up with something more exciting to this… routine. And people can be so… so imaginative…"

He shook his head, closed his eyes, but immediately ripped them open again in a panic. His hand ran trembling across his face again, seemingly passing the tremor over to his body. Mick leaned forward a little, then staggered and stumbled over to the couch, breathing heavily, let himself slump down onto it.

Beth stayed where she was for a moment, had to concentrate on breathing calmly and deeply to loosen the painful tightening in her intestines and suppress these damn tears. She had to stay strong, had to keep her wits about her if she was going to be of any help. This was what she had wanted, for him to open up to her, to talk about what had happened to him in the laboratories. She had known it was going to be bad, had prepared for it. And now that it happened, it had hit her so hard, had distressed her so much, that she no longer knew if she could handle it or not. This, was certainly only the tip of the iceberg. She knew him well enough to know he was still holding back memories, not allowing them to surface, because he knew he wouldn't be able to stand it. And somehow she knew he was doing the right thing, that it would not be good to let it all out at once. This whole thing had already been far too much for him, was moving him in a direction that scared her a bit.

Mick had buried his hands in his hair, lowered his head and rocked forward and back, again and again, his gaze fixed on the carpet at his feet. Beth drew air deeply into her nose, gathered all her strength and walked, with somewhat wobbly legs, up to him, inwardly asking herself if she could really manage this alone. She wasn't a psychologist, knew she could undo all they had achieved and yet she had no other choice but to try, to try and somehow help Mick find himself again, to calm down. In Mexico, she had been quite successful with that…

"I don't want this anymore… don't want to relive this again and again," she could hear him panting now, and wasn't sure if he was even speaking to her.

"This has to go away… go away…"

His fingers still clutched his hair firmly and he narrowed his eyes, his upper body continuing to rock back and forth.

She sat down cautiously on the other end of the couch, turned to him but stopped as he shook his head.

"I just want to be normal… want a normal life… Why can't this stop?" he gasped and again squeezed his eyes shut tightly. "It has to stop!"

"It will at some point, Mick," she now uttered gently, raising one hand to gently caress his arm, but paused again. Somehow she knew it was still too early, that he couldn't bear to be touched while in this state and she let her hand fall back into her lap again, suppressed the urge to take him into her arms and press him firmly to her, with all her might.

"I'm… I'm not a victim… not me…"

Beth nodded, looked at him with compassion and immediately noticed that his mood had changed anew, how he had tensed again and a burst of energy shot through his body.

"They won't do that to me again… never again… _never_!" Hatred flickered in his eyes, mingled with his fear and despair. "I'll kill them… all of them… everyone…" His chest rose and fell in the rapid rhythm of his once again more violent breathing.

"I'll tear them apart… mangle them… scatter their intestines on the ground…" he now pressed through gritted teeth as hate seemed to take the upper hand, made his now quite bright eyes appear slightly insane, dangerous and yet Beth felt no fear. This was better than his resignation, this withdrawal into himself. If he could let out his aggression verbally, could seek revenge on his tormentors at least in his imagination, then perhaps he wouldn't need to awaken the beast inside him and allow it to destroy the furnishings of this apartment. And maybe it would open an avenue for her to really get through to him, to bring him back down to earth.

"I'll gouge out their eyes," Mick now gasped with a sadistic smile on his lips. "Cut… cut off their hands… these hands… and tear out all their fingers one by one… I'll break every bone in their bodies…"

"… and _throw_ them into boiling water," Beth added with emphasis. She felt her participation in his fantasies caused him to stumble slightly, but his eyes glowed pleased with this idea. "Chop them up into small pieces, that's what I'll do…" he uttered out of breath and she could feel by the way he looked at her, searchingly, despite his inner excitement, that he was studying her face closely to see whether she was afraid of him, whether she saw him as the beast he was in his own eyes, the beast he hated so much.

"And then we'll throw the pieces in a shredder and feed them to the dogs," she added, noticing with a beating heart that the madness in his eyes seemed to diminish slowly.

"I could burn them," he now considered somewhat calmer. "Then there will be indeed nothing left of them."

"Or throw them into a barrel of acid," she added pleased with her own creativity.

"Strangle them and throw them in a lake," was his next suggestion, and again a little more of the 'old' Mick was shown in his eyes.

"Cut their heads off and use them as bowling balls…"

There it was, the first twitch of a smile at the corners of his mouth. "Or impale them like old Vlad had once done so beautifully…"

Beth was so pleased with her next idea that she even lifted a finger up and beamed at Mick. "Run over them with a steamroller, take the smashed remains, and slip them into Josef's tar pit!"

Mick gave a chuckle, but then took a breath and shook his head to run his hands once more over his face. And suddenly he was back again, the normal Mick, although still a bit shaken, but without this madness in his eyes, without this borderline chaos of feelings inside. The demons of his memories withdrew.

Mick closed his eyes, breathed in and out a few times to then look at her.

"I… I'm such a psycho," he uttered with a sad little smile, but his eyes were warm and full of gratitude for her.

"No you're not," she replied firmly, and it was really difficult for her to not show how deep her relief was with the fact that they had rode out this storm so well. "To me you're the strongest and bravest man in the world, Mick. Everyone who knows you will tell you that. And you shouldn't always be so terrible critical of yourself. It's quite normal for your memories to catch up with you and for you to succumb to them in this situation. Anyone else in your situation would have been driven insane a long time ago…"

He avoided her penetrating gaze, instead looked at his still slightly trembling hands in more detail. To see himself in a positive light appeared to be incredibly difficult for him.

"And you're right when you said Gabriel should have prepared you better for the things that were going to happen in that meeting," she added. "He really should have said something. But perhaps he thought that by warning you it would reduce the effect it would have on Cynthia. I think he was trying to shock her into submitting to his will out of sheer terror. And I also think he achieved that - at your expense."

"He did try to warn me in a way," Mick admitted quietly. "But somehow that's not what I had expected…" He gritted his teeth, then looked at her again. "I have the feeling Gabriel's planning something. And I think it has something to do with the traitors in our ranks."

Beth looked at him slightly confused. Not only because she didn't know what he was talking about but also because it surprised her at how quickly he had switched the focus from himself and his trauma, to issues that now involved something totally different. She wouldn't have thought him capable of this after his near collapse and could clearly feel how upset he still was. On the other hand, she thought the shift in focus was a good way to settle down again.

"Before, when he brought me down to make peace with Elizabeth, he was already talking about this lab in Arizona, but he left out the part about Peterson being there," Mick went on explaining. "It sounded as if the plan was to get our hands on Gallagher, and he didn't talk about such a big operation yet. Quite the contrary. He also said there would be things said in the meeting that wouldn't be true."

"So does this mean in fact that this plan won't be put into action?" Beth asked hopefully.

Mick grimaced slightly, and leaned his head to one side. "I'm not sure. I get the feeling he's deliberately telling each group he's talking with something different to confuse the traitors…"

"Or, based on what information is being leaked to the Legion, he can even determine which group the traitor is coming from," Beth suggested and Mick's face brightened visibly.

"Yes, that would be pretty…" Mick fell silent and his eyes flew over to the door. Only a few seconds later it opened and to Beth's surprise Gabriel himself entered. He looked a little drained and exhausted, she stated when he quickly came over to them, had even lost his charming smile that usually accompanied his arrival. But when he noticed Mick was doing much better his face brightened a bit.

"We were able to end the meeting somewhat peacefully and have made some plans for the next few days," the old vampire explained quickly.

"Plans you now want to let us in on," Mick reasoned with a slightly cool tone.

"Among other things…" His eyes were drawn for a moment to Beth, and if she wasn't mistaken even to her neck, and then turned back to focus on Mick.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to let you know what I had planned for Henry beforehand, but I didn't want anyone anticipating in _any_ way, what was going to happen," Gabriel went on quietly. "There are some very close connections, especially among the group that had gathered there, and it was already hard enough for me to hide my thoughts and feelings from those of my own blood line. I couldn't, in addition, shield _your_ thoughts and emotions from them. Extreme emotions provide wonderful access to your inner being, for those who are trained at sensing them."

"Does this mean that you've also turned Cynthia?" Mick asked tense, while Beth, still confused, contemplated what Gabriel had just told them. Was he seriously talking about the ability to read minds here? Probably another one of these mental abilities that some vampires seemed to possess. A few days ago Mick had tried to explain it to her…

"No, Coraline is Cynthia's Sire," Gabriel now replied. "And because of that you are connected to Cynthia by Coraline's blood."

"Who is also _your_ fledgling," Mick added with a nod of understanding. Glad, he at least understood what Gabriel was talking about.

"Furthermore, it was important for me to observe the reactions of the others, to feel them out," Gabriel added. "We still have a traitor in our ranks, one who certainly wouldn't have liked this whole thing."

"You… you mean, he was down there?" Beth stammered, shocked.

"Maybe," Gabriel avoided her and only now sat down on one of the armchairs opposite to them. "But it's also quite possible that he or she is among those who were _not_ in the meeting today. But I'll be able to determine this soon."

"By telling everyone a different truth about our plans?" Mick asked and Gabriel's lips lifted into an appreciative smile.

"Was I that transparent?" he asked, amused and then leaned a little towards them. "This is the best way to make the traitor not only nervous but also expose him or herself. There are very few among us who will eventually know the full plan. And it will only be those, I can rule out as a traitor with absolute certainty." He took a deep breath and Beth knew that he would be needing this breath in the next few minutes.

"And you definitely belong to that group," he went on now. "I'm asking you to keep this information to yourself. What we're planning is a balancing act that requires absolute secrecy and concentration." He paused for a moment, looked at them both firmly until they finally nodded.

"Frank Peterson is indeed in this laboratory and we're really going to attempt to get him out of there. Tomorrow evening. But that's not all. I know from a reliable source that Paul Ritchcroft makes his rounds in the lab every Friday evening and then meets with his staff right after, including Gallagher. They will never expect us to attack on that particular day, because there will be so many more soldiers present. But _they'll_ be there, discussing how to set a trap for us, because they'll have received false information up until then."

"You want to free Peterson _and_ get Paul Ritchcroft and Gallagher in your hands?" Mick brought out in disbelief, while Beth mouth fell open with sheer amazement.

Gabriel smiled. "And I will succeed."

"But how?"

"By using all the available forces we have at the moment and more…"

"More?" Mick now looked as confused as Beth felt.

"Benjamin Talbot has assured me he will storm the building with a unit of police as soon as I provide him a reason to. He will ensure that the unit will be on standby and are ready to go."

Mick raised his eyebrows respectfully. "That will provide us with a tremendous advantage. It'll limit the Legion's ability to act immensely, unless they want to tangle with the State."

"Exactly," Gabriel nodded, satisfied.

"And what kind of reason does Ben need before he can intervene?" Beth probed frowning. She still wasn't feeling that comfortable with this plan.

"Confirmation that experiments are being conducted on people in the laboratory, that they are being imprisoned and tortured. The best would be video evidence."

"And how do you propose to get that?" Mick asked. "Even Logan had problems last time getting at the cameras in that part of the lab to work. They have special safety codes."

"You're right. They can only be activated by direct access."

For a moment, there was surprised silence between them until Beth finally cleared her throat. "Direct access? What's that supposed to mean?"

The answer didn't come from Gabriel but from an astonished Mick.

"You're… you're going to send Cynthia in there," he noted, almost admiringly. "That's why you were asking her all those questions, like who she had contact with, and what she had seen. You don't plan to let her come _with_ us. You'll send her there _ahead_ of us."

"We'll use the following story…," the old vampire started his explanation. "That she's escaped us once again but we're hot on her heels, and she's seeking shelter from her allies."

"But they'll kill her!" it came worriedly from Beth. "Why should they help her?"

"Because she won't be arriving empty-handed…" Gabriel leaned back a little, reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a syringe with a vial. "I need your blood, Mick." He put the paraphernalia on the coffee table and gave Mick an almost apologetic glance. "If they feel Cynthia has access to your blood through another spy, they won't kill her right away and perhaps may even start to negotiate with her again. And she can then quietly attach a small apparatus, Logan and Seth are working on, to one of the video cameras. This device will give us access to all the cameras and will make everything much easier."

Beth saw Mick's cheek muscles twitch slightly, as his gaze rested on the injection paraphernalia, then he nodded and picked them up. Beth quickly looked at Gabriel and caught him staring at her neck again. Slowly, that was getting a little scary. What had changed, that he was suddenly taking such an interest in her?

"And if it doesn't work?" she asked, and Gabriel was forced to face her again.

"Then we'll need to quickly think of something else," the old vampire gave back a little embarrassed. She was quite sure he had already thought of something long before this and wanted to keep the backup plan to himself.

Mick was so used to injecting blood that in no time he had filled the little vial and was able to hand it back over to Gabriel.

"So," the old vampire said with satisfaction, and put the vial back into his pocket. "Most of the others are ready to leave and the rest will do so at latest tomorrow, but not in their current groups."

Beth started to listen attentively, and immediately her heart beat faster, because she already knew what was coming.

"This means you two will be separated for the trip. Beth you'll be coming with me and Mick you'll be riding with Lance."

"What?" Mick's eyes suddenly became very wide and Beth couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I'm not going _any_where with…" it was all Mick could do just to say his name "… Lance!"

"Mick, I want you to somehow reconcile," Gabriel urged him and it was obvious how important this was to him, "and this will only happen if you spend time together. I need you_ two_ to help organize this action. You _have_ to learn to get along with each other and be able to work together!"

"Why is it suddenly so important for us to have to work together?" Mick replied defiantly and between his eyebrows appeared this deep line, which clearly showed his displeasure.

"Because we must _all_ work more closely with each other in this situation," Gabriel's voice audibly took on a stern tone and his eyes bored into Mick's. "Otherwise this will not work and be the death of many of us. We must trust each other - without exception!"

"And… what does Lance think of this idea?" Mick probed a little more cautiously now.

"Lance will submit to my will," was the cool reply.

Mick stared at the old vampire for a while in silence. His chest expanded with the deep, tight breath he finally took. "How long?"

"Only as long as the trip to our new meeting place will last."

Another long exchange of glances followed, then Mick finally nodded reluctantly. "If it absolutely has to be this way…"

"It does." Gabriel stood up. "We'll go over the final plan tomorrow evening at our new shelter before we start the mission. Until then I don't want anyone to breathe a word of this. This is now absolutely top secret."

Beth nodded in sync with Mick, despite the fact she really didn't want to do this. There was nothing about this new development that she liked, but most of all, her renewed separation from Mick. She wasn't willing to part with him, even for a few hours. But her will hardly mattered in this whole mission. What was good for Lance was certainly good for them as well. So she said nothing, as Gabriel left their apartment with a few quick words to Mick that he should get something to eat and some rest after all the excitement. There was no sense fighting it, and making the little time they had together difficult. Not after all the exhausting excitement they had for now hopefully put behind them. And if Beth was honest, she really had no strength left for even a halfway reasonable discussion.

* * *

Gabriel had been right. Mick realized it now that he had ingested a well cooled bag of blood. The slight uneasiness in his heart, left by his breakdown, had gone away and allowed his limbs to finally relax, let the calm he craved so much for seep into his strained body. And while he cleaned his glass in the sink, he finally found the strength to once again think about what had happened.

Basically, what had happened was exactly what he had been so afraid of since his return to the states: a total loss of control over his mind and body in front of the eyes of the one person, he didn't want to see him in this unstable condition, to whom he wanted to appear strong and calm and collected. Her reaction to this mental patient, who slept inside of him since his time in the laboratories, was what he had feared the most, for he had expected her to react just as badly as he had to this side of him, to be distraught and to reject him. And again she had surprised him, had provided him so much support in this terrible situation with her understanding, caring behavior that he had at once found his way back to reality, had calmed down surprisingly quick for an attack of this extent. He had not been alone in his nightmares anymore, had not had to deal with these dreadful feelings and memories by himself and it felt so good, so comforting, so relieving that he had found enough strength to push back the terrible images and thoughts and to climb out of the dark hole that had once sucked him in before. He needed no meds when Beth was around. She was his drug, the way out of his misery. This realization penetrated his mind stronger and stronger while at the same time it made him afraid, made him struggle against it, for he was also aware of how debilitating this was for Beth. He couldn't allow himself to use her consciously, to always seek her out when he felt bad. Her attack of weakness the day before had been a warning sign, a sign she'd exceeded her own limits too often to help him. And she always restrained herself for him, tried to protect him and support him wherever she could. This had to stop if he didn't want to lose her –whatever the way. Only he knew in his heart that it would still be quite hard for him to hold back his emotional outbursts and to control himself in stressful situations. How many times had he hurt her, treated her unfairly, since being together again. How often had he not been able to control himself when they got into an argument or he was upset by something else. And no matter how hard he tried and promised to be considerate towards Beth - he always failed, always this dark, emotionally crippled side of him won and made life difficult for him and Beth.

This was also why he felt that something good could come of their temporary separation. Beth would be protected from him, she wouldn't need to argue with him nor have to worry and take care of him, wouldn't get hurt or exploited by him and could finally relax a little. Because if there was one thing Gabriel could radiate so wonderfully, it was that of absolute security and peace. This, Mick had also been a recipient of in his four weeks of training with him. It would do Beth good to rely on another person and to be able to find peace and strength through it again.

Mick put his now very clean glass back into the cupboard, from which he had previously taken it, and then strolled over to the couch, his eyes fixed to the door of the bedroom in which Beth had disappeared just a few minutes before to fetch something. His legs felt a little heavy, and he was almost relieved when he dropped a bit clumsily onto the couch. At the very same moment the door to the bedroom opened and Beth came out. She had her hair tied up in a pony tail and was fanning herself with her hand.

"Don't you think it's hot in here?" she asked when she felt him looking at her. Her cheeks were indeed slightly flushed and Mick immediately felt a little concern surge up in him. Again this heat relapse. Not that this would lead her to faint again. Why did he always put her under so much strain?

"I think this has all been pretty exhausting," he replied, trying to sound calm. "Come, sit down with me."

Beth gave him a loving smile and followed his invitation only too willingly. She let herself fall onto the upholstered furniture as heavily as he had and let out a deep sigh. Then she looked at him and he knew she could read by the expression on his face what was going on inside him.

"Don't worry, I feel okay," she said. "Only a little hot flash. Probably my monthly problem announcing itself…"

Mick's face derailed. He had never thought about that before. Beth among a group of bloodthirsty vampires, getting her period. What a disaster!

"What?" it slipped slightly confused from Beth's lips, but then her eyes widened and she only added a faint "Oh!".

"Yes, 'Oh', sums it up pretty well," Mick added quietly while his thoughts started to tumble. Once he thought about it more precisely, it actually wasn't that bad. Beth wouldn't be able to remain in the company of vampires when she got her monthly period. This meant she had to join Alejandro's team for at least a week and when Mick talked with Isabella beforehand, it meant Beth would have a week of relaxation under her maternal care. That would do her a world of good.

"It's just a sign for it," Beth replied somewhat uneasily. "This doesn't mean it's going to immediately start tomorrow. It usually takes a little while…" There was suddenly a hesitation in her voice and she pulled her brows together, and this cute little wrinkle appeared over her nose. "… but then again…" She hesitated again, but then shook her head. "It's just the stress… somehow my body's currently quite a mess, but since I know my body pretty well, I know this problem has a little more time. So, no need to panic."

She tried to smile encouragingly and also one corner of Mick's mouth twitched slightly.

"I'm not panicking," he replied calmly. "It's just something else we'll soon need to worry about. We'll be able to handle it."

"Certainly." She nodded optimistically.

Mick puffed out his cheeks and let the air escape audibly before he put his head back exhausted, letting it sink into the back of the couch and only now let go of the last of his recent strain. Even Beth leaned back with a little sigh, pulled her legs under her bottom and looked at him, trying to give him a little smile.

"What a day," she uttered softly and Mick wanted to agree with a nod, but the fatigue that had slowly crept up in him, only allowed a minimal upward movement of his head. Beth understood him anyway.

"Do you think you're going to be able to handle traveling with Lance?" she asked after a few more seconds of consensual silence between them.

That was a good question, and Mick wasn't so sure if he knew the answer. Gabriel had given him and Lance quite a big challenge. But he didn't really want to think about that right now.

"It's only for one day," he replied somewhat slowly, suppressing a yawn. Why were his panic attacks always so exhausting? "We'll survive …"

"I have no doubt," Beth said confidently and he could see she really meant it. "And we'll be able to free Peterson and stop the Legion and in the end everyone will live happily ever after."

Mick uttered a chuckle and gave in to the strong urge to grab her arm and pull her into his body, and enfolded her tightly into his arms. God, this felt so good after all the excitement! He buried his nose in her hair and took a deep breath of Beth, his drug, to calm his nerves even more - even though he had decided earlier to not 'use' her, at the moment he simply couldn't help himself. He closed his eyes for a long moment, and felt her relax, snuggle up against him enjoying the intimate physical contact just as much as he was.

"Have I already told you today that I love you?" he murmured into her hair.

She moved back from him only minutely, lifted her head and looked at him full of content. "I don't know…" she smiled slyly. "I can't really remember."

A feeling of deep affection ran through him while he was looking into this enchanting rosy face, into these incredibly beautiful, dark blue eyes. "I love you," he brought out with a tender smile and simply had to press his lips full of devotion to hers to give his words more emphasis.

Beth uttered a satisfied sound, which sounded very much like a purr, and Mick's mouth twisted again into a warm smile as he released her. Beth's eyes were stuck to his lips and he was not surprised when she leaned forward and kissed him again, now slightly longer, more sensual. A pleasant, warm feeling spread in Mick's interior and developed, very quickly, into a strong yearning for more, which drove mainly into the lower regions of his body. Beth escaped his lips which were longing for even more intimate contact, but a close look into her beautiful eyes told him that her need to be close to him had also awakened. There was such a lustful gleam in the dark blue of her eyes and the smile on her lips as she lifted and pushed herself astride his lap, was anything but innocent. Mick's hands came down on her hips and he leaned his head on the backrest as she bent forward to him, so close that their noses almost touched. God, he had never held a more sensuous, more beautiful woman in his arms.

"What exactly are you about to do here?" he uttered a bit hoarsely, and knew that the smile on his lips betrayed how much he liked what she was doing.

"I don't know yet," she whispered and her warm breath blew seductively across his lips. Mick let out a surprised gasp as she moved her pelvis closer to him, pushed her warm center exactly over the one part of his body, which responded the strongest to her provocation. All his blood seemed to now shoot to this part of his body and made him instantly grow hard.

"I'm still thinking," she whispered in this exciting, seductive tone and her fingers began to unbutton his shirt.

"It's still daylight, Beth," he brought out only with difficulty. "Someone may come in at any moment."

Beth, however, didn't seem to care because she lowered her lips to his mouth, kissed him deeply and dearly and Mick gave in to her instantly, let it happen that her soft, hot tongue sought his, stroked and teased it and made his blood boil. His hands instinctively wandered down her thighs, to then push under the light fabric of her dress and find their way up. How soft her skin was, so silky, so seductive.

Beth finished her attack on his mouth, then devoted herself to his chin, his cheek. Her hands pushed into his now wide-open shirt, slid over his skin, feeling his muscles with an insistence that was driving him crazy. His whole body seemed on fire now and the strong pull in his pelvic region told him clearly that this time it would be much more difficult to restrain himself, to stop when it was needed. He longed for this, had to take possession of this soft, seductive woman's body, which was offered to him so willingly. He wanted to get lost in her, to become one with her…

Her lips were now pressed to his neck, urging, sucking almost greedily at his tingling skin. Mick knew she had to feel under her lips the shudder that ran through his body, that she could hear him panting and he felt her excitement grow because of this. She sucked more intensely at his sensitized skin, letting her lips, her tongue slide over the sensitive area beneath his ear.

"God, Beth… what are you doing there?" Mick gasped into her ear while his hands were automatically grabbing her hips, pushing her deeper into his warm lap, pressing her against his manhood, which was now painfully throbbing against the fabric of his jeans. How he wanted her…

"I'm looking for a special spot that's only mine," she murmured against his irritated skin and Mick gasped softly as her teeth dug into his flesh before her lips began to suck again. His abdomen contracted violently beneath her and a deep groan escaped his throat. His need to be inside her, to take her quickly and fiercely, could be hardly held back anymore. His arms braced around her body, pressed her so close to him that he not only felt her soft, full breasts through her dress, but also quite clearly the frantic beating of her heart to his chest, which indeed rivaled with his own.

"Hell, Beth… all… all of me belongs to you," he uttered hoarsely, and meant every word seriously. He was a slave to her, hopelessly addicted to her and right now that hadn't even frightened him. Right now, he was only raw emotion, greed, and passion… wanted to merge with her in every possible way.

Beth raised her head, looked into his eyes, with such indescribable joy and longing, that it only increased the pulling and throbbing in his groin to the point he could hardly restrain himself anymore. His words had visibly broken down all barriers in Beth. She grabbed his face, pressed her lips violently on his half-open mouth, and kissed him deeply and dearly, feeling his tongue with hers anew, caressing it, challenging it. Mick reacted in the same unbound way, conquered the soft inside of her mouth with such intensity that she uttered sounds of excitement that sounded almost inhuman.

Mick's muffled moans made her press her hot center even more firmly against his erection, let her move her pelvis gently back and forth, rubbing over his hard flesh. Any reason, he still may have possessed was completely wiped out by this stimulation, for she put him, with this motion, in a state of arousal his mind was no longer able to handle and handed over the lead to his instinctual side, let his pelvis meet her in an opposite rhythm to increase the intensity of this intimate contact. Through the fierce beating of his heart, the storm of his own feelings and the painful pull in his lower region he noticed that she had shivered, that she nestled up to him with this whimper, _his_ whimper. She took a gasping breath as Mick gave up on her lips and pressed his lips to her neck, let them very quickly slide down to her cleavage. How warm and silky soft… His hands slipped up her sides under her dress, so that his thumbs drove over her hard nipples pressing through the thin fabric of the bra and Beth once again took a hissing breath, her fingers clawing at Mick's shoulders.

Mick gave a deep brutish growl, moving more fiercely into her, thrusting his hardness invitingly into her hot, so willing lap. He felt her body tense for a moment and clung more tightly to him, uttering a deep groan. And then she let go. A wave of deep satisfaction was transferred to him, made him shiver in surprise and he knew she had just climaxed before they had even begun. But that only spurred his own excitement to continue, increased his need to take her even more. He could do it again… and again… wanted to do it, wanted to drive her from one climax into the next… wanted to hear her whimper and moan… His greed reached a level that was almost impossible to cope with.

With quick movements he opened the zipper of her dress and pulled it over her shoulders, taking the straps of her bra along with it and immediately took advantage of the free access to her heated skin. His lips glided over the soft curve of her incredibly firm, round breast, quickly found the erect peak, and sucked it greedily into his hot mouth. He teased it with his tongue, his teeth, enjoyed its taste, and the reactions his touches caused. Beth arched her back, breathing hard and panting as her body twitched and shivered again and again. He felt her excitement grow again and could no longer restrain himself. While his mouth went fiercely for her other pink, erect nipple, feeling this sensitive area, sucking it into his mouth and making Beth utter this exciting, yearning, almost tormented sounds, his hands slid rapidly to her hips tugging impatiently at her panties until the fine fabric gave way with a rasping noise, releasing the way to the center of sweetest joy. Mick's hand slid between her thighs pressed against her so wonderfully moist, hot flesh, enjoyed her loud groan, the uncontrolled twitching against his fingers and quickly found the hard, little knot that could give her the greatest pleasure. Her fingers dug deeper into the muscles of his shoulders, as his own began to move across this sensitive spot, rubbed it gently but yet tantalizingly, and as his teeth teased her other nipple, he felt Beth coming in his arms once more, shivering violently and clinging to him. Hell, it was incredible how ultra sensitive their forced break from sex had made her. And it was so exciting, so stimulating, so intoxicating…

Mick gave a deep growl, turned with her, pressed her back into the couch. He opened his pants with flying fingers, freeing his violently throbbing manhood and entered her with a relieved moan. Beth gasped, immediately raised her legs over his hips and making it possible for him to slide even deeper into her with his next thrust. Mick couldn't hold back anymore. He braced his arms on the couch next to her and, guided by his instincts, quickly took on a hard, fast rhythm, took her deeply and fiercely… unbridled. But it seemed to be exactly what she wanted, what she needed, because she voluptuously arched her back toward him, taking each heated thrust willingly, almost urging him to let himself go, to get his satisfaction. Her fingers, which had previously tried to hold on to his hips wandered down further, dug into the muscles of his ass, pressing him into her, and made the tension in his body build one more time, made him thrust even harder into her. Deeper… deeper… he wanted to sink into her, wanted to merge with her… to take her completely… utterly…

His gaze fixated on her neck, on the throbbing vein beneath this delicate skin. He lowered his head and pressed his lips to that spot, sucked on the skin, while he continued his violent, so feverish movements inside her, felt her willingly receiving him, felt her inner muscles contracting around his member, as if she wanted to hold him there, didn't want to let him go. It drove him almost crazy. The pulsation, the painful traction in his sex became even more unbearable, as well as the urge to finally fully join with her, to find his release in _every_ respect. She seemed to feel it, because she tilted her head breathing heavily and moaning, pressed her own mouth against his neck, sucked at his skin, showing him what she wanted.

He felt his canines extend, and at the same time felt his own climax approaching and when she dug her teeth into his skin with his next deep thrust, it was over. His fangs broke through her skin, pierced her flesh, bored into the throbbing artery. As he too tasted her warm, incredible endorphin rich blood on his tongue, it was too much. The waves of pleasure washed uncontained over him, made his entire body quiver and made him push his jerking pelvis tightly against her pulsating womb, spilling into her with a deep growl. Only very dully, as if everything was suddenly very far away from him, he heard her moan his name ecstatically, he felt how she trembled beneath him, how her sex contracted around him, again and again and again.

Only when this deep satisfaction, this pleasant tingling and quivering ran through his body and he withdrew his teeth from her neck, the tension left Beth's body and her orgasm subsided. He felt her breathing deeply and trembling, now heard through the swooshing and pounding in his own body, which was slowly dying away, her racing heartbeat calming only very slowly. His weary eyes sought hers. She had closed her eyes, still breathing heavily, but the relaxed features of her face spoke of deep satisfaction. How beautiful she was, with her tousled hair, her flushed face and those full, slightly parted lips… so beautiful… Mick felt as if he were drunk. He felt a little lightheaded, and his pulse was still pounding excessively loud in his ears. But he felt good. So warm, so incredibly satisfied and happy, so relaxed… the smile that crept to his lips, when Beth opened her eyes again, came quite by itself and when she answered it in such a charming manner, he simply had to kiss her, this time softly and tenderly, while his slightly trembling fingers stroked her cheek.

"I love you," she whispered against his lips and he wanted to return these words with all his heart, tell her how much she meant to him, but something sticky on his hand confused him so much so that he first had to take a quick look to see what it was.

Blood. Bright red, fresh blood that covered his whole palm. Mick held his breath because he remembered what he had just done to her in the heat of the moment, that there was a reason why he had felt so good, so relaxed.

With an uncomfortable feeling, his fingers pressed against her cheek, pushed her head to the side so he could see the mischief he had done there. The wound was small, but deep and was still bleeding, didn't close, as if to make it clear to him what he had done.

"God…," it slipped appalled from his lips and he sat up quickly, broke away from Beth, who seemed to understand immediately what had shocked him so much and sat up with him, holding his arm.

"Mick, it's not that bad," she brought out quickly and tried to prevent him from getting up. But he couldn't sit now, couldn't… The wound had to be taken care of, he couldn't allow it to go on bleeding like that… He had hurt her, had caused damage to her with his animality, had lost the control over the beast inside him…

"We… we need something to put over it," he stammered and gently broke away from her. With each second that passed the sense of shame, and anger with himself with this cursed beast inside him, became stronger, that voice which throbbed with the rhythm of his faster and faster beating heart up into his mind: 'You hurt her… damn it… and everyone will see it - everyone!'

He wasn't listening to Beth's continued protests, simply hurried to the bathroom, fixing his clothes as he went. There was an emergency kit with bandages. But maybe that wouldn't be enough. Maybe they even needed August. He would certainly be able to do something about the bleeding. The bleeding… the bleeding that wasn't stopping. Like then… just like back then…

"_God, this is delicious… and you didn't want to share it with us?" The vampire buried his teeth again deeper into Marisa's neck, enlarged the deep wound with obvious pleasure, so her blood was flowing past his teeth. The young woman gave an aching groan, struggled in the arms of her tormentor, but she had no chance, she was bleeding to death… _

Mick was in the doorway to the bathroom now, had to brace himself there for a moment and take a deep breath. Not these memories too… God not these…

"Mick," it was Beth's voice close behind him, but he didn't turn to her, instead, walked to the emergency kit and opened it with trembling fingers.

"Mick!" Two hands grabbed him with a surprisingly firm grip and forced him to turn around before he could remove the bandages. "It has stopped bleeding. Look for yourself!"

She was right. The wound was now actually closed, but it was still visible. He reached out a hand for it, tortured, touched very carefully the crusty bite.

"It's not that bad," she said softly. "It will soon be healed again."

Mick shook his head in despair. "That shouldn't have happened… I… I didn't want that."

"But_ I_ wanted it," she replied firmly. "I wanted it, because I want all of you, Mick. Not just a part of you. I don't want you to always hold back because of me…"

Again Mick shook his head, but now his guilt and sorrow was joined by anger. "Beth, the whole house is full of vampires! If they see that I've bitten you…"

"… they're not going to attack me at once!" Beth cut in. "They're not rabid beasts, Mick. They are quite civilized people…"

"… who have just executed another vampire!" he blurted out a bit too loud. "Do you call that truly civilized? I know this species much longer and much better than you, Beth. I know how inhuman they can behave and what some of them think about humans."

"Simone is here too and no one has done anything to her, although she is actually a Freshie," Beth continued to fight.

"But no one knows that here," Mick countered strictly. "Here she's just a human who's fighting on our side."

"But anyone who knows Josef will figure it out."

"There's a big difference between 'guessing something' and 'rubbing it directly in their face', Beth! Or have you noticed any recent bites on Simone's neck? Even Josef knows that he should avoid such obvious places at the moment!"

These words silenced her for a moment. Instead, she stared at him breathing heavily, seemed to be looking for arguments with which she could oppose him anything and eventually found them.

"Gabriel said I'm under his protection. I seriously doubt anyone would dare go against his wishes and attack me, just because I have a visible bite."

"But he won't always be there." Mick uttered a deep sigh. "And your blood type exerts a strong attraction to vampires. You know that."

"Then… then I'll just put a band aid on it and a scarf…" was her next tentative proposal.

"But this isn't the solution to the problem," he replied still too excited. "I'm not allowed to bite you!"

"I think we had this discussion before," she returned stubbornly.

"Yeah, and apparently you still aren't listening to me," he uttered angrily and hated himself for it. She didn't deserve his anger. He should actually be angry with_ himself_, with his lack of self-control. And yet, the next offensive sentence escaped him. "Otherwise you wouldn't have provoked me like that."

"So now _I'm_ the one to blame?" she returned upset and the flicker in her eyes told him that his words had stung her deeply.

"You _wanted_ me to bite you!" he heard himself say, as if some stranger had taken the lead over his body. "You offered yourself to me! You even bit me!"

"And I'm not allowed to do this?" she asked irritably and now also in her eyes sparkled anger.

"Not with a vampire!"

"Well, you can bet that from today forward I won't be doing it again," she snapped. "Maybe it would be better if we didn't even sleep with each other anymore, then you won't be led into temptation by my provoking behavior any longer!"

Mick lowered his gaze, closed his eyes briefly and tried to breathe deeply and calmly to calm his run away emotions, to take control from this unfeeling person inside him again. "I didn't mean it that way, Beth…"

"No?" he heard her ask snippy, but the tremor in her voice told him how much this fight had wrecked her. "But maybe _I_ mean it that way…"

He again raised his gaze and a hot stab of guilt went through his heart when he realized that tears, she tried bravely to hold back, were in Beth's eyes. Her chest rose and fell under a heavy breath. "I can't take this anymore, Mick. This back and forth… Whenever I feel like we've found a solution we both can live with, that we finally have this drama with your vampire side and the biting issue behind us, you take another step backwards. Just now we were laying happily in each others arms and the next minute we're standing here arguing. I can't stand this any more. I just want to be with you. I don't want to have to always worry about whether I'm going to lead the vampire in you into too much temptation or not. And I don't want you to be constantly under tension and holding back. I want _all_ of you - _every_ side. I want us to be together, to live together like a normal couple."

Mick looked at her for a long moment, felt again the cold claw of loneliness, fear and concern grabbing at him. "I want this too," he uttered softly. "But we're _not_ a normal couple, because I will _never_ be a normal person… I…" He closed his eyes again, shook his head and then looked at her, with this oppressive feeling of helplessness and sadness in his chest. "I want to be this so dearly, but… I can't…"

"Mick, all you need to do is to accept yourself the way you are," she whispered in a trembling voice. "_All_ sides of you, _all_ the things life has done to you. Because this _is_ you. And you _can_ accept it, can even love your whole being, believe me. You just need to try …"

Mick didn't look at her, just stared at the floor and shook his head. "I… I can't…," he heard himself stammer as if from far away, knew he could destroy everything by saying that and still couldn't stop. His heart was beating incredibly fast and it was difficult to breath. He knew that Beth was right, knew it and yet everything inside him fought against what Beth was asking of him. He didn't want to accept his current state, couldn't. He had to continue to fight it, change it somehow… had to, had to, had to…

He looked up again, with this heavy weight in his chest, this fear and infinite despair about his own headiness.

Beth pressed her lips together, made an effort not to cry and yet the first tears broke from her eyelashes, rolled down her cheeks and Mick's heart broke, made him feel even more contempt for himself. And yet he leaned toward her, took her face into his hands and pressed a tender kiss onto her quivering lips.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered in a choked voice, pulled her into his arms and pressed her to him, wanted to show her that it was not her fault, that he, despite his inner turmoil, loved her more than his own life, but she didn't return his embrace, just stood there in silence and continued to fight with her own feelings.

"Can you… can you please leave me alone for a while," he heard her whisper into his chest and an iron hand wrapped around his intestines began to crush them slowly. However, he nodded silently, let go of her gently.

She had lowered her eyes, couldn't look at him, but she also didn't need to. He could feel how bad she felt, how hard she had to fight with her emotions. Everything in him screamed to refuse to leave, to take her back into the arms and apologize for his behavior, to promise her that everything would be okay, that he would be a different, a better person, but he couldn't lie to her. So he straightened his shoulders, gathered his remaining strength and left the bathroom, left the apartment… left her… and suddenly he felt so empty and abandoned, as never before in his life.


	38. Lies

_Hi! I'm back with the next chapter again – a bit earlier this time, because tomorrow I'll have no time to post this - and hope you'll like it. In thank you so, so much for your last comments. _

_**Lucretia**__: Great to hear you look forward to Mick's and Lance's journey. They indeed have to clarify a few things between each other. But I won't tell in which way they'll do this. :0)_

_**Borntobemybaby**__: I always feel quite bad when I write fights between Mick and Beth, but I think it's just logical that this happens and we'll see how they'll handle this. But you know I'm a true Mick/Beth-fan…;0) And Gabriels interest in Beth… You'll soon get out what is hidden behind that – I promise._

_**Marcy**__: Great, that you liked that chapter that much that you read it twice. I also think Beth is the perfect partner for Mick. But he knows that. The only problem is that he's not able to see that __**he**__'s also the perfect partner for __**her**__! That's what he needs to understand – urgently!_

_**Sandra Fegan**__: It's so true what you wrote: Beth can't handle all their problems alone. She's strong but no super hero and her strength is limited. Mick __**must**__ meet her halfway or he'll lose her. He needs to understand that before it's too late. And Mick and Lance… that's quite a challenge._

_**SciFiFan30**__: It was a breakdown, but not the real big one. He didn't lose it completely – but at some point he will, if he don't open up a bit more from time to time. _

_**Betsal**__: I also think it's a sad chapter – for both characters because they so need each other and still can't get a grip on the situation. They are both too exhausted and not able to really listen to each other or tell what they are feeling. But maybe they will some day?_

_**Moonjat54**__: You're so right! That's why I posted that quote at the end of the chapter. Mick's soul is still so broken that he cannot even bear luck. He needs to learn to be happy again, to let good things happen to him without thinking of possible bad consequences of this happiness. It's indeed self-destructive and he urgently needs to see this and change. _

_**Susan**__: Yes, I think the journey with Gabriel will be quite interesting for Beth and maybe not that harmless… And concerning the bite. I also think it has to be a bit 'messy' – especially because Mick didn't really notice what he was doing there and so didn't 'clean up'. He,he._

_**Loveyoujar**__: Thanks for your dear words! Yes, I thought Beth is no psychologist so in such a situation she would feel quite overwhelmed and I let her react instinctively. So this scene is a bit… special. And for I've already written the journeys of Mick and Lance and Beth and Gabriel I can tell you I enjoyed it very much. But I won't tell anything more here. The chapters are still in the translating process. It's great to hear that the last part of the chapter touched you so deeply. It's quite an emotional scene and I really tried for making it as real and true to the characters as possible. Mick has still big problems with himself and can't fight against this and Beth is at the end of her tether, so this had to happen. And Mick really needs to change and do something. We'll see if he's able to in the next chapters…_

_And now I wish you all much fun with the next chapter and I will be back at Sunday. Have a great time until then! Yours Jenna_

_Translated by Francis_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**L****ies **

* * *

"_To be allowed to revile a misstatement as a lie, we must first convict it of malice."_

_Arthur Schnitzler (1862 - 1931)_

* * *

I have experienced much, seen much in the long time I have lived, but from time to time there are still situations that surprise me and cause me to remain unpleasantly speechlessness and make it difficult to understand what is revealed to my eyes.

Like the completely incomprehensible behavior of the young, determined-looking woman in front of me who rushed through the apartment and gathered up her few belongings in order to pack them into an open suitcase on the couch. For a moment I stared at her, watching her movements like a child that didn't want to understand that there was no Santa Claus. I felt just like that. My faith that I understood the women around me and could handle them had vanished into nothing and I couldn't help it.

"What… what exactly are you doing?" I finally asked after seemingly endless seconds of speechlessness.

Simone gave me no more than a passing glance. "I will leave along with Alejandro, Josef," she said coldly, not even pausing in her work. "Now."

"Because of Gabriel's order?" I asked a little too hopefully and watched with discomfort as she closed the case and snapped the lock. Now she looked at me and her glance was enough to tell me that it had originally not been Gabriel's idea and that _she_ had decided to leave me.

She crossed her arms over her chest and breathed audibly in and out. "I need a little distance, Josef. I really need to think about a few things and I cannot do that if you're near me. Not only because you somehow always manage to lull me, but also because… because to see you and to know that there was another woman behind my back all the time that we've known each other makes me so terribly angry and sad. A woman that you seem to still love."

Her penetrating gaze made me look to the floor at the tasteless carpet under my feet. "I've never pretended anything to you, Simone," I said softly and knew that these were not the words that she wanted to hear. "And I've never promised anything."

I heard her emit a faint, sad laugh and felt compelled to lift my head again. The tears in her eyes gave me a painful little sting. I didn't want her to suffer so much, but her direct words left me no choice. Somehow I had to defend myself even though she was pretty spot on with her allegations.

"That's true," she said quietly. "But I had the feeling that over the last year there has developed something more serious between us, a new base, a… a real relationship. It felt to me as if we were together."

"We… we are in some way," I admitted contritely, but she shook her head.

"No, Josef, we never were," Simone choked out. "For she… she always was between us. I've only never noticed it. Or maybe I did, but I never thought it was another woman, this feeling that there was something between us that you couldn't push away. Something that has turned our relationship into a lie."

"That's not true!" I blurted out, now fairly upset. "Our relationship is no lie."

"But lies stand between us," she immediately interrupted me. "Things that we cannot tell each other because we both fear how the other one might react. How can a relationship work this way?"

"And do you really think that by running away you can save what's between us, huh?" I replied with audible derision in my voice.

"I'm not running away," she shot back with vigor and slowly seemed to get her emotions under control unlike me. "And I'll continue to stand beside you all in this war. But right now I need some distance, Josef. And Gabriel has given me a job that will distract me somewhat."

"Gabriel… so you work for _him_ now suddenly?" God, why did I have to become so childish? Jealousy was truly not appropriate and so not my style. But the situation and especially my own feelings overwhelmed me a little.

Simone uttered a deep sigh and shook her head. "This wouldn't be the first time," she murmured softly and grabbed her suitcase.

I was taken aback. "What's that supposed to mean? When have you worked for him?"

Simone rolled her eyes, now looking more annoyed than sad. "You know," she replied as she was walking over to the exit. "During the raid with him and Beth in the hospital."

But she couldn't get away with that so easily. I let out a soft, not quite genuine laugh and went after her shaking my head. "No, that's not what you meant. You're talking about something else."

She stopped and looked at me with a stern expression. "What's the point of this, Josef? Do you want to distract from your own faults and weaknesses with this? Is this the way you get out of this quandary? The evil Simone has betrayed the poor Josef and that is why it's wonderful that this relationship might be on the rocks?" In her dark eyes anger sparkled clearly.

"But I won't make it that easy for you," she added with emphasis. "I won't confess any crime in front of you. What will you do now?"

I gritted my teeth and said nothing. I couldn't think of anything better in my helpless state, because a hollow feeling deep inside me told me that she was right, that I was only desperately trying to find a reason to turn the tables, to make her appear as the one who had made a mistake, had not been honest.

She waited a moment, then turned around and opened the door.

"I would have told you," it slipped barely audible from my lips but she still heard it, stopped her movement and looked over her shoulder to me. In her eyes was reflected so much disappointment and deep hurt that my heart contracted convulsively - no matter how much I fought against it.

"I know," she answered just as softly. "But when, Josef? When?"

I couldn't answer her question because I actually didn't know the answer to it. But she seemed to have expected no answer as she turned around resignedly and left the room leaving me with this whole new feeling of abandonment.

Since Sarah there had been no really serious relationship in my life, only this off and on affair with Lola for whom I had felt a little more to my own surprise. How close I had really come to Simone I noticed only now that she had decided to leave me temporarily. There was such a hollow, painful burning sensation in my chest that I couldn't escape and against which I could do nothing at least for now. And there was fear. Fear that she might not come back, that she really would cut me out of her life. I could endure it for a few days, maybe even weeks, but to be without her completely I really couldn't imagine at the moment. This thought made me struggle with myself and I started to actually feel a little weak in the knees. I stumbled back into the living room and settled on the couch.

Great God in heaven, I had developed really, really deep feelings for Simone. The only question was whether they were strong enough to let go of Sarah. Another question to which I had no answer. This on top of all the chaos around me and in addition to all the concerns about my best friend and our fight against the Legion. Why did problems always have to breed like rabbits?

After a while of back and forth reflection on the two important women in my life and the many mistakes I had made, I decided to leave my apartment to protect myself from deep depression. I also had a huge need to talk with Mick or Beth or even both about these problems and for once not to play the cool man-about-town whose life was always in control. Honestly, that role didn't work currently anyway because there was hardly anything in my environment that I could call 'under control'.

When I stepped out the door I was at once stopped again as two scents immediately reached my nose. Two scents that I had never liked to smell together as they usually meant a lot of trouble. Mick and Coraline. Because of Gabriel's special blood my senses functioned much better than ever and I registered very quickly that the two hadn't been walking together. Mick's scent was not as intense as that of Coraline, even though he had this time a very special note that was not unfamiliar to me; Coraline's scent was still fresh and I knew immediately that she had followed him, although I was unsure of her ulterior motive. Not good. Not good at all. This made me forget my own troubles for a moment and caused my body to immediately set itself in motion in order to follow the trail of the two.

Their way led me not only down the stairs but also out of the momentarily deserted-looking house. I knew that most of the other vampires had already left and the others were probably in their rooms resting and gathering their strength for the forthcoming battle. That came in handy for me as I wouldn't be stopped by anyone for a conversation. In front of the door I paused again, blinking a bit annoyed in the already fairly low sun. Light wasn't pleasant anymore but not as uncomfortable as I had remembered. At least it would not be able to stop me from continuing to look for Coraline and Mick.

The scent of the two was becoming stronger as I cautiously moved through the nicely kept park and it was not long until I could see Coraline. She moved slowly to a small park bench under a romantic weeping willow on which, as might be expected, a rather broken-looking Mick was sitting. Apparently I was not the only one who had problems in matters of love. Although he smelled quite strongly of Beth and sex, she had not accompanied him on his walk and since hardly anything else could pull my friend into such an abyss as an argument with her, I guessed the small rendezvous of the two of them must have gone a bit wrong and I could almost imagine what had been the stumbling stone.

Coraline certainly wouldn't make the whole thing any better. But I wasn't close enough to prevent her from tearing him away from his profound thoughts. I had no other choice than to go on approaching them and to continue cocking my ears because now I saw that Mick turned his head slightly and looked at her. If I had been in Coraline's place, I would have turned around and very quickly left because the expression in Mick's eyes had something so hateful that even I stopped immediately and took refuge in the shadow of a larger tree. Josef, the hero!

"I see that Gabriel no longer needs you as leverage to get Cynthia to become obedient," Mick muttered to his ex-wife and now she finally stopped and looked at him seriously.

"Are you really vexed about it or rather relieved?" she asked.

He stared at her for a long moment in silence and then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know…"

"Is your anger at me truly so much that you would gain satisfaction through my suffering?" was her next, slightly reproachful question.

Mick avoided her gaze, then gave a fake laugh and shook his head. "Why should I talk with you at all? You are the last person I want to see right now."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Until now I had rarely heard Mick speak to Coraline in such a harsh tone. The dispute between him and Beth had probably been more than heavy.

Coraline still tried her luck. "I think it's still better to talk to me about what seems to be eating you up inside rather than to sink into depression and vent your anger on others."

"Look who's talking," Mick answered with another angry laugh. "When did _you_ ever act that way?"

Coraline was silent for a heartbeat just looking sadly at Mick. "I know I've done things you probably never will forgive me for… that I destroyed our relationship with my behavior, but I have changed, Mick…"

"Yeah, just like the many times before where you changed so much," my friend replied with this false, almost aggressive-looking smile that was so familiar to me.

"But this time it's true," she urged.

"True? What exactly has ever been true up to now about you or your stories?" Mick answered now a little louder and I felt hot anger began to bubble up in him. "You have always lied to me… our whole relationship was actually one big lie."

"That's not true!" she blurted out upset, which was quite unusual for Coraline. "Our relationship was not a lie!"

My goodness, why did she have to use my exact words? Apparently Coraline and I were more alike than I would have ever thought, at least in our inability to tell and show the people we loved how we felt about them. But my friend Mick gave me no time to think about it, for he was suddenly on his feet and made such a threatening move towards Coraline that she backed away a few steps.

"Okay, WHAT? What in our relationship was real? What? Your need with every word, gesture and facial expression to make it clear to me how easily replaceable I was? Your sick games to get me back just to drive me into madness again causing me to do things I would normally never do, until I had enough and got out? Are these the things you speak of? Yes, they were surely no lie!"

Coraline was breathing heavily. She seemed to be shocked by Mick's words. Understandably, because I had never heard my friend talk so openly in her presence about what she had done to him.

"Our… our _love_ was no lie," Coraline finally stammered softly and another strange laugh was heard from Mick's direction.

"_Our_ love," he repeated sarcastically. "You don't even know what love is."

Coraline needed to take a deep breath to be able to speak further, but she did and was amazingly brave. "Maybe you're right, Mick. Maybe I wasn't able to love you during our marriage the way you deserved, the way _you_ loved _me_. But one… one thing you can believe: I have loved you as much as I was able to at that time. And I still do, now even more than before, because I finally understand what it really means to love, because… I realized how much I need you in my life. And this love is no lie, Mick. It has never been and will never be."

Mick did not look at her but instead closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down a little more - that I could somehow feel.

"Tell me just one thing, Coraline," he said after a little while. "The day we met… the day you got me there at your party, was that the first time in your life that you saw me?"

On Coraline's beautiful face appeared an anxious, almost tortured expression, and her gaze over to the house told me that she not only feared Mick's reaction, but also Gabriel's, if he was paying attention to what was happening here. Nevertheless, she shook her head and confirmed Mick's suspicions which shocked me deeply. My friend had been right!

Mick dropped his eyes, gritted his teeth and after a few more seconds of tense silence was able to look at his ex -wife again.

"How old was I the first time?" he asked trying with difficulty to control himself.

"Three years." Coraline's voice was barely above a whisper.

"_Three_?" Mick looked at her stunned. "Why? Why did you search for me? Why did you watch me? Because of my blood type? Is that it?"

"This… this is all so terribly complicated… I…"

"NO!" Mick cut her short angrily. "This is _not _complicated. This is very simple. You say you love me? Then prove it! Just tell me the truth!"

Coraline avoided his gaze, skimming her hair from her face with trembling fingers and struggling visibly against the feeling of chaos inside her.

"Did Gabriel give you the order to tail me?" Mick went on mercilessly with his questioning and Coraline's horrified gaze found his eyes quickly.

"No! Don't think that! That's exactly what he feared would happen if you learned this from others!"

"Then he should have taken more time to talk to me," Mick growled back. "If it wasn't him then who was it?"

"I… I did that all alone," Coraline now confessed reluctantly.

"Why?"

"Because… because I…" She stopped, searching for the right words. "I wanted him to turn back to me, to stop giving me the cold shoulder…"

"Who? Gabriel?"

Slowly it dawned on me what was opening up before us, and my heart began to beat a little faster automatically. Coraline's nod didn't surprise me.

"He was my Sire, Mick," she now continued with a heavy heart, "and yet he has never cared much about me, left it all to Lance… I… I adored him so much… I just had to be close to him… and he has his weak moments…"

Mick's eyes widened. "You… you had a relationship with him?"

She let out a sad laugh. "Relationship… weak moments don't last long enough to make it a real relationship. Even if that was what_ I_ wanted _he_ definitely did not. But you know me; I don't give up that easily."

"That means you used his further 'weak moments' to get closer to him," Mick concluded from her words and I saw his cheek muscles twitch treacherously. "Okay, you had an affair with Gabriel… and what does that have to do with me now?"

Once again Coraline's eyes wandered anxiously over to the house. "This is really a very long story, Mick…"

"And we have a lot of time before we leave tomorrow morning," Mick answered coldly and his eyes bored into hers threateningly.

Coraline swallowed hard and nodded then; somehow I got the feeling that her face was a few shades whiter. To prove to Mick that she had changed and no longer wanted to lie was probably harder than she had thought.

"We… we were once at his manor in Scotland," she began to talk softly and seemed to come now to the really interesting, juicy details of her confession. "And on a walk around the premises, I came across this room where he keeps some important things from his past… a room that no one is allowed visit…"

"But something like that doesn't keep you away, of course," Mick added knowingly.

Coraline lips twisted into a small, bashful smile. "You know me too well. Anyway, there was this book. A large, thick, very old book with a decorative lily cross on the cover. The Book of the Sangsujet. At first I didn't know what it was and what this term meant because the book contained only ancestral tables, data, brief remarks and names. But then I discovered my name in one of the pedigrees and also in a list of strange notes. And I… I was so angry that I ran to Gabriel and immediately confronted him about that."

"And he freaked out," Mick concluded immediately.

"No." Her answer surprised not only Mick but also me. "He became very serious, took the book from my hands and explained everything to me. That I descend from a rare blood line, that there are people in my family whose blood they could use to produce the cure, but that I don't have that kind of blood, because it was possible to turn me, and so on. My head soon buzzed from all this information."

"That means that this book contains all the people who could possibly be carriers of the blockade substances?" Mick asked impatiently.

"No, not all. Only two blood lines."

"Why only two?"

"I don't know. I have never asked him. I only know that one of them leads directly to the House of Bourbon, and thus to me."

"To you? I thought you were the daughter of a servant?"

"I was. But as was common at that time, kings and princes sometimes couldn't keep their pants on when a pretty maid crossed their path."

A bastard. Coraline was a blue-blooded bastard! Actually, I should have guessed it. Basically, that meant then that in some way she…

"That means you're related to Luis?" my friend voiced my thoughts.

Coraline nodded and one could see how much she disliked this idea.

"Did Gabriel turn you to see if you are a bearer of the blockade substances?" Mick asked and a sad smile appeared on Coraline's lips.

"I always thought he saved me and finally put an end to my suffering because he felt sympathy for me, and in a way this was true, but that night I learned why Gabriel had vehemently shunned me for so long. He felt guilty because of me, not only because he had not protected me against the attacks of these noble men, but also because he himself had been unable to control himself. He admitted that perhaps I would not have died and therefore it would not have been essential to turn me. But he had to do it because his own curiosity urged him to do so."

"But you told me you _wanted_ to be a vampire," Mick said a bit confused. "Why is it important to you to know the reason _he_ did it?"

"Because his motivation is crucial for the story of my blood line, Mick," she replied. "And our story… and the story of Beth's…"

Mick closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "I… I don't understand."

"Gabriel told me that night that the people in this book are actually under his special protection, that he has people who watch these persons, who guard them until he has the time to determine whether they are carriers of the blocking agents or not."

"By turning them into vampires?"

"No, simply by mixing their blood into the cure and then look if it shows an effect."

"That means he has indeed continued to work on the remedy."

"No, he has not increased the production of the cure, but tested the Sangsujets in order to pursue the inheritors of the genes and to further keep his lists updated."

"But why… what was the purpose of the whole thing if he did not want to continue to conduct research?" Mick looked at her blankly.

"I don't know. I only know that he's kept this book now for a very, very long time and that it means a lot to him… and therefore… therefore I needed to steal it."

"You've stolen the book?"

"Not the book directly, but the information from the last pages, the names of the surviving descendants of the two blood lines."

"Why?"

Again Coraline eyes slid over to the house before she went on. "I… I was so angry that he had not protected me and that he had permitted such things to happen to me. Back then his hands were full with the political situation that he had had no more time for his Sangsujets, and he had not asked anyone else to keep an eye on his charges. We were not important enough to him. And when I learned that…" For a moment Coraline couldn't talk anymore, so intense were the emotions that these memories brought back to her. "I… I hated him so much at that moment."

Mick looked at her frowning. "You looked for me out of hatred towards Gabriel?"

She gave a little laugh. "You weren't even born at that time, Mick."

"Then someone else from my family, someone who was in this book," he corrected himself quickly. "Why? Did you want to kill them?"

"No, I…" She stopped. Quickly shook her head. "I… I wanted to punish Gabriel, hurt him somehow. And maybe you're right. Maybe at first I wanted to kill some of these people to get revenge on him. But I didn't do it. After my initial anger and disappointment had been extinguished, I began to think about everything more clearly and then tried to get hold of even more information about this whole story about these people and the cure. And at some point it occurred to me who could help me wonderfully with that."

"Lance," Mick concluded and I immediately knew he was right. Coraline's slight smile confirmed our suspicion. "What did he tell you?"

"Not much," she admitted. "You need to know that Lance is incredibly loyal toward Gabriel and always defends him. That made the whole thing pretty hard, but when he realized that I was really interested in the cure and the history behind it and didn't mean to harm Gabriel in any way, he told me that he himself had researched it and tried to understand how this drug works and tried to make it work better. He justified this by saying that he feared Gabriel would fall once again into deep depression and withdraw from the world unnoticed as had happened many times before. And that did happen once a little later and even I started to get worried. From then on we worked together. I tried using my list to find the right blood donors, and he, together with a physician, sought the means to develop the remedy and, above all, to find the right plant to make this drug."

"So that was the reason why you stalked me," Mick said quietly and Coraline nodded slightly embarrassed.

"To be able to understand this you need to know that the blood line you come from and especially your family up to that time had produced the most carriers of the blockade substances - especially in males. And for this reason there was a very high chance that you had these genes. You had the right blood group, showed an enormous tenacity, strength and resistance to diseases… it all pointed towards this. I just had to keep an eye on you, to see you once in a while, to know how you progressed - because Gabriel had been so withdrawn and had become so apathetic. We didn't know then that even a reclusive Gabriel still has his eyes and ears everywhere, and indeed he still pursued the development of the two blood lines from a distance. When he surprised us in our research, he punished us and took from us all that we had built. I was so angry and disappointed that I… I…" She could not bring herself to say what she had done or at least planned to do. Tears shone in her eyes again and she looked at my friend begging for forgiveness.

"Oh, Mick, I'm so sorry… I was so stupid and selfish. You know how I am when I get angry, when I plot my revenge… I don't think properly and…"

"Coraline! What exactly did you do?"

She swallowed hard and took a deep, shaky breath. "I baited you with your band to come to this party, because I wanted to… bite you… not to see if you carry the blocking substances in you, but… to…" She could not say more but she didn't need to.

"To kill me," Mick stated soberly. "That's the reason for the show with the swimming pool… You just wanted to be alone with me."

She nodded silently.

"And why didn't you do it? You had all the time in the world for it. I was with you all night and I fell for you so hard that I probably would not even really have noticed it."

"Because you touched something deep inside me, Mick!" Coraline said. "You were so different from all the other men I had ever met. So warm and tender, so sensitive and so… so good. I felt so comfortable with you. I could suddenly laugh again, be exuberant, natural… breathe more freely. You had brought humanity back to life in me and I was completely addicted to it. I postponed my plans. I told myself that I would allow myself a bit of time, only a little time with you, but the 'little bit' soon became much more - until Gabriel appeared at my door. I thought he would kill me or at least severely punish me, but again he didn't do that. He behaved so strangely, appeared so resigned and weak… and somehow impervious. All he did was to ask me to leave you in peace, to send you away when you came to my door, and that's what happened that day."

Mick stared at her for a moment with his mouth open, as a sudden realization hit him with full force. "Oh, my God! That was _him_? _He_ was the man in your house?" Mick gave a laugh, which fluctuated between amusement and disbelief. "What exactly did he tell you?"

"That I should never see you again and leave town," she said quietly. "That I should not make even more mistakes but should return with him to Europe. He even promised to take better care of me there."

"Wait a moment, he promised you something rather than commanding you or threatening you with punishment?"

She nodded again and even I could not believe it. Gabriel must have been in a really bad mental state at that time, otherwise this softness with Coraline was hard to explain.

"I would have gone with him. I wanted to. And I was trying to scare you away, to push you out of my life. But you came back that night and… you were so drunk, so determined and passionate. You had that glow in your eyes, that vitality for which I longed so much. And when you smashed the window, Mick, you also demolished all my reluctance. I knew I could not let you go, even though my own attraction to you caused me terrible fear. And I pushed the idea that you might never be able to become a vampire away until our wedding night. I firmly resolved to not test it until then."

Mick turned away from her, looked into the blue sky and shook his head as if he had to get rid of a couple of thoughts and emotions in order to concentrate on the really important things. "When did you again start the research?"

"After our last separation. I wanted to find a way to at least prolong the effect of the drug. I wanted to recover it because I knew exactly how much you longed to be human again."

"Did Lance participate in it?"

"No, he had had enough of the whole thing and he tried to make amends for his failure by doing only what Gabriel demanded of him. He was so busy doing that that he did not even notice when I stole a large part of the cure and replaced it with a dummy. This went on for many, many years. My only problem was that for many, many years there had been no carrier of the blockade substance and we not only lacked the herbal extracts but also the human blood in order to reconstruct the cure. So I again went to find one - with the limited information that I still had about the two blood lines. In your blood line this genotype seemed to die out, unfortunately, so I tried the Bourbon line."

"So Beth is part of the line of the Bourbons?"

"With many detours, yes. Beth is a distant relative of the former French royal family."

"And so also related to you."

Coraline nodded with emphasis and I felt that it wasn't faked. "When I first saw her…" She didn't go on, but took a breath in and let it out, quivering. "She looked like a little angel… like _my_ daughter, Mick."

Mick's eyes became very wide and I knew I probably had exactly the same 'intelligent' facial expression. Coraline had been a mother? That was hardly imaginable, but she nodded and the tears glistening in her eyes told me that she was not lying.

"Sandrine…" she uttered only with difficulty. "She… she was everything to me. Even if it was not a child of love, _my_ love for her was immeasurable. But love can not beat hunger nor cure diseases. It is useless in a fight against death…"

Coraline turned away from Mick and put her hands on her hips to give herself a little leverage and to breathe more quietly and to get her emotions under control. I saw how Mick stepped up to her, deeply moved, and stretched out a hand to her. But he dropped it again even before he had touched her.

"To see Beth was so painful and so wonderful at the same time," Coraline continued in a trembling voice. "She looked so much like Sandrine. It struck me so deeply that I could hardly breathe, because everything came back. All the memories I had repressed for so long, all the intense feelings I had had for this little creature." She looked at Mick again, sadly, almost pleadingly. "I had not planned to kidnap her, Mick. You must believe that. At least not at first. But the more I watched her, the more certain I was that she belonged to me, that she could be _our_ child and that she could bring us back together. And if she also carried this important part of the remedy inside herself then we could actually be a real family without these special characteristics. Our house would be full of love and happiness. I was so engrossed in this idea that I forgot everything else. All I wanted was this child, this key to my happiness - _our_ happiness. And when you refused me and protected the little girl from me, I got the feeling that you wanted to destroy everything, all my newly burgeoning hope…"

She lowered her eyes again and took a deep breath. "I would never have killed her," she added softly. To bury my own daughter in a grave had been bad enough… I would never have done anything to her."

This time it was Mick's chest that rose and fell under a heavy breath. "How… how did you get out of the fire, Coraline? How did you get that stake out of your heart?"

"We weren't alone, Mick," Coraline answered now much calmer. "And we were both too excited to notice it."

"Gabriel?"

"No, Lance. He had followed me, watching me. I had not even known that he was in the States. But he came, pulled the stake out of my chest and then took me out of the house to safety."

"Did he say why he was there?"

She shook her head. "He was very taciturn and forced me to go back with him to Europe. He said that if I tried again to get into your proximity or Beth's I would be receiving a punishment that no one could imagine."

"Had he already noticed that you had stolen the cure from him?" Mick asked, deep in thought.

"I don't know exactly," said Coraline contritely. "He behaved so strangely. But if he had known about it, he would have forced me to give it back. So, I suspect that at this point that had not been the case."

Mick's nod was barely noticeable and somehow I had the feeling that his mind was still on his attempt to murder Coraline. It fit with the emotions that I could feel floating towards me, grief, shame, confusion, but also a bit of anger. Still, he tried to refocus, to fight his emotions.

"When did you come back to the States?" he asked the next important question. But this time Coraline reacted immediately, turning to the house from a sudden impulse and froze. Now I felt it too, very gently at the edge of my consciousness: that soft, energetic tingling, as if something tentatively extended its probe, sensing for what we were doing here. Gabriel - I was sure. Now it was becoming dangerous.

"Coraline," Mick urged, although he had to have felt Gabriel's presence himself. But that seemed not to matter to him.

"I… I…" Her scared eyes darted to him. "About a year before we met again. But we had already restarted the research."

"You and Cynthia, or even the Cercle?"

"I had no idea that Cynthia was connected with the Cercle, you must believe me, Mick!"

"Did you know that she had traded with the cure?" Mick asked further with a stern voice.

Again the answer was a fearful shake of her head and her eyes darted back over to the house. "Mick, let's finish this talk another time, okay?"

She tried to move away from him but my friend grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her up close to him, holding her gaze with his eyes. The tingling in me became stronger and I wrinkled my brows confused as Coraline's gaze changed suddenly and became rigid and absent.

"Did you know that Cynthia was a traitor?" he asked now in this gentle, yet haunting tone which I had previously only heard from Gabriel. What the hell was happening here?

"No," she answered in a monotone. "I thought she worked only with me. I didn't know that she belonged to the Cercle."

"What was your real purpose with the research?" was the next direct question and I was now sure that Mick had somehow managed to grab her mind, to force her to answer him honestly - and I felt what enormous strength it cost him to keep that pressure up. It was really unbelievable.

"I wanted to reconstruct the cure," she admitted. "And if possible, to make it more sustainable. But it didn't work."

"Why not?"

"We did not have the right formula. We had indeed found a lily which was very similar to the original plant, but with the blood types that we used it didn't work."

"But with the cure that the Legion uses, it has worked!" Mick replied sternly. "And they got the cure from Cynthia. So she must have reconstructed it somehow!"

"We've assumed that there is a third ingredient without which the remedy can't work," Coraline told him her thoughts involuntarily. "She probably found it."

"And what's that ingredient?"

The burst of energy that hit me the next moment was so violent that I staggered back a bit dizzy and grabbed hold of the trunk of the tree next to where I stood to keep from falling down. Coraline and Mick also stumbled apart and the vampiress grabbed her chest gasping, struggling for breath. Mick composed himself first and quickly stepped up to Coraline grabbing her face with both hands and bringing it very close to his.

"Coraline, the third ingredient!" he urged while she painfully grimaced and tried to avoid his gaze.

"Please Mick, stop it! Please!" she begged in a tortured voice and I almost felt sorry for her. Even for me this persistently threatening tingling was deeply unpleasant although I knew it wasn't directed at me. I wondered how long it would take before Gabriel would show up in person. He did not want Coraline to divulge any more secrets. I could quite clearly feel that.

"What is it?" my friend was persistent. "Why aren't you allowed to tell me?"

"I don't really know what it is," sobbed Coraline now as tears came into her eyes. "Please! Please don't go on tormenting me!"

But instead of feeling sympathy for her, Mick's face became even harder; the tension in his body grew still stronger. "What do you suspect? What?" he hissed through his teeth.

Coraline only answered with another sob, pressed her lips together and shook her head. Her fingers desperately clawed at his shirt, pulled at it, imploring him to let her go.

The mental battle between the two lasted for further agonizing seconds, then Mick let go of her and this intolerable energetic strain on me and around us suddenly disappeared.

Mick put his hands on his hips, lowered his eyes and breathed deeply, while Coraline took some staggering steps away from him, staring at him full of disappointment and dismay. When Mick raised his eyes again he looked incredibly tired and depressed.

"Go… just go," he said softly and a miracle happened. Coraline actually obeyed him even though the mental pressure on her had disappeared. Probably Mick's skills had frightened her so much that she needed some distance from him. I would not have wanted to approach him currently either. Yet, my presence hadn't escaped him, as much as I had hoped it would, because the moment Coraline was out of earshot, he turned to me and looked directly at me.

"I know who can answer that question for me," he said clearly to me and forced me to step out of my not very good hiding place and approach him.

"And _I_ do not consider it a particularly good idea to enter a conversation with Gabriel in this state," I replied and was really relieved that the old vampire had decided not to visit us, for any reason. "In the last hours you have stumbled from one commotion to the next – don't you think it's enough for the time being?"

Mick took another deep breath, looked down and in his typically stubborn way crossed his arms over his chest. Now all that was missing was the indignant shrug. Ah! There it was.

I now reached him at last and stopped in front of him eyeing him up briefly. "You really look like crap," I stated dryly, and Mick looked up with this stubborn crease between his eyebrows.

"Well, thank you, Josef," he snapped back.

I smiled kindly. "You're welcome… But seriously. If you go on like this, sooner or later, you will not only alienate every person who is close to you, but I will also have to put you in a straitjacket and deliver you to the nearest hospital. And believe me, those things look really unflattering."

A small smile played about his lips and I felt another big part of Mick's tension melt away. Actually, he probably knew that he was at the end of his tether and couldn't stand another heated discussion - only the restless side of him didn't want to let him out of its claws.

"But when, Josef?" he replied with slight desperation in his voice. "When can I talk to Gabriel? Tomorrow we will go separate ways and he uses every opportunity to escape this conversation with me. He doesn't really want to reveal his secrets! Who does want that anyway?"

"But he knows that he needs to do this to maintain your trust in him, to win this fight against the Legion," I replied and told him that not just to appease him. "He's determined to talk to you. The only question is whether it is necessary right now. Now – _before_ this dangerous major operation."

Mick stared around while taking a few heavy breaths and thought hard. Then he nodded, finally, to my relief. "Maybe you're right," he relented. "Perhaps I should first get a handle on all the new information and gather my strength."

"Exactly, my friend," I grinned and out of a profound need put an arm around his shoulders, simultaneously forcing him to slowly stroll with me out of the reach of the house. My fear that Gabriel could still emerge here and seek to talk with Mick was simply too big.

"We will now take a short walk and entertain ourselves with a little trivial small talk," I suggested, registering with joy that my friend started to really relax in my warm embrace.

"Smalltalk, yeah?" Mick said with a small smile. "About what? The real estate market and the advantages of living in prosperity?"

"Oh God, how I miss that!" I uttered wistfully and was completely serious. "Did you really have to remind me of it?"

Even Mick's laugh had a slightly melancholic note, though it probably had more to do with his need for more normalcy in his life. Honestly, to me that would be enough, too.

"No," I added finally. "I was rather thinking of something more pleasant and not so hard to digest… like… women!"

Mick stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me as if I had lost my mind. "More pleasant?" he repeated incredulously, and I had to laugh. He was right. Pleasant this talk would not be, but it would help us both. I was sure of that, and I was sure that Mick shared my opinion and had a similarly great need to discuss this. I could read it in his eyes. And that was why I found it not very difficult to make a start.

"So, how was the sex?"


	39. Tears

_So, here's the next chapter for you. I'm still totally happy about you're dear reviews and would love to comment them, but I'm still totally running out of time. I'm so sorry and promise to write more here when the stressful time in real life is over. I hope you still enjoy this chapter and leave me a little comment. I'll be back at Thursday again with a new chapter. Wish you all a great Sunday, yours Jenna_

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_Translated by Cleo28_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

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**T****ears**

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"_There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief… and unspeakable love."_

_Washington Irving (1783 - 1859) _

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Sometimes it is good to cry, to let out everything that is eating you up inside, even when there is no shoulder to lean on and you are all alone with yourself and can only cling to yourself. And there were so many things Beth could cry about right now: her complicated relationship with Mick, the bad things that had happened to him, her fears and apprehensions concerning their future together, her previous life that she had had to give up, the stressful situation in which they found themselves… basically everything was enough to make her weep. And so she did just that: She was sitting on the couch and cried all her sorrows off her chest, glad to be able to finally let herself go after these stressful days, to not have to worry that anyone might see that she was actually not as strong as she was always pretending to be, that she also had moments where she was despairing and simply had no more strength left.

It took Beth a little while until she was able to see that her tears brought nothing but a little relief, and that she eventually had to stop; not only to avoid moving into a state of complete exhaustion, but also because she could think better when her body was not shaken continuously by quiet sobs and by her having to wipe her nose again and again. Problems had never been solved with tears.

What had actually happened? Mick had again been terribly frightened when he had bitten her in the state of utter arousal that he had once again proved to her that he still could not cope with his vampiric side nor could he accept it - at least in such intimate situations. But was that really so surprising? Had she seriously believed that he was now ready to accept himself and thus their romantic relationship completely and not to close his mind to her when the vampire in him emerged stronger? Actually, his behavior was not a very big surprise, especially because the last emotionally turbulent events had brought them both once again to the edge of their nerves and strength. She should have expected it and not allowed herself to believe that they could be together, treat each other like a normal couple and have normal sex. For that to happen they still needed a lot of time and patience. Just a few hours ago she had decided to keep her composure in such critical situations and not take anything so much to heart and to remind herself that Mick was still traumatized and probably wouldn't react like a normal human. To not lose hope, to persevere and to fight, this had been her intention, but she had not been able to adhere to it, could now not even consider it again. At the moment she longed so much for a little more normalcy and stability in her so confused life that she had simply lost control of the situation, of her feelings and of herself. And actually it was understandable and natural. It could still happen as long as she didn't allow these minor setbacks to influence her and didn't allow them make her start to question her own actions and thinking or her relationship with Mick. Unfortunately, this sometimes just couldn't be prevented. Her disappointment at Mick's behavior had gone deeper than was good for her, had caused this strange hollow feeling in her chest, this tremendous doubt and this dangerous feeling of resignation. And then there was also this little wailing voice deep inside her that told her time and again, 'I can't take it anymore, I don't want this anymore, there's no point in going on.'

Oh, how Beth hated that voice for it tried to ruin everything that she had achieved so far and what she still planned to do. And it made her weak and whiny. When the incident with the Monaghans had happened this side of her had almost destroyed everything. It had left her in doubt and had caused her to say things to Mick that she had not meant. She had hurt Mick so incredibly and in doing so herself also, and yet he had come back, had truly fought for their love for the first time since they had known each other. Beth did not know what had led him to turn around and come back to her, but she was well aware of how delicate the situation had been, how easily she could have lost him at that point. At this moment it wasn't any different. If she did not want this sissy inside her to take the lead against her relationship with Mick and drive them apart, she had to fight it with all her strength. In any case, she could not allow that her weak side separated her too long from Mick and thus allow their doubts, fears and worries about their shared future to get even greater. One of them had to be the strong one, the one who believed in their love and didn't lose hope. And Mick was certainly not the one right now - as much as she wished for it to be the case.

Beth straightened her shoulders and again blew her nose thoroughly. Then she got up… and had to sit down again because she was overcome with such a violent attack of vertigo that her head was spinning. And this pressure on her stomach. God, she already was sick again. This had to stop soon.

She blinked a few times, tried to sit upright and straight so that her circulation calmed down and tried it a second time. This time she was successful. Her legs were strong enough to carry her and this time the dizziness vanished much sooner. Beth took a deep breath and set off bravely. She would now go and look for Mick, take him in her arms and bring him back to their apartment to spend at least a few relaxed hours with him and eventually fall asleep with him. She would not let her current life's situation, Mick's self-doubts and certainly her own physical and emotional weakness bring her down. Mick was not the only one who could suppress unpleasant feelings. Later when they were separated for the upcoming mission she would take the time to think further about everything and to consider strategies for how she could get their relationship problems under control once again.

A feeling deep inside Beth told her that Mick was no longer in the house, but she did not even reach the stairs, for as she was about to hurry past the halfway open door of another apartment, her glance fell into the interior on a tall dark figure standing at one the large windows of the apartment. She stopped suddenly, not only because she immediately knew it was Gabriel, but also because her body was caught at once by such a strange energetic tingling, by an almost unbearable tension. She was sure that this energy came from Gabriel, just as she knew it was stupid to approach him when he was in this state - quite apart from the fact that she actually had other plans. And yet, out of a deep need, she stepped into this apartment and walked slowly to the old vampire whose stare was focused outside. She was sure that he'd noticed her approaching him but he didn't turn around to her but instead remained motionless as if something forced him to do so.

Now she was close enough that she could at least see part of his face and it really surprised her that he had closed his eyes, although he gave a highly concentrated impression. Not only his body but his face was quite tense and the muscles of his cheeks twitched suspiciously under his skin every now and then.

Beth stopped a little confused next to him. She did not quite understand what was going on and finally looked out of the window because she had the feeling that Gabriel's full concentration was on something there. She was right and what Gabriel was so busy with caused Beth's heartbeat to stop for a moment and her breathing to falter. Not far away from the house under a weeping willow was Mick, _her_ Mick, close to Coraline, holding her face gently in both hands as if he was going to kiss her at any moment.

Beth gasped, feeling as if a cold hand grabbed her heart and squeezed it, crushing it slowly, while hot anger boiled up within her. That could not be! Was not allowed to happen! Heat shot through her body making her insides glow while she struggled for breath and her heart pounded painfully against her ribs. She felt betrayed, humiliated, was badly shaken and didn't understand the world anymore. It hurt so terribly to see the two down there that way and she was also so angry, so terribly angry at the same time!

Hatred spread rapidly inside her leaving no space for other feelings, turned off her mind and caused her to turn around to storm out of the room. At least she _wanted_ to but she didn't get very far. After only one step a big hand closed tightly around her upper arm and pulled her back. Beth reacted instinctively because of her rage, her deep shock and despair and slapped at the hands that held her, squirming in his grasp and pushing against the hard, strong body which clutched her quickly from behind. She did not want to let in the words reaching her mind with which the old vampire tried to calm her. All she wanted was to let out her feelings, scratch this woman's face, stake her again, make her pay for what she had done and take revenge for the pain she had inflicted on her again and again. She couldn't bear it any longer, couldn't just stand by while Coraline took Mick away from her and even less could she bear it that he still seemed to love this woman and could not break away from her, fell for her again and again, even though he claimed to love_ her_, Beth. She was able to withstand a lot, but not this… not this! For this she was not strong enough and did not want to be. She would not share Mick's heart - ever! She would cut off the beast's head and then disappear forever from Mick's life, deprive him of her love and curse him and all those who stuck by him.

"Let me go!" she hissed, at the same time fighting against the sadness and despair which were now almost as strong as the anger and hatred. "Let me!"

"Listen to me!" Gabriel said tensely and held her in an iron-like grip. "For heaven's sake! It's not what it looks like!"

"I… I'll kill her! I'll kill her!" Beth heard herself gasp under a heavy sob and her own voice sounded quite foreign to her.

"Beth, he's only trying to get information!" Gabriel now tried to get through to her close to her ear. "Calm down! It's completely harmless!"

Harmless? Information? Beth's mind began to stir again, trying to digest the words she heard. Her defense got weaker and she tried to focus more on the man behind her, on the strong body she was pressed so tightly against.

"He just holds her so that she cannot cut him off again," Gabriel said and very slowly she became aware with whom she was struggling in such an uncontrolled way, whom she had beaten and scratched, to whom she had just disclosed her hysterical side.

"I taught him that," he said then even more gently. "Sometimes you have to hold someone to produce better eye contact for the hypnosis. I know it looked different to you, but believe me: It was just about getting information."

Hypnosis. Beth now stopped her motion completely, hung for a moment in Gabriel's arms, breathing heavily and totally exhausted, and closed her eyes. Mick hadn't wanted to kiss Coraline. He had only questioned and tried to hypnotize her. He hadn't run immediately into the arms of his ex-wife after their dispute, to get comfort, to cheat on her. No, instead he continued to fight to get more clarity in his present life.

The relief came, not as fast or as powerful as she wished for, as she needed, but it came. And along with it came this enormous sense of shame for her emotional lapse, the discomfort that made her stiffen, palpable to Gabriel, and he finally let go of her gently.

Beth did not turn around to him immediately. First she had to close her eyes and breathe deeply, had to sort her too confused thoughts and get her troubled feelings under control. The need to leave the room with a briefly mumbled 'Excuse me for interrupting' was huge, but she resisted, instead finally managing to turn around and look at the old vampire with flushed cheeks and a still far too quickly beating heart.

On Gabriel's lips was a warm smile that could not hide the fact that he looked incredibly tired and exhausted. And she doubted that this was only because of their little wrestling match.

"I'm… I'm sorry," she stammered after a short moment, overcoming her emotions. "I… I'm usually not like that."

Gabriel nodded understandingly and in doing so made it easier for her to continue. "I… I think I overreacted a little. It's just that we… our relationship currently is a little difficult and Mick and Coraline… she has done so much to Mick and me already and I just don't understand how he could…" She broke off. She could not say it, could not voice her fears aloud. But she did not need to.

"… still have feelings for her?" Gabriel finished her sentence and caused her another painful sting. Even if she had been wrong this time about Mick and Coraline, the fear that Mick could fall for his ex-wife again, could still love her enough that she was a serious threat to their relationship, could not be eradicated so easily.

"That's the truth, isn't it?" Her voice was noticeably shaky now and barely audible. Hearing such words from an outsider, was much more painful than thinking this herself.

Gabriel inhaled audibly, crossed his arms in front of his chest and then looked thoughtfully at her face. "Mick is certainly not the first man in your life who you've loved, is he?" He finally asked and in doing so really demanded too much of her worn-out mind.

"No, of course not, but…"

"Did you really love your last boyfriend?"

This became now indeed a bit too private and yet Beth felt the need to respond to him, for she wanted so much for him to help her reduce her fears. "Yes, but…"

"And the men before certainly as well?"

"Yes, of course, but you cannot compare it with that. Coraline has…"

"Do you still love them?"

Beth paused again, shook her head.

"What would you do if one of these men was having difficulties, if his life were in danger, perhaps?" Gabriel asked. "Would you help him?"

Beth really had to think about it. She hadn't loved any one of these men as much as she loved Mick, but of course she would help each one of them in time of difficulties - as far as she could and in relation to Josh was even a very clear 'yes', given that he was still alive.

"Would you protect him if he was threatened?"

She nodded again, because she knew that was the truth.

"And if this man knew things about your life which you have never understood yourself, of which you had not had the slightest idea, would you ask him to talk, to sit down with him to find out everything?"

Again, she could only nod and in fact the pressure on her chest began to disappear at last, she began in fact to feel better.

"Just because people we have once loved are not completely indifferent to us, that doesn't necessarily mean that we still love them as much as we did when we were in a relationship with them," Gabriel added now. "I think indeed that love never dies completely, but it often changes into a different form, has a different strength. It's usually sufficient to produce a certain degree of sympathy and caring towards this person, but it's still not possible to compare it with the original form." Gabriel's warm gaze roamed over her figure with favor until it returned again to her eyes. "Believe me, the love between you and Mick is very hard to find in this world and what he felt for Coraline does not nearly compare to it. What's left behind of his love for Coraline is enough to provide for some protective instinct to awaken in Mick as soon as he feels that someone threatens her life. It may be that for a very long time the two had not been able to get away from each other, especially because Coraline is Mick's sire, but that changed the moment you entered his life, Beth. This man would have become slowly and completely crippled inside without you. No torture in the world can destroy a person as much as isolation and self-hatred, as the loss of his humanity, but you've saved Mick and still do - every day anew. Mick slowly revives through his love for you, even if he's perhaps not really aware of it: You are his healing, his lifeblood. Do you really think there is any woman in this world that can be a threat to you in terms of Mick's feelings?"

Beth just looked at him with wide eyes, blinked a bit embarrassed while she was feeling better and better. His words were helping her, were like balm for her wounded soul, her battered nerves.

"As smart as Coraline may be," Gabriel continued, "she will not succeed in driving a wedge from outside between you two, let alone find a way back into Mick's heart. And I have a much better insight into Mick's feelings than one perhaps might be able to notice at first glance."

He gave her a small encouraging smile and Beth could not help but respond to it. Hearing something like that really calmed her down and let her once again breathe deeply, now much liberated.

"You should not doubt what connects you two," Gabriel added. "I know he sometimes makes it quite hard for you, but one day he will be able to accept himself completely and will recognize that you two are meant for each other, that fate wanted you to be together." A touch of sadness and longing passed over Gabriel's expressive face and he turned away from her stepping up to the large window again.

"He probably knows it already and because of that is looking for excuses and reasons why your relationship cannot work. He's afraid of his own feelings, his love for you."

Beth followed Gabriel and also looked out the window and while trying mentally to process what Gabriel had told her she noticed that she couldn't see Mick and Coraline anymore. Was that good or bad?

"He's moving away from the house," she heard Gabriel say in a low voice. "Along with Josef, if I'm not mistaken."

Beth looked up at him and saw that he had closed his eyes again. "Can you feel that?" she asked needlessly, but he answered her question anyway with a nod.

"As long as they are not too far away from me, I can feel all the vampires in this house," he admitted softly, raising his eyelids again to look at her. "And I can locate the vampires who are connected to me through my blood even easier than the others."

Beth frowned and only at that moment realized that for the first time in quite a long while she was alone with Gabriel. Since no urgent appointment was due, he had no excuse to disappear quickly. She could talk to him - finally!

"But you didn't turn Mick," she noted, and Gabriel avoided her questioning look, not only with his eyes, but also in turning right around and walking very slowly over to the couch.

"I guess now the long-overdue questioning period is starting," he said to her over his shoulder and sat down on the couch with a deep, not necessarily faked, sigh. But there was a small smile hiding in the corners of his mouth, which gave her enough courage to approach him with her questions. Actually she really did not feel fit enough for this, her nerves were still too unstable, but she just could not miss this chance.

"What were you actually doing as I came into the room?" she asked when she stood in front of the old vampire and now the smile was more obvious on his lips.

"Oh, I've tried to prevent Coraline from disclosing too much information at once," he replied frankly and Beth was really surprised by his honesty.

"Why?"

"Because there are some things you aren't allowed to know at the moment."

"For example?"

He uttered a soft chuckle because of her directness but indeed replied to her. "The exact composition of the cure."

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But we know it because of Peterson."

"No, then the Legion would not have been dependent on the cure transferred by Cynthia," was the quite logical reaction to her statement. "And if you read Peterson's notes - which you should really do immediately - you can find that out as well. The Legion has never been able to produce the cure fully by themselves. Very few people know the secret and can produce this cure."

"But they _can_ produce it?" Beth asked surprised. "I always thought that would not be possible because the ingredients for it can't be found anymore and there would be only an old amount left somewhere."

"That would have run out long since," Gabriel waved her words away. "No, one of the older vampires who's in on this secret must have produced it in secret and has somehow handed it to Cynthia. But he hasn't told the Legion the true recipe for the cure and it must stay that way. The more people know about the secret, the more likely it is that the Legion can make it one day on its own. And nobody wants that."

Beth thoughtfully tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows a bit. "Does that mean Coraline knows it, too?" she asked. "And that _she_ gave Cynthia the cure."

"No," Gabriel said immediately. "I've already checked this. She wasn't the one. She can't be the one because although she knows a few details that she should not know, she also does not know the complete recipe."

"Good." Beth sat down on the couch next to Gabriel and tried to sort her thoughts better looking closely at her intertwined fingers. "At least I do know that the blood of a human with blood type A0 negative is one of the ingredients of the cure - my blood type." She had to take another break because her heart was pounding so quickly that it made breathing calmly quite difficult. "And I also know that the blood that is found in the cure is from a special human of this blood type. From someone who has inherited a particular genetic factor."

Only now did she look up, looked at Gabriel a little scared. The old vampire had become very serious and had responded to her look quietly and calmly, waiting for her to continue and to ask him an actual question regarding her findings.

"Someone who is a descendant of the Nigong and has the hereditary factor for forming the blocking agents," she added. "Someone who can never be turned into a vampire… Never?"

Gabriel looked at her for a long moment, raised a hand to his mouth and ran it very thoughtfully across his lips and chin. Then he nodded and Beth's intestines knotted again.

"There… there also is a book in which there are two blood lines from which this hereditary factor has been inherited," she nevertheless went on bravely. "The Book of the Sangsujets…"

Gabriel nodded again, although one could tell that he did not like having to do so, that he was not enthusiastic at all about how much she had already learned.

"Am I in this book?" she asked.

"Yes," was the quiet but no less shocking answer. "And Mick… and Coraline…"

She swallowed hard. Slowly, she began to feel uncomfortable in Gabriel's presence. "Did… did _you _note our names there?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Gabriel let out a soft sigh, almost giving a sad, dejected impression. "Because I've been doing that for thousands of years, Beth," was his next honest answer, "and it's not the first book that was created and it probably won't be the last."

She had to swallow again to summon all her courage, even though it was not the old vampire she feared, but rather his answers. "And what exactly do you write down there?" she forced herself to continue to ask. "Whether we are carriers of the blocking agents or not? How do you determine it usually? By turning these people into vampires?"

He quickly shook his head. "No, that would be far too dangerous - no matter whether these people react positively or negatively to vampire blood. Mostly I've only taken blood from them and then tested this with the other ingredients of the cure. That was all."

"But why?" It burst out of her even though she knew that she was sticking her neck out quite far. Gabriel's facial features had become much harder and tenser, and in his pale blue eyes was such a strange flickering.

"Why all this effort if you don't want to really produce this cure anyway as you have said very recently?"

Gabriel avoided her gaze and his cheek muscles twitched briefly. "It's a long story."

Beth didn't understand herself when she slipped a little bit closer to him rather than withdrawing a bit. "We do have time," she now added.

Gabriel looked at her again and the hostile cold in his bright eyes frightened her slightly. "A story that's actually no one's business," he added emphatically.

"_My_ name is in that book, Gabriel," she replied now too vigorously. "I _do_ think that concerns me somehow!"

"Not today," was the terse reply and Beth could read in his eyes that any further requests would be pointless and further prodding in that direction would only mean that he simply broke off their conversation. So she had to keep digging in a different direction. There was so much she needed to know. Today was probably one of those days in which she could barely control herself, especially since one issue bothered her greatly.

"If you say that people with this particular genetic factor cannot be turned into vampires, does that mean that people who come into contact with vampire blood and don't turn must necessarily _have _this factor?"

Gabriel hesitated a moment, but then he nodded again. There it was again, the sting in Beth's chest which was always attacking her on this issue, only this time it was much stronger and caused her throat to narrow and her nose to begin to tingle treacherously. Nevertheless, she spoke calmly.

"Is there any other explanation for it? Perhaps the possibility that someone, for some reason, simply turns very slowly?" The hope in her own voice was clearly audible and a bit strange to her, but the idea that maybe she could still turn somehow felt better to her than to lose Mick at some point in time because of her mortality. Especially now that she had seen him with his immortal ex-wife who was only waiting for something bad to happen to her and for Mick's heart to finally be free again.

"In the whole time that I've been alive there has never been a transformation that has taken _so_ long, Beth," Gabriel replied gently and in doing so showed that he knew that she was talking about herself. "And someone especially of your blood type should actually turn twice as fast as others would."

"But I… I'm changing," Beth said emphatically and bravely fought down her tears again as she tried to cling to her own theory about the changes in her body. "My senses suddenly perceive things that only vampires can perceive. My whole body is completely sensitized and I… I have phases in which my circulation slumps completely down and others in which I'm almost bursting with power and energy. Also, I think I can… I can hear you when you speak to each other in this ultrasonic frequency."

"I know," Gabriel gave her a small, sympathetic smile. "I tested this in the laboratory after Mick had told me that he'd noticed changes in you. Moreover, I also had noticed it earlier myself."

"But it's impossible that these are only after effects of the accident with Hendrik," she said immediately.

"I don't think that either," Gabriel proved her right now and hope took back a place in her chest. "I even think that Hendrik's blood had no effect at all on your body because you'd had contact with vampire blood much earlier."

Beth stared at the old vampire for a moment, stunned. Then her mind began to work, rummaging piece by piece around in her memories and eventually discovered what she was searching for.

"The… the Black Crystal?" she stammered, but this time it was Gabriel who lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

"You've taken this drug?" He let out a chuckle and shook his head amused. "My goodness, you really didn't make it easy for Mick. Taking care of you seems to be a real full-time job."

Beth frowned slightly angry. "And what does that mean? That the vampire blood in the drug had no effect?"

"Did any human who took this drug turn or gain any super powers?" was the grinning question in return.

She shook her head, wondering at the same time if there ever was any incident in the vampire community that Gabriel had missed. Sometimes it was scary how well he was informed about everything.

"The drug had only a slight essence of vampire blood and as far as I know the dangerous hormones, which could lead to a transformation, were washed out completely," Gabriel said. "No, that's not the vampire blood I'm talking about. My guess is someone else."

The line between Beth's brows became even deeper. She really did not know at whom Gabriel was driving. "But I have never consumed blood otherwise in any form."

"Not consciously," the old vampire confused her now even more. His gaze wandered to her neck and Beth's hand went automatically to Mick's bite wound and quickly covered it, although it was far too late for that. The realization came quickly and surprisingly.

"I… I've never bitten Mick… not even while…" She broke off, because now hot blood shot into her face and she could not look at Gabriel anymore. In addition, she was not really sure whether she had indeed bitten Mick once before in the heat of their love-making and that she had maybe hurt him minimally.

A chuckle from Gabriel's direction forced her to lift her crimson face.

"I don't mean _that_ either," Gabriel gave back amused. "I think this amount wouldn't really be enough to trigger a transformation. But when you and Josef saved Mick, was there perhaps a moment in which you gave him your blood in his injured state? Has he bitten you, when his injured lungs were still not healed?"

Beth looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, my God!" it burst out of her as the first shock was slowly evaporating and her hand jerked to her mouth automatically. Of course! Mick had bitten her on his first transformation back into a vampire and with his serious injuries it was quite possible that his blood had gotten into her mouth without anyone noticing it. And hadn't she very quickly felt very tired and listless as if suddenly an illness had seized her? Then it had been Mick's blood which had exposed her as a carrier of the blockade substances and she would indeed not be able to turn. It was just too long ago.

"But… but what is _then_ going on with me?" she uttered in a husky voice and the burning in her eyes and the tightness in her chest were coming back. "Why do I change like this?"

This time it seemed to be really hard for Gabriel to answer her honestly. In his eyes there was concern and she felt that he really was weighing whether he could tell her the truth.

"Please, Gabriel," she begged with a trembling voice. "I must know!"

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Because contact with vampire blood is also not without complications for a carrier of the blockade substances, Beth," he admitted reluctantly. "The vampire blood activates the sleeper cells that produce the blocking substances but it doesn't disable them again. That means, once these agents have destroyed all vampire hormones, they start to tackle all other supposedly dangerous cells of the body - they start attacking their own body and will kill it in the end – this is called autoimmune disease. Perhaps you've heard of it."

Beth could not say anything to this because her throat was choked and her heart was doing unhealthy somersaults. The cold claw of fear took hold of her and all she managed was an uneasy nod.

"The people of a few blood groups however have a special feature," Gabriel added quickly. "In some blood lines not only the disposition for the production of blocking agents was inherited, but also in very small proportions the one for the production of vampire hormones. Which means that the body of a human who has been infected with vampire blood won't get an autoimmune disease for a long time and will be able to extend that period of time or at least get healthy again for a while through renewed contact with vampire blood."

Beth cleared her throat trying to get rid of the hard lump in it, ignoring the frantic pounding of her pulse in her ears because she just _had_ to ask the question that had formed in her mind immediately. "How… how often can this person do that? I mean, is it unlimited? Does it save their life?"

"This is different from person to person," Gabriel responded slightly heavy-hearted. "There had been over time some people who had been able to become very old with the help of vampire blood and others who have died relatively quickly in spite of the vampire blood."

Beth took a deep, heavy breath and ran her trembling fingers over her face trying to wipe away her fear and shock with this little helpless gesture. She couldn't allow herself to despair immediately, but had to keep up her hope and to believe that there was a solution to this new, so terrible problem that was approaching her with big steps.

"Then… then my sensitized senses are signs that… that…" She could not say more as she was simply too upset.

Gabriel did it for her. "… that maybe a few cells inside you produce vampire hormones to fight the blockade substances. However, I am still not really sure of the reason for this over-activity. The vampiric skills that show up to such an extreme extent in a _Sangsujet_ I've only experienced once with one other person so far. And that had an entirely different and much more positive reason which would eliminate all the problems at once."

The melancholic, hopeful expression in Gabriel's eyes caused Beth to fall even deeper into her emotional chaos, but also strengthened her hope again. The axe, which seemed to swing over her head, stopped and she looked at the old vampire urgently. "What? What was the reason? Does that mean this person wasn't sick and did not have to die?"

Gabriel did not respond to her question. His eyes went again to her neck and he got a wistful, slightly absent expression. "I can tell you exactly what's wrong with you, Beth," he brought out very quietly and pulled away with great effort from the bite wound on her neck looking her straight in the eye. "But I would have to do something that you will probably not want to allow me to do."

Beth gasped. She knew immediately what he meant. "You… you want to drink my blood?" she whispered incredulously.

"I _want_ it and I _don't_ want it," Gabriel replied quietly. "But it's the currently only way to find out with certainty what's going on in your body right now."

"You… you can taste it?"

He nodded restrained while she simultaneously began to shake her head.

"Mick could not bear this. He… he would freak out."

"If he notices it - yes," Gabriel agreed with her. "But if I don't cause a new bite wound he won't notice it, especially since your wounds heal very quickly."

Beth said nothing. She stared at the old vampire in front of her for a moment with wide eyes and a wildly beating heart, and then she lowered her gaze and looked at her hands. She knew he was right. If he used Mick's bite wound, it would not draw Mick's suspicion, he would never need to know what had happened. And she would finally have clarity, would know what was wrong with her, if her life was in grave danger or if there was still hope that she at least could live together with Mick for a very long time. On the other hand, it seemed to her as if Gabriel had just proposed to her to cheat on Mick, especially since this whole biting thing had quite an erotic side, and that gave her a damn uncomfortable feeling. _If_ he found out it would hurt him deeply and shake their difficult relationship she knew. But hadn't she always been considerate _only_ of him? Hadn't she always put her ownneeds aside for his sake? She had always been the sensible, strong one while he had his fling, had hurt her so many times, only to then have a fairly intensive, unnecessarily intimate conversation with Coraline behind her back. Didn't she also have a right for once to take care of herself, to calm herself by doing something that he would certainly not like? This was about _her_,_ only_ her! It was _her_ life that was threatened now, _her_ future. She simply could not think of him in this situation. Not after what she had just learned.

Beth took a shaky breath, then raised her gaze and looked with determination into Gabriel's eyes. "Do it," she said softly but firmly, and was sure she saw a sparkling of relief flash up in his beautiful eyes.

"This is the right decision," he said softly and held her gaze with his eyes instantly casting a spell over her. She knew exactly what he was doing but she had no strength left to resist through the emotional ups and downs of the last hours, was just too weakened to withstand this hypnotic stare.

"You can trust me," she heard his soft, so pleasant voice continuing to lull her. "I will be careful and take only as much as is necessary. Everything will be fine." She felt his amazingly warm hands on her bare upper arms, felt him pulling her closer to him and could not yet remove her eyes from his as she sank into their bright blue endless depths.

"You can breathe more calmly and relax. Nothing will happen to you."

Beth took a deep, facilitated breath.

"There is no reason to be upset …"

Yes, she wanted it, was so relieved that this soft voice could displace her bad conscience so quickly and make sure that Mick didn't matter to her anymore in this moment. Her previously tense muscles relaxed. Her body became very soft and powerless in the strong arms that now slid around her back and pulled her against this powerful body which promised so much security, so much protection. And she was tired, so wonderfully tired that she just had to close her eyes.

"Nothing will happen to you," his dark, soothing voice whispered in her ear again. "Let yourself fall."

Yeah, fall… into this warmth, this darkness… A blissful shiver ran through her sagging body when she felt his warm lips on her skin followed by a short prickling and pulling that she could not really feel as pain, but that told her that his fangs had sunk into her skin. And then this sensual, extremely pleasant pull started and she let a faint sigh that she couldn't even be ashamed of slip from her lips. The familiar tingle came quickly, wandered through her veins and gradually conquered her whole body, letting this intoxicating energy penetrate the most hidden corners of her body.

But at the very edge of her consciousness, behind the growing excitement, the forbidden need for more, for even more intense feelings, something else was scratching… wraithlike images, transforming again and again. She tried to concentrate more on them, to reach for them and the next moment she saw the radiant face of a beautiful young woman of her age, who danced ahead of her in an old robe across a blooming meadow. Her dark hair swirled around her and she laughed so freely and happily that she simply had to join in her laughter, had to pull her into her arms and had to kiss her.

The picture changed. The woman was still with her, lying beneath her, snuggling up to her, kissing her passionately, while their bodies melded, became one as only lovers could. Again the surroundings changed. The woman had snuggled with her back to her chest. Her fingers slid between hers, led her hand gently across her conspicuously rounded belly, pressed her hand to one side so that she could feel the movement inside, could feel the life under the taut skin, the life they had created with their love. An incredulous, happy, and at the same time deeply touched laughter erupted from her throat and the picture changed again, as well as her increasingly intense feelings. Her heart raced, and yet she was not afraid. No, she wanted to burst with joy at the sight that met her. This tiny, crumpled baby in her large, strong hands, so fragile, so precious. It did not cry, just seemed to look at her as if it would indeed recognize her and stretched his little hands out to her, clasped her thumb with its tiny fingers, as if to tell her that they were connected with each other forever.

Fear! Now it was there, her heart was pounding hard against her ribs as she rushed with inhuman speed through a dark alley, carrying her wife and child in her arms. They had to run away, far away… run away from them. She had to hide her family, each one at a different location, so that no one could find them… and then she had to seek _them_, find and kill them all…

Pain, incredible pain! Smiling faces she did not know, who rejoiced in her suffering. Oh, God, they cut into her flesh, tore deep wounds into her body, burned her skin with a hot iron, beat on her until her bones broke… she could not breathe, wanted to scream… but she could not, for the pain that now shot through her was so deep, so inhuman that she believed it would break her, because it did not come from outside but from inside, while her hands dug into the lifeless body of her beloved wife, pressed her bruised, bleeding, broken body against her, while her own, so terribly desperate sobs were choked by the thick, dark hair, she buried her face in.

The pictures flew off and made room for new ones: An old woman who hastened in the dark night towards her placed a bundle in her arms and then disappeared again, a bundle, in which her baby lay, her little son, whom she would hide from the world, had to defend with her life, for he was all that was left of her happiness. The images became brighter again, passed her mind's eye faster. Images out of the life of a happy, slowly growing child that made her heart overflow, displacing the emptiness inside her, filling her with life, warmth and happiness. So many beautiful days in surroundings that constantly changed.

Then it became dark again, the fear came back, the knowledge that something terrible had happened. She ran frantically through the night to the hut in the jungle-like area that had been their home for a long time, where they had felt so safe… so stupid, so naïve… she saw from afar that they had been there, that they had destroyed all, had taken a terrible revenge… and there before the house lay a small, hunched figure. She could not breathe. Everything inside her cramped painfully, as she rushed to her child, clasped it in her arms with a sound of despair, pressing it to her. The wounds were deep, bleeding so much and her son was breathing so hard, his eyes staring very far into distance as if he was already in a different, better place and could no longer feel pain. She pressed her hands to the deepest cuts, tried to keep the blood, the life they had left behind, inside this delicate, yet so young body, even though she knew she was too late and could not prevent the last thing in this world that had made her life worth living from being taken away from her. And when no more breath came from the gray lips of her child, when the light in the large help-seeking eyes which had always been so full of life was gone, she pressed the boy still closer to her, writhed and cried, cried out her despair, her inhuman pain, her grief and helplessness. And yet the pain didn't disappear but swelled and caused her to collapse, sobbing, and falling against the broad chest that was there before her, which rose and fell under heavy breathing.

Reality slowly returned consciousness back to Beth and yet there were still more pictures. The corpse of the boy lay before her on a table and she anointed him with oil and resin and then began to wrap linen around his little body while words in a different language came from her lips and her heart began to close down slowly, burying all the love for this child very deeply inside herself. She felt so terribly lost and alone in the world as if life had no meaning anymore. She wanted to die, just die. A deep sob caused her whole body to tremble.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry," she heard a choked voice close to her ear, felt a large hand calmingly stroking her hair and she was rocked back and forth as she sobbed and wept unrestrained, still not really understanding where and who she was. The images were now finally gone, but they had not taken these terrible feelings, this infinite sadness, hopelessness and despair with them. It was all so terrible… so terrible. But deep in her subconscious mind she suddenly felt something else, something that didn't emanate from her own mind: new hope, confidence and joy. Only those feelings were not strong enough to transfer to her or superimpose the terrible impressions of the last few minutes and could not get rid of this pressure in her chest and stop the crying and sobbing.

Gabriel's hands found her cheeks and pushed her a little away from him so that she was forced to look at him. His eyes were red and his cheeks showed traces of tears. Nevertheless, a small smile was on his lips, joy and hope shown in his bright blue eyes, this she could see despite her upset state.

"Everything will be fine," he said touched and could barely conceal how deeply shaken he still was. "Everything will be all right, Beth!"

His thumbs stroked her cheeks almost tenderly, trying to wipe away the tears that didn't want to dry up so easily. "I won't let anything happen to you," he added in a husky voice. "And I know what I need to do now. We will manage this, even if I have to take the most extreme measures to do it."

She wanted to nod, to believe him, but all she brought out was another deep sob. Gabriel pulled her back against his chest and held her firmly. She clung to him and closed her eyes once again just letting herself fall, this time because she noticed that her circulation couldn't withstand all this stress any longer. There was a loud whistling in her ears and it quickly darkened around her. And yet, she heard Gabriel's deep, soft voice again. "All will be well again, I promise you."

And a miracle happened - for that brief moment, she believed him.

* * *

When Beth awoke she was no longer on the couch but in the bed in her apartment, carefully covered with a blanket. She sat up abruptly, cursing herself, because immediately a severe headache and a strong feeling of dizziness started. She had to have slept quite a long time for outside dusk had already fallen, and yet she still felt terribly exhausted, tired and deeply saddened. The tightness in her chest was back immediately, along with the lump in her throat and the burning in her eyes. Everything had been so terrible and she found it really hard to tell herself that these things had not happened to her but to Gabriel, that she had shared for a brief moment his thoughts and memories, and that neither he nor she could have prevented it.

Beth suppressed a sob, inhaled haltingly and with trembling fingers wiped again the tears from her cheeks that had escaped against her will. Why the hell was this terrible attack of weakness not ceasing, why oh why did this whining thing inside her have to retain control of her body? She did not want to suffer and cry anymore, but somehow Gabriel's memories had invaded and upset her so much that she could not yet free herself from them, at least not alone. She needed Mick, needed to throw herself into his arms and to hold on to him, until the things she had seen no longer made her feel so low, until she had calmed down and regained her strength through his. And she needed to talk with him about everything, to tell him what she had seen and felt.

She would have never guessed how much grief and pain Gabriel hid deep inside him, what bad things he had been through or what heavy losses he had had to handle. He had loved this woman so deeply, so truly. She had been his life and they had had a child together…

Beth furrowed her brows in disbelief. Only now did she realize what she had seen, that Gabriel had broken another unwritten law of the vampire existence. Vampires could not father children - Josef had said that and Mick also believed it to be true. Either there were rare exceptions to this law which no one knew about or Gabriel had been transformed by the cure into a human to conceive a child with the woman he loved. Maybe that was the reason why he had developed the cure after all!

A small shiver ran down Beth's back. Somehow this gave the whole story around the cure a wonderfully romantic and at the same time a terribly sad side, because Gabriel had lost everything he had fought for, first his beloved wife and then their child.

Once again, her nose began to tingle and hot tears were welling up in her eyes as some of the pictures passed her mind's eye again. The boy must have been only ten or eleven years old when he had been killed. And the many wounds, the fear and shock in the bright eyes of the dying child. How could people be so cruel, so cold that they attacked a child in such a way and simply left it behind to die alone?

Now the tightness in her chest grew again causing her to sob quietly, the tears she had held back so desperately rolled down her cheeks. And she made an effort to bring more clarity into her mind, to understand what had happened to her and Gabriel, why her blood had triggered these memories within him. Her hand went automatically to her neck felt for the marks that their brief connection had left there. Yes, there they were, hardly noticeable. Her skin healed in fact incredibly fast.

Her thoughts wandered back to the things that Gabriel had previously told her, to the shocking news that perhaps due to the contact with _Mick_'s blood she could become seriously ill and die. They had wanted to find out exactly what was wrong, but instead she had only been overwhelmed by Gabriel's terrible memories and had not even had the time or energy to ask what was really wrong with her.

"Everything will be fine," he had said. She could remember that. But what did it mean? That she wasn't ill? That she wouldn't die? But what was wrong with her _then_? Had it anything to do with Gabriel's memories? Did her blood taste like something that he associated with these memories?

Far away, at the lower edge of her consciousness something began to stir, a thought that was so unlikely, so earthshaking that she did not want to think it and pushed it back with a vengeance. She began to tremble and the longing for Mick became stronger, almost painful. She did not want to think further, just wanted to throw herself into his arms to feel protected and safe and forget what had happened, forget how it felt to lose the love of her life.

She caught her breath and her heart stopped for a moment when she heard a noise outside her door and in the next moment it opened. It was indeed Mick, a very exhausted and worried looking Mick, who immediately rushed over to her when he saw the state she was in, climbed onto the bed and pulled her into his arms. Beth clung to him and began to cry again, held on to him like a drowning person who had just been pulled out of the water, and just let all the terrible feelings out, felt that despite his own exhaustion he still had enough power to catch her. His hands stroked her back and her hair reassuringly as she slowly began to relax in his safe embrace and the warmth of his body and could breathe more freely and more lightheartedly. And finally, the pressure in her chest faded away along with the crushing sadness.

"What exactly happened, Beth?" Mick whispered into her hair after a relaxed little while.

She did not answer, she simply did not have the strength to talk right now, though her tears slowly dried up and no more sobs escaped from her lips.

"Logan said that you had a nervous breakdown and became unconscious." The deep concern and growing feelings of guilt in his voice could not be ignored and Beth forced herself to lift her head and look at him.

"Logan?" she said in a raspy and somewhat confused voice.

Mick nodded full of concern and affectionately skimmed a strand of hair from her tear-stained face, then let his hand rest on her cheek and his thumb gently caressed her skin. How good that felt. It was really amazing how quickly his presence could bring calmness again into her troubled emotions, how quickly this feeling of complete safety appeared in his arms, like back then when she had been a child.

"Gabriel sent him to look for me," Mick added. "But when I arrived here only Guillermo was with you. He told me that Gabriel would be gone overnight but would return here tomorrow morning in time for our departure."

Beth's eyebrows wandered upwards in amazement. Apparently she was not the only one who the short connection to Gabriel had upset terribly. Apparently the old vampire seemed to need time and space for himself to process this emotional event and to calm down. What was going on here?

"Did… did you talk to each other," Mick asked and Beth nodded silently. Although her need to talk to Mick about everything was immense, she knew deep down inside her that it was not a good idea to share the new information so soon with him. She simply knew too little and if she was honest, she felt too weak and worn out to really be able to deal with all this.

"How… how long have you been here?" she asked without answering his question sufficiently.

"A couple of hours," Mick quietly replied. "Josef said I should avoid slipping into bed with you so as to not wake you by doing so. He kindly forced me to wait in the living room until you woke up again on your own. Sleep would be more important for you than – and I quote – to be awakened by a nervous wreck like me and get bewildered with redundant questions."

A little chuckle escaped Beth and Mick's lips showed the first signs of a smile.

"_That_'s Josef," she added smiling. "But he's not wrong."

Mick returned her smile only half-heartedly. "You've given me a real scare," he said very softly. "And I know that it's partly my fault that you're feeling so bad and…"

Beth stopped him mid-sentence by simply putting her fingers on his lips and slightly shaking her head. "Can… can we just forget all these things, the questions and thoughts that burden us now and just try to find some peace?" She looked at him longingly and could read in his eyes that he, too, longed for a few hours with his mind shut off, and all too willingly wanted to forget all the bad things around them. However, it did not seem to be that easy for him to nod.

She said nothing more and broke loose enough from his embrace that she could turn around and stretch out on the bed. She did not need to pull strongly on his arm to show him what she needed. His arm slid around her waist without her urging, while the other one slipped under the pillow beneath her head. Then she was wrapped in his body, his pleasant, incredibly soothing warmth. She felt his nose against her ear, his breath blowing warm over her cheek and uttered a satisfied sound as he pulled her even closer to him, breathing in deeply.

For a moment they only laid there, anxious to suppress any tension and unpleasant feelings in their bodies and tried to let themselves fall into this feeling of togetherness that usually overcame them during such intimate contact. But it wasn't so simple this time as there were just too many things that stood between them.

"Beth…" Mick's voice was barely audible, yet Beth immediately felt the seriousness of the thought which had seized him, the urgency that compelled him to voice it, even though they had decided not to talk about these things.

"No matter what happens… no matter how… how strange and terrible I sometimes behave…" She felt how Mick's chest lifted and lowered against her back before the deep, halting breath he had to take was blowing over her cheek. "You… you must never believe that I don't love you, because if… _if_ there is anything that will always be there, then it's my love for you. And I promise that you will no longer have to fight alone for us, that I will do everything possible to give our relationship a real chance even with all these grueling events around us. We can do it, do you hear me?"

Beth as well had to inhale deeply to prevent his words from stirring up her emotions again. Her fingers slid over his hand, slipped between his and pulled his arm still closer to her body holding him tight, before she was able to nod.

Again this deep, heavy breath, which seemed to move his whole body, but this time it brought him relief and he started to really relax. Beth closed her eyes. _She_ could not really feel the same relief although she wished so hard for it. There was a reason why she had not been able to give a verbal consent. After all that had happened, with all this new information and Mick's reactions and her reactions to these stressful situations, she was not sure if she was strong enough to continue to carry the hope for a happy future together solely on her shoulders. Even if Mick testified that he would fight for their relationship, deep down inside her she doubted that he had the inner strength to fight this tough battle… and her own power dwindled slowly away…


	40. Perspectives Part 1

_Hi there! Now it had happened: we weren't able to get the whole chapter ready until today. I think it was just too long and we all really don't have enough time at the moment. So I have to post it in two parts. Sg6169 is already beta reading the second part and I'll post it instantly when I have it back – I promise. Thank you all so, so much for your dear comments. They are so motivating and I feel really bad that I still don't have the time to answer to them. My sister is going to marry at Sunday and there's so much we still have to prepare and there's also so much to do at work. But I really love your comments and am so happy to have such wonderful readers! So feel hugged and the moment I have more time again, I will answer your comments – I swear. Will be back with the second part as soon as possible, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Kylara and Jenna_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**P****erspectives **

* * *

"_**The one who changes the point of view, looks at the things in a completely different light."**_

_**Engelbert Schinkel**_

* * *

_Everything had been so easy when he was a child. How easily things could be separated into 'good' and 'bad' or 'right' and 'wrong'. He had figured out quickly how to behave, what he was and wasn't allowed to do. Not that Mick had been the well-behaved, model child, but at least he knew what his actions would lead to and what consequences to expect. The older he had become, and the more experiences he collected, the more blurred those boundaries became, expanding the gray areas where people and hence himself moved in from day-to-day. World War II had made things even worse and it had taken a long time for Mick to recover from these traumatic experiences, to rebuild his view of the world, to find the right path back to the life he wanted to live._

_Coraline - she had destroyed all of that again, had led him into this new, dark world he never wanted to enter, had enticed him to do things he never would have done back then, had made him into a monster, a murderer and had pulled him over to the dark side. At least that was how he had felt, until now, and he had hated himself for it, hated himself because he was forced to bring harm to other people. But then Josef had showed up, had dragged him here, to this… special establishment for vampires, had begun to change his way of thinking bit by bit, and had turned these feelings inside out. _Especially_ his feelings…_

_Mick was not an inexperienced man when it came to matters of love. His interest in women started at an early age and he had therefore lost his virginity early. Conversations with his brother and his own sensibilities, allowed him to quickly discover that his partner's arousal would heighten his own many times over, which lead to a much more satisfying sexual experience than just caring about his own gratification. But being able to almost climax without having anyone really touch him physically, was a totally new, incredible and extremely intoxicating experience that left Mick staring at the ceiling of the darkened room he was in, completely breathless and stunned afterwards. Watching a woman, in the state of ecstasy come by his actions was an amazingly erotic and arousing experience, but to taste it and nearly feel it himself, went beyond the scope of his own imagination, particularly because these sensations had been caused by actions he had felt deeply ashamed of until now, had hated himself and others like him profoundly because of it._

_When Josef had driven up in front of the 'Dark Lust', at first he had protested against going inside vehemently, for after considering the appearance of the establishment he quickly understood what kind of pleasures awaited the mostly male guests there. He had pointed out, that besides his current marriage crisis, he was still a married man and would not cheat on his wife like this. Josef had replied that he hadn't taken him here to tempt him into enjoying _these_ kinds of pleasures, but to show him something entirely different, that he could also kill time here dancing and drinking lots of interesting cocktails._

_It still took quite a bit of effort for Mick to follow his friend into this 'club'. Truthfully, it was only Josef's remark that Coraline, too, was a highly appreciated guest at the 'Dark Lust' that finally convinced him to give in in the end._

_Strangely enough Josef knew exactly what kind of weapon to use to overcome Mick's stubbornness. And Mick wasn't even mad at him. Not now, not after this experience - maybe even _because_ of it…_

_Danielle was a very beautiful woman: tall, slender but still with very feminine curves, blonde locks, and a very alluring scent. Mick had been glad that Josef had stayed by his side throughout the whole event, had watched over him to make sure he wouldn't lose control. Since his turning, Mick had never been this close to a human with such a delicious blood type without instantly ramming his fangs mercilessly into their neck and sucking out so much blood that his prey would pass out and would then require quite a bit of time to recover again._

_Most of the time the women and men Coraline had brought him had died, had given the satisfying of his blood thirst a bitter, tormented aftertaste. Sometimes Coraline even managed to ease his conscience by telling him she would, while hunting chose victims that had done bad things themselves or had planned to do them. But most of the time the drinking of blood had only driven him deeper into depression, and self-loathing. There had never been anything positive associated with the act of drinking blood and he neither could imagine anything ever being positive about it. Maybe it was this fact alone that had led him to react so strongly to this new kind of experience._

_It had been a huge shock for Mick to realize that there were women at the Dark Lust, who allowed themselves be bitten for money and Danielle had even acknowledged with relish that she liked it more than any other job she had ever had and sometimes, if she wanted to, she did it for free. _

_Mick had figured her for a Sado-maso until Josef had explained to him, that a vampire's bite, if not done to quickly and forcibly, but slow and sensitive, could induce feelings of euphoria for the lucky donor, feelings that could hardly be put into words - and then he had showed him, had pulled his favorite Freshie Cathleen onto his lap and had started to kiss her neck, to lick and suck, only to then sink his teeth into her delicate skin._

_Mick had not wanted to watch, had been disgusted, nearly angry over this forced demonstration, but had not been able to avert his gaze, because what he had seen had griped the beast inside of him and he had greedily participated in the event._

_Like earlier at his house in front of the piano, something, a little voice inside his head, had whispered to him to follow Josef, that it was the right thing to do to pull his soul out of this deep, black hole that he had been sucked into since his marriage to Coraline._

_He had been shocked about the things that had taken place in front of his eyes, not because they had been so terrible, but because the woman in Josef's arms had felt so much lust during this horrid act. She had closed her eyes and had started to moan, and Mick had not only heard but soon smelled that she wasn't faking her arousal. Even though he hated himself for it, the sight had started to arouse him and the vampire inside had started to pace up and down hungrily, yelling at him that this was exactly what he needed, what he had always longed for._

_Danielle had taken his hand and led him towards the couch, had pushed him down onto it and like her friend had done with Josef, sat down in his lap. Mick's resistance had been marginal, for his attention had still been glued to Josef's loudly moaning playmate, who had reached her climax only a few seconds later, right in front of his eyes. He had just noticed that Josef's hand had been slipped underneath her short skirt before, when he had pulled it out to catch Cathleen who had nearly slid from his lap because she had been so exhausted from her emotional high. Josef had given him a broad grin and then raised his brows, while Mick hadn't been able to do anything but look at him wide eyed and open mouthed. At which point Josef nodded towards Danielle, who had bent forward to press her lips to Mick's neck and suck on his skin. "Do what I do", she had moaned into his ear and Mick had hypnotically followed her instructions, the scent of her skin had been too enticing, his need too strong to ignore what the beast inside screamed so loudly for._

_Being intimate with Coraline had taught him to restrain himself better, to control his blood thirst, to hold back the animal as long as possible. Something he had never been able to do with humans. Josef's presence, the eye-contact that Mick automatically sought told him it was okay what he was doing, kept him from losing control, really made it possible to follow Danielle's lead. At least up to a certain point, for when she started to put some gentle pressure with her teeth on his skin, he bit into her, sank his fangs deeply into her flesh, dug into her sweet vein and let her wonderfully warm, incredibly tasty lifeblood pour into his mouth. He greedily began to suck, nearly jerked when Danielle's first lustful moan escaped her lips, followed by the intense taste of her arousal. It was intoxicating, indescribably, overwhelming to feel for himself what his bite was triggering inside this woman, to realize with all his senses what kind of fierce reaction he was causing in this trembling body in his arms. Even her energetic vibes seemed to be transferred to him until he couldn't hold himself back any longer and gave a quiet, aroused growl and closed his eyes full of pleasure. And then she exploded, moaned deeply and moved her trembling body closer to his, to let him feel her climax in every possible way. Mick's fingers dug into her back, automatically pressing her closer, clinging to her like an addict and kept on drinking. He wanted this unbelievable experience to last longer, to hold onto it because suddenly he felt so alive and free like never before. He never wanted this to stop, wanted to keep on feeling so…so incredibly good. But then Josef appeared next to him, grabbed his shoulders and with a firm grip pushed him away from Danielle._

"_That's enough, Mick," he told him gently but determined, and even though Mick had a hard time following him, he listened to the elder vampire, could follow his voice, his lead much better than Coraline's. _

"_Careful, now," Josef guided him and the muscles in Mick's jawbone relaxed, loosened, so he could release his teeth from the neck of the heavily breathing beauty in his arms and out of a deep-rooted instinct slid his tongue over the wounds to close them. The guilty conscience he was so used to came back again when he noticed the still slightly bleeding injury, but somehow he didn't really feel all that uncomfortable. The women in his arms seemed relaxed by the way she moved her head and opened her heavy eyelids. The gentle, almost thankful smile and the deep satisfaction shining in her eyes confused and pleased him all at the same time. She put a hand to his face, caressing the contours of his lips with her fingers. _

"_Forgive me, but I just _have_ to do this," she murmured to him and pressed her mouth to his, let him feel the warmth of her very human body in a very sensual way through her lips._

"_Thank you, very much," she whispered against his lips, then broke contact with him and got up along with Josef, who supported her instantly when she started to stagger._

"_No, _we_ thank _you,_" Josef retorted back with a charming smile. But Danielle shook her head with a chuckle._

"_Give him a little time and practice and the girls here will soon be lining up to offer him their necks or other body parts," she replied, casting another look at Mick, who was still completely frozen from the new experience, only half listening to what she was saying. "I hope we're gonna see you here more often," she added and then left the room that had been prepared for such events, with Cathleen. _

_Mick didn't have the strength to even respond to her statement. Instead, his head fell limply onto the back of the ultra-comfortable couch and he stared at the ceiling, hoping to adjust to his new impressions and the many questions, if he could just kept any new ones from penetrating his mind._

_He felt Josef settle down beside him and look at him and now felt obliged to turn his head to one side so that he could look at the older vampire. Josef's smile had, in combination with his upwardly wandering brow, gotten a slightly provocative, arrogant expression and Mick felt compelled to pull his eyebrows together a little annoyed. Almost, because another feeling was even stronger: his shame._

_Actually what had just happened in this room was so private, so intimate that he would never have let his own wife attend such an event, given the choice, let alone a man he hardly knew. But he had had no choice – Josef had not really given him one, had instantly twisted him around his little finger with his sound arguments and powers of persuasion and had suckered him into things he would not normally have done. He was simply too emotionally unstable right now, had to struggle with so many terrible things in his life that his desire to finally feel good again, to free himself from the chains of his miserable married life had become too overwhelming. And now here he sat, feeling really good, although he should actually be feeling guilty and angry with himself and Josef. But he couldn't. If he was honest with himself, there was even the immense feeling of gratitude growing inside him and a longing to do something everyday with Josef from this day forward, to let him show him the beautiful side of his unwanted vampire existence…_

"_And?" Josef asked with evident curiosity in his now merrily twinkling eyes. "How do you feel?"_

_Mick actually wanted to say 'pretty good', but he only nodded awkwardly._

_Josef let out a chuckle. "I thought so," he replied very satisfied. "_That_'s how blood drinking should feel. Fear and death have no place there, Mick. It is a thoroughly sensual experience - for both sides. You just needed to know how to do it…" _

_Mick now wrinkled his forehead, but not with anger but with real confusion. "Does that mean that… all people can react to the bite of a vampire like that?"_

_Josef nodded proudly and Mick gave an incredulous laugh._

"_I don't think so!"_

_Josef took a deep breath, slightly irritated. "I'd like to act like I'm surprised, but today I just don't have the nerves for it.__ What's more, the wise mentor, who - believe it or not - also lies dormant in me, is probably more the person you need right now… so…" He straightened his shoulders and set on a serious, almost precocious expression under Mick's puzzled frown._

"_You still have to learn a lot, Mick. Usually your Sire would have taught you all that, but since your dear wife is in some ways not entirely averse to madness and loves nothing more than herself, I suspect, probably quite correctly, that she has only told you things about a vampire's life that would benefit her." He tilted his head slightly. "How many other vampires have you met already?"_

_Mick thought for a moment. "I don't know. About… five I think?"_

_Josef let out a sound of indignation. "Five? Five in two years?"_

_Mick nodded uneasily, feeling the resentment against Coraline, he'd been carrying around since his turning, grow again._

"_She… she told me I would be too unpredictable to be introduced to the Vampire Community," he said. "That all new vampires aren't really prepared to participate in society again for at least three to four years…"_

_This time it was an angry laugh, which crossed Josef's lips. "This is just unbelievable! You're not her husband, Mick, you're her property, something for her to play with as she pleases!"_

_Mick shook his head and now even a bit of anger flashed up in him. He didn't want anyone trying to persuade him that his wife didn't really love him. "No, she… I think she wants… she wants to protect me in some way…"_

"_By strengthening your believe that you're a monster that can't even walk around freely?" Josef asked with raised eyebrows. "Right. This way, at any rate, it protects you from having any fun, enjoying your life as a vampire, and above all recognizing what kind of a lying bitch you've married in your naïveté!"_

_That was too much! Not because Josef insulted his wife, but more because he tried to show him, how gullible he had been to hook up with a woman like Coraline and even marry her. Mick got up, shook his head and rapidly walked away from Josef._

"_Coraline has her… her bad sides - I admit," he now replied upset. "But she really tries to protect me… tries to tame the monster here inside me…"_

"_The monster," Josef repeated with a nod, which was anything but approval. "And how exactly is she trying to tame that 'monster'? By throwing humans as a kind of booty at your feet?"_

_Mick almost felt as if he had been slapped in the face – in a quite enlightening way, but it still hurt._

"_Be honest, if you had known from the beginning, how a vampire _should_ get his food, how many lives would you have spared?"_

_For a moment there was silence between them, a burdensome, shocking silence from Mick's side, for he suddenly realized very clearly that Coraline had betrayed him not only by turning him into a vampire but also with all her supposedly loving help in getting him used to his new state. She hadn't lessened his negative view of his new existence but had reinforced it._

"_Things aren't always as one-sided as they seem, Mick, on that I agree with you and nothing in this world has only bad sides," Josef went on quietly now. "There, Coraline is certainly no exception. It may be that she loves you - in a very limited possessive way - but because of the selfish way she made you a vampire, she prevented you from being able to see anything positive in your new state. This doesn't mean, however, that it doesn't exist. All you need to do is step out of her shadow, out of Coraline's reach and look behind that wall of fear, shame and distorted perception, and you'll be amazed at what a wonderful, fulfilling life is waiting for you there. Maybe this isn't easy from your current perspective, but you should try and accept any hand that's willing to help you come forward on that road…"_

_Josef now also stood up again, approached him and held out his hand to him. "Let's start with this one," he grinned broadly, thus generating a small smile on Mick's lips also. He hesitated for only a moment, then he agreed to this offer, allowed his new mentor to put an arm around his shoulders and lead him to the door to "show him what wonders were awaiting him."_

_Maybe it wasn't very smart to put his future life as a vampire into the hands of such a clever seducer as Josef, but if Mick was indeed in league with the devil in doing so, then he slowly understood why so many people sold their souls to him. For it felt so damn right…_

* * *

Of course, the first weeks with Josef had also had their pitfalls, and from time to time he let Mick slip into small disasters and unpleasant situations, but a covenant with the devil it had never been. Josef _had_ in fact managed to give him a different view of things, to free him from the depressive state into which he had fallen with his marriage to Coraline. Nevertheless, it had taken several months before Mick had been able to draw the first of many lines under the relationship with Coraline. Josef had succeeded in accruing, with a part of the money that Mick had inherited from his father, a large enough profit, that Mick had been able to buy a small apartment in which he had abandoned himself for some time to the temptations and sensual experiences of a vampire, - until of course, Coraline had again wrapped him round her little finger. A total of four times he had moved back in with her, four times he had given their relationship a new chance and every time it had been Josef, who had rescued him from this hell of a relationship before Mick had gone completely nuts. Also from the smaller setbacks Mick had been able to free himself mainly through Josef's advice and intervention. If it had not been for him, Mick would probably not have survived that long. Quite apart from that Josef and Beth had also freed him from the hands of the Legion, risking their lives in doing so.

Mick had never thanked them for this, had never made it clear to him how much he owed Josef, how many things this friendship had changed in his life, had made better. It was only now, as he thundered in an old Chevy down the highway, leaving his friends behind for one day, that he realized how important Josef was to him. This was probably due to the fact that Mick's current company, who expressed with every fiber of his being, how much he hated being locked up with him in this confining car, was making it clear to him how much more enjoyable it was to travel with people that you loved; or it could have been due to the last conversation he and Josef had had last night, a conversation that had saved him a second time from making a really stupid mistake…

* * *

"_That's all?" Josef looked at him, raising his eyebrows in astonishment. "You bit her and _that_'s your problem?"_

"_I couldn't stop myself Josef, I…"_

"_No," Josef lifted a finger warningly and looked at him sternly. "No! I don't want to hear that, Mick! You are, for a large part, a vampire, and because of that, biting is part of love making, damn it! We've had this discussion before! And she likes it! She loves you from head to toe, with all of your flaws and idiosyncrasies and… whatever! You can't keep her sheltered from an important part of your being!"_

"_But in Mexico you also…"_

"_Mexico was a completely different matter, my friend!" Josef cut him off immediately incensed. "And you know this! The vampire in you was far too unpredictable and I didn't know how he would behave during sex. Now we know and it seems as if Beth has had a lot of fun with him. So, don't let your mind butt in on this all the time!"_

_Mick gasped for air heatedly. He didn't care for Josef's phrasing at all, because he indeed had always felt as if a stranger would seize his body and then go for _his_ Beth._

"_I won't deliver her to him," he growled threateningly and Josef stared at him in disbelief._

"_Are you even listening to yourself? You're talking about yourself, Mick!"_

_Mick reluctantly shook his head, even though he knew exactly how disturbed he had to sound to his friend. "I don't want him to do… do _that_ to her. She doesn't deserve that!"_

"_Shall I really tell you what she doesn't deserve?" Josef growled back and he now seemed to be very angry. "She doesn't deserve you always pushing her away, that you can't accept that she loves everything about you, that you don't see how she sometimes has to suffer because of your behavior, that you don't understand how much she too has been traumatized, how much she suffered in the last year, when we thought you were dead; that she always has to watch, how bad you treat yourself; and above all that she has to constantly fight for your relationship completely alone!" _

_Mick didn't know what to say. He felt at once so disarmed, so depressed, because he had actually had those same thoughts for some time now, it was these thoughts that subconsciously gnawed at him all the time._

"_I… I know this," he finally brought out with difficulty. "Don't think I'm not aware of this, Josef. I know how terrible I sometimes behave, but that's exactly the point… I sometimes lose control of myself, whether it's the vampire in me, or the human freaking out. I… I don't do her any good. I make her life difficult, and slowly but surely I'm pulling her into this… this abyss that's opening up in front of me again and again…" Mick inhaled deeply to go on talking, because the pressure in his heart had become so strong that it became unbearable and his voice became more and more shaky. "Basically, it would be better if I…"_

"_No!" There was such a severity in Josef's voice and his eyes flashed with anger once more. "Don't you dare say it! You're not even allowed to _think_ it!" His friend now also had to take a deep breath to maintain control. "Are you really _that_ blind?"_

_Mick furrowed his brows slightly confused._

"_Or is this another one of those pathological attempts to run away from your fear-causing feelings?"_

_Mick shook his head, although he felt in his heart a treacherous pulling. "Do you seriously believe that Beth is better off at my side?" he retorted excitedly. "That this is the life that she always wanted? That she's happy in our relationship? That she dreamed of a relationship with a man who is half dangerous beast and completely loses his mind with stress?"_

_Josef looked at him for a long moment, inhaling an exhaling deeply, showing him clearly how strongly the anger was boiling inside him. "Shall I be honest?"_

_Mick responded with a brief nod only._

"_If you weren't my best friend and I didn't know what you'd been through last year, I would give you a whipping now that you'd never forget in all your life." Josef briefly tilted his head. "I take back the first part. Friendship is no excuse."_

_Mick gave an incredulous laugh, shaking his head. "And you call _me_ blind…"_

"_You_ are_ Mick," Josef replied now amazingly composed. "You're blind to all the good things in your life - yes, even in this situation! And Beth is the best thing that's ever happened to you!"_

_Mick closed his eyes briefly. Of course she was, but that didn't mean he could use her to make his life better._

"_And more importantly, _you_'re the best thing that's ever happened to _her_!"_

_Mick opened his eyes again, shook his head vehemently, but he had no chance to struggle verbally against this statement._

"_Did any of what Coraline told you there just now sink in?" Josef asked, looking at him intently. "Beth has _always_ been on this list, Mick. She stepped with her birth one foot into our world, even _before_ Coraline kidnapped her. And if you hadn't been there, much worse things could have already happened to her. S_he_ might have been used as a guinea pig by the vampire world, _or_ even the Legion. You really and truly are her guardian angel, because for some reason, by your presence, your role as protector in this girl's life, it has ensured that they've left her alone – even though her name was found in Gabriel's book and she most likely carries these precious blocking substances inside her body."_

_Mick said nothing. He looked at his friend with wide eyes and open mouth. These thoughts had never occurred to him. Again, he had only seen the bad in the new information, had only felt betrayed by Gabriel, and had even been more worried about Beth than before. But that Coraline's confession had reduced his guilt immensely concerning Beth's current life situation, he had not even noticed._

_Josef seemed to be able to read, by the look on his face, that his words had finally reached him at last, for the anger in his eyes quickly faded, and made room for an expression of great relief. He took another step towards him, grabbed his shoulders and looked at him with a motivating smile. _

"_If you should ever fall into such a depressive hole again, Mick, you just need to think about the following things: First: with your new powers you are the best protection Beth could possibly have right now - the only other person who could hold a candle to you is Gabriel. Secondly: the girl is as alone in this world as you are, Mick. Her mother is dead, her father has been gone from their lives for ages, there are no siblings, and the few relatives she does have live far away from her. But _you_, you were always there, were the constant in her life, the person who has given her a sense of security, even though she couldn't see you. She needs you just as you need her! And that brings me to my third point: To push Beth away, to break away from her would kill you both. Both of you, Mick. For Beth, couldn't bear to lose you again." Josef's eyes had now become even more insistent and Mick noticed that he looked unusually upset._

"_I was there, Mick. I tried to comfort her, to give her the support she needed so she wouldn't collapse completely. I saw it as my duty to take your place until you were back again - and you know how difficult such a thing would be for me. I'm really not the caring protector type…" He let out a soft sigh. "But to be so close to her, to talk with her about you has also given to me the opportunity to see what you apparently don't understand even now, my friend. The girl can't live without you. And any life by your side, no matter how dangerous, how stressful and dark it is, it's still better than living without you. You've become a part of her she can't let go of without perishing in doing so. And if you ever want her to be okay, to be happy again, then you have to fight for your love.__Maybe… maybe the memory of the things that happened to you and all the turmoil around you, sometimes give you the feeling of not being able to go on, of not being able to continue like this anymore, but if you can't live and fight for yourself then at least do it for her. Do it with all the might you still possess and don't fight additionally against her love out of __fear of yourself. Show her that you're willing to hold on tight to your love and that you'll fight for it. For_ that's_ what she really deserves!"_

_Mick still said nothing, even avoided his friend's intense stare, not because he rebelled against his words but because he knew that Josef was right with each of his unbelievably wise words. He had, in his fear of himself, in his struggle against the darkness within him, forgotten that there was something in his life that was worth fighting, was worth living for._

"_Beth is an incredibly strong woman, Mick," Josef added quietly and let him go again. "But eventually her strength will be exhausted. At some point she will no longer be able to fight for both of you and then you'll lose her. And that will destroy you both…"_

* * *

It had been Josef's words that had revealed a different perspective to Mick for a second time in his life, that had made him realize that his life was interwoven too closely with Beth's to be able to part with her without both of them suffering significant psychological harm. What happened to himself often didn't really matter to Mick, but he couldn't allow Beth to plunge even deeper into misery, as had already happened to her through the events of last year. If he really loved her, he had to overcome his own nature, had to fight against himself and the adverse circumstances in which they found themselves, had to fight for their relationship and show her that she meant everything to him. He had become aware of this last night and her collapse had done one more thing, it proved exactly what Josef had warned him of. Beth was at the end of her tether and now needed Mick's strength and support to recover again, to believe in them both again. And he was sure that his words that evening and the possibility to rest in the night had given her back a little bit of her strength and hope.

This morning it had seemed that way anyway. They had all prepared for their journeys very early, to then set out for various cars, but had still had time to say goodbye to each other. Mick had been surprised to learn that Josef had already left in the night, along with Seth, Thomas, Malik and Cynthia – that was the way Logan had relayed it to him in any case. Gabriel had probably called in the middle of the night and had given special orders just to this group and no one had been allowed to talk about it.

Gabriel himself had showed up again as well but not until they all had gathered in front of the cars and the baggage was stowed. He had looked quite bleary-eyed for a vampire, but had behaved determined and full of energy as usual. The fact that he had vehemently avoided looking at Beth had been a little strange and she too had repeatedly dodged a direct encounter with the old vampire. Weird, considering that the two were going to be traveling together. Mick wondered what had happened between the two, what troubling subjects they had talked about and even now he felt that uneasiness, this slight anger rising in him at not knowing what had happened - or maybe it was rather due to the fact that _he_ had again not had time to question Gabriel, to get some clarity once and for all. Once they had this dangerous mission behind them, he would not let the old vampire put him off any longer and if he needed to cling to him to achieve this…

A slight smile twitched around Mick's mouth with this image. That would certainly make a great picture. It was strange, even when Mick was angry with Gabriel, really angry - the vampire in him had never felt the need to attack the old vampire. Quite the contrary. Gabriel's presence had often had a huge calming effect on his vampiric side and when he wasn't present, there was always this slight longing for his presence deep inside him. It was a different longing from the one Mick, the vampire, felt for Beth. She was his companion, his mate and the need for her was of a highly sexual nature. The need for Gabriel was something… something familiar. Yes, that was the right word. He felt deeply connected to this man, as if he were a father figure, as if he was his Sire and the most astonishing thing was that this growing connection to Gabriel had weakened his connection to Coraline significantly. He particularly noticed this yesterday evening. Previously it had always been that Coraline had been superior to him, not only physically but also emotionally. Now this wasn't true anymore. Coraline couldn't see through him like she had in the past. Her attempts to affect him, control him, make him her pawn failed; instead _he_ managed to deeply penetrate her thoughts and force her to finally be honest with him and this enabled him to pierce through her like never before. The mystery of Coraline dissolved slowly before his eyes and lost, bit by bit, its appeal. Only pity was left for this poor, ruined soul.

The role of the mentor, of the calming influence and guide, Gabriel had now seized and Mick had often wondered how this had happened. Deep down inside he believed he already knew. Frank had told him once that the medicine that helped to support the vampiric side of him contained the blood of an ancient vampire. And Gabriel had told him in a conversation that the Legion had somehow been able to get some of his blood. This inevitably brought up the serious suspicion that the blood of the Ancient Vampire was probably Gabriel's and it would also explain the intense connection between them. Basically, that would mean that Gabriel was indeed his Sire.

A slightly irritating sound next to Mick ripped him out of his thoughts and he cast a disapproving glance at his passenger. However, Lance stared out the window and tried to ignore him deliberately, just like he had done for the last few hours now. Up to now he had heard exactly three words from his companion.

"If you like…" had been Lance's reaction to Mick's question of whether he would mind if he turned some music on. Since then, he had heard nothing from him except these occasional nerve grating sounds and disparaging glances in his direction.

Mick was really thankful that Logan had happily handed him an MP3 player that morning "with the best music for a road trip" because he found that the boy actually did have pretty good taste in music and that had indeed made it easier for him to travel with the unfriendly fellow next to him.

"If you really want to get under his skin…" Logan had leaned forward conspiratorially, and whispered to him the moment Gabriel had taken Lance aside for a short talk, "…song No. 103 gets pretty rockin. This'll really burst the ear-drums off that great-grand-daddy!"

Mick had not felt like playing this song until now, even though he was indeed curious. Lance, however, hadn't been so blatant yet that Mick had not been able to ignore him. On the other hand, the old vampire probably just wanted to annoy him with his silence. Too bad! It wasn't going to be that easy to ruffle Mick St. John's feathers.

Mick again focused on driving and glanced into the rearview mirror. The highway they were traveling on, wasn't used that much and he felt very comfortable with it. Too many cars on the road were distracting and could easily ensure that something suspicious could escape him. He had disguised himself a bit - Lance had not bothered to since the Legion wasn't looking for him directly - but it wouldn't be enough to protect them if the Legionnaires indeed became aware of them. The police, however, was a different story – the disguise could actually help when it came to them. According to Gabriel, Talbot had succeeded in getting the all points bulletin withdraw, but who knew how fast their images would be deleted from the police database. Mick's hair was now raven and he wore the most conservative clothes he could think of – some of Seth's and that said it all. Of course, his look had still left room for improvement, at least according to Beth's way of thinking…

"_Mick, wait, I still have something for you…" Beth impish grin and the hands hidden behind her back made Mick wrinkle his brows suspiciously. "This'll complete the perfect nerd look," she added, and brought out Seth's pair of dark-framed glasses from behind her back, opened them and pushed them caringly on Mick's nose._

_Just clear glass, of course. Vampires didn't need corrective lenses. Vampirism healed all disease and signs of wear and for the first time since Mick knew Seth, he wondered why the boy wore theses unflattering things anyway. First chance he got he would ask him, although he could just imagine the reason. Seth hadn't lost his family and friends with his turning and such a notable change in his appearance would certainly be cause for annoying questions._

_Beth pulled her brows together a little and pursed her lips. "This isn't really fair," she stated after further inspection of his new disguise. "It doesn't matter what you do - you always look at the very least kind of… cuddly…"_

_Mick uttered a sound that wavered between indignation and amusement. "Cuddly?" he repeated, and with this charming girlish chuckle Beth put her arms around his neck, stood on tiptoes and kissed him. Even though she disguised the kiss as a playful, easy farewell, Mick immediately felt how much sadness and longing was behind it, how much it hurt her to say goodbye - just because of the current turmoil in their relationship. Even though they would only be separated for a short time, they both knew how easily their current situation could put them in danger, that the Legion could get a hold of one of them or worse… _

_Mick's insides contracted painfully at the thought, and his arms automatically slipped around her delicate body, pulling her very close to him._

"_I hate this…" Beth whispered huskily against his lips, her forehead leaning against his, and closed her eyes. Mick emulated her actions, breathing in her scent, trying, like her, to take in a part of her to take with him. When he raised his eyelids again, Beth's lips had turned into a gorgeous smile, but her eyes were suspiciously moist. Mick's hands covered her face and his lips touched hers again, only very gently and tenderly, but with all the fondness and love he felt for her. Then he searched her gaze, looking at her intently._

"_Don't do anything stupid, okay?" he said softly. "And if Gabriel tells you to stay in the car, then you _stay_ in the car!"_

"_We're only driving a short ways by car," Beth responded smirking. "We'll be traveling the rest by train…"_

"_You know what I mean…"_

_She laughed and kissed him. Only then she could bring herself to nod._

"_I promise," she said softly. "And don't you dare show up with any telltale bruises or injuries at our meeting place… fighting is only allowed again when _I_ tell you!"_

"_Yes, M'am," Mick replied with a smile._

"_No matter what…" Beth cast a quick glance at Lance, who was still speaking with Gabriel. "… our amiable friend says or how he behaves. He's not worth you're getting upset over even a little. Just act like he's not even there…"_

_Mick nodded obediently, even though he knew that this was a pretty big challenge. But Beth was right. He had to save his nerves and strength now._

_Beth then began to smirk again. "And who is it you'll be thinking of every minute?"_

_He raised his eyebrows slightly. "That rarely?" _

_She laughed again and pressed her lips to his, as firmly as she could. "I love you," she whispered against his lips and he couldn't help but kiss her over and over again, to show her how much she meant to him…_

He missed her. It had only been a few hours and he was already missing her, making him realize how much he needed her. It was scary because it felt much the same as this harmful addiction he had had to Coraline and yet it was different. Deeper, more honest, more true. It was not like he hadn't loved Coraline, but the love he had felt for her had been based in large part on the strong sexual attraction between them, had been eclipsed by this burning fire between them and therefore had not been able to develop into this spiritual connectedness which had arisen between him and Beth - not to mention the fact that Coraline was not really capable of love, had by her history no real confidence in anyone.

With Beth everything had been different. He had loved her _before_ this sexual attraction had developed between them and she showed such an honest, warm love towards him, that he couldn't help but open up to her, to allow it to happen, that she lodged herself deep in his heart and gave his life new meaning. The thought of losing her, was for him so unbearable that since his rescue he had never allowed these thoughts to enter his mind, that he had never thought about how his life would continue without her. Earlier, before the matter with the Legion, he had forced himself to consider where he would move to, what he would do if he had to give her up to give her a better life. It had hurt like hell, had demanded a great deal of him, but he had been able to think about this. Now that he had been forced to look into the abyss in the most drastic way, that he had reached more than once a point of wanting to die and only the thought of her had kept him alive, had brought him back to life, he had banished such thoughts from his mind.

Even now, his heartbeat increased a little, there was a nasty hollow feeling in his heart, this tightening in his stomach. He had to deal with other things, to think of something else, otherwise these nerve eroding worries for Beth would consume him, would stir him up and cause him to do stupid things.

Mick turned the music up a little louder, deliberately ignoring Lance's slight head shaking and then threw a glance at the navigator Logan had given him before their departure. Of course it was a special navigator, one which was developed by Seth and programmed by Logan to give them their exact destination but not until they were in the vicinity of the city where the factory of the Legion was. Logan had been extremely proud of his joint effort with Seth in developing such a technological masterpiece and had explained everything to him in minute detail. Mick had only retained, from this flood of information, that cutting off the engine was no longer allowed once the apparatus had been switched on otherwise it would delete the information to prevent strangers from accessing it.


	41. Perspectives Part 2

_So here's the second part for you! Thanks a lot to Sg6169 who made it possible with her quick help to post this also still today. Feel hugged my dear. And all you other's: Wish you much fun with the second part. I'll be back at Sunday with the next chapter, yours Jenna/Lilith_

* * *

**Perspectives **(Part 2)

There was nothing currently displayed on the screen of the navigator. It was no wonder. Judging by the sign they had recently passed, they were still a few miles from their destination. A few miles… miles that meant more endless hours of cool, hostile silence between him and his pleasant co-driver. Wonderful!

There it was again this slight tingling at his temples, followed by this faint, contemptuous sound from Lance's direction and the suspicion that Mick had been formulating for a considerable length of time now, solidified: Lance wasn't as uninterested in him, as he pretended. Quite the contrary, he seemed to feel for Mick's thoughts from time to time and could indeed pick some of them up. Only this could be the connection between the tingling and the strange noises his 'comrade' uttered. It seemed Lance had the same capabilities as Gabriel - for whatever reason…

This was outrageous! Anger boiled up in Mick, pushed out all other thoughts. This loathsome snob was the last person he wanted to share any of his private thoughts with and it took brass for this bastard to dare and approach him like that - for he had always shown that he hated Mick intensely and wanted to avoid having any contact with him. Seemed there were reasons for this huge interest in him. Secret reasons probably - as usual. But he could no longer accept this secrecy, wait until he was ready. He would no longer hide behind his own problems and fears and just accept refusals for no reason at all. He would finally start to fight again, would discard _all_ areas of his life.

Mick took his foot off the gas, drove closer to the curb and stopped on the shoulder of the road with screeching brakes. Lance gave him a look that was somewhere between anger and confusion, and Mick turned off the engine and turned to him.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" he asked Lance straight.

The elder vampire raised his eyebrows in his typically arrogant manner. "What?"

"You tried to make your way into my thoughts!"

"Oh, please!" Lance uttered a disgruntled laugh. "As if_ I_ would be even remotely interested in _your _thoughts!"

"I know what it feels like!" Mick wouldn't allow Lance to rattle him. "Gabriel has done this often enough with me for me to tell and since there are no other vampires around …"

"That's ridiculous!" Lance replied convincingly. "And you stop the car because of _that_? There isn't another person in this world that I could care less about than you! Can we now please drive on?"

Mick looked at him silently for a moment, pulled out the key, then opened his door and got out.

"What…? What's the point of _this_ now?" he heard Lance ask angrily as he walked around the car and began to open the passenger door.

"Get out!" Mick commanded and the elder vampire looked at him for a few rapid heartbeats, full of disbelief. Then he seemed to regain his composure and put on his usual arrogant smile, but in his eyes the first traces of insecurity and fear were revealed. Mick hadn't been wrong at the assembly - Lance still had not forgotten about their violent brawl in Mexico and each time they were forced to spend any time with each other he had to fight his memories of it.

"You know Gabriel's not going to be happy about you leaving me here." He was still trying to hide his true feelings as he rose from his seat and complied with Mick's request. He blinked angrily into the sun, and then held his hand protectively above his head.

Mick wasn't listening to him, just stepped up to him. "What's your problem?" he brought out angrily.

Lance's eyebrows were moving toward each other. "Problem?"

"Yes! Your problem with _me_ and don't try to tell me there isn't one!" Gabriel wanted them to come to terms with each other – that he could do!

Lance let out a mirthless laugh, and then raised one eyebrow skeptically. "But I _will_ tell you! There _is_ no problem. I just can't stand you – that's all…"

"That's all…" Mick repeated and also uttered a noise that only remotely resembled a laugh and expressed his doubts about his adversary's statement. "You know what _I_ think? I think for some reason, you see me as some sort of threat, and not just because I made it clear in Mexico that even an old vampire like you should be a little more careful in certain situations."

Lance's smile clearly took on one of hostility now and Mick could energetically feel how the anger inside the old vampire grew, even overshadowing his initial fears. Energetically? That wasn't such a bad idea. What goes around, comes around…

Through the turmoil in his interior, it wasn't difficult for Mick to instantly free up enough energy to reach for Lance's subconscious, to search for images that would tell him what was going on in this man's mind right now. He was surprised at how quickly he was able to gain access to him, how strong the connection was. Mick thought of Coraline and immediately images from Lance's memory passed at a rapid pace in front of his mind's eye. Coraline in his arms, newly turned, taking her first blood-meal, then clinging to him confused and bewildered. Then pictures from an escape, barricades in the streets, people dying, shots, chaos, a wild chase through the woods, pursued by a pack of dogs; Coraline seriously injured, and as he treated her, this pain and fear for her in his chest and deep…

The energetic blow that struck Mick caused him to take a step backward, while Lance stumbled against the car gasping. For a moment the old vampire was so shocked that he produced no sound, just stared at him breathing heavily, with eyes wide open in shock, while Mick himself had to first process what he had seen and felt.

"How dare you!" Lance growled after taking a short moment to recover and Mick could feel the second he turned, forgetting who he was tangling with. So his attack wasn't that much of a surprise to him. Lance jumped on him and Mick flung around, rammed his knee into his belly in the same motion - with enough force to slam the elder vampire back against the car. But it wasn't going to be that easy to knock out a Lance DuVall. He was fast, took advantage of the momentum of his impact to push himself off the car and leap at Mick, who was somewhat surprised at how quick his reaction was. Lance's shoulder slammed into Mick's chest painfully and knocked him off his feet, but he had at least succeeded in turning in such a way that the older vampire had not landed _on_ him, but next to him and had been able to break his fall with his hands. A split second later, both were back on their feet. Mick watched as Lance lunged for him again, his eyes focusing on a specific point on Mick's shoulder and Mick knew immediately what he was planning to do, just as he knew he no longer had the time to dodge the blow. Instead, he simply did the same thing, quicker than he had ever been able to in his training with Gabriel. All his energy shot to his arm and only a split second later, when Lance's palm violently struck his shoulder and sent a dull, breathtaking pain through his entire left side, his own palm struck the nerves of Lance's shoulder in the exact same spot. Mick's right arm went completely numb, and at the same time, all strength vanished from his right leg and caused him to double up and stumble. But just like his opponent he was still able to hold himself upright by shifting most of his weight to his left side. He was able to support himself against the broad trunk of a tree, whose canopy they had moved towards during their brief fight. Lance grabbed one of the low hanging branches and clung to it breathing heavily. Only then did his gaze wander back to Mick and the confusion in his different colored eyes was clearly visible.

"What… how… how were you able to do that?" Lance gasped heavily shocked. "Only the… " He didn't continue, wasn't able to put his thoughts into words, not just because he was still struggling with his balance.

"… the Archangels can do that?" Mick helped him, still struggling with his own breathing and the dull, debilitating pain that radiated from his whole right side now. "Is that what you were trying to say? Then you've probably forgotten that I carry the blood of an Ancient One inside me…"

"But you _aren't_ one of us," Lance uttered excited.

Mick paused for a moment. He too had to collect himself now, to voice the thought that had been haunting him from the previous day. "_Us_?" he repeated poignantly and Lance avoided his gaze, caught, even closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I knew it," Mick added simply because nothing else seemed to come from Lance. "I knew there was a reason why you always thought so highly of yourself." He shook his head with a cool smile. "And? What's your name? Raphael?"

Mick heard a chuckle, and finally Lance lifted his head, gave him a look that radiated so much contempt and rage, that Mick almost felt forced to look away - but only almost.

"Do you think that's funny?" the old vampire asked sharply. "This only proves you still have absolutely _no_ idea what's going on here. You're still such an immature… boy…"

Mick gritted his teeth. 'Don't let him provoke you, don't let him provoke you. He's only playing on your fears and your anger."

"Yesterday Coraline revealed a lot of things to me," he replied coolly, again trying to move the fingers of his right hand, which at the moment proved to be extremely difficult. The fighting techniques of the Ancients were in fact incredibly effective – especially on vampires.

Again there was this disgustingly arrogant smile that was so typical of this man. "Coraline," he repeated with a strange mixture of sadness and contempt in his voice, and inhaled deeply through his nose. "Coraline has too often meddled in things that don't concern her and she has not finished learning that until today." Something flickered in Lance's eyes, and Mick slowly thought he knew what it was. "But there are several things that even she has no idea of. And it's a good thing, too."

"Because you want to protect her." It wasn't a question but a simple statement and it was exactly this that made the flickering in Lance eyes even more pronounced now. And because of it, it didn't help when he laughed indignantly.

"Whatever gave you _that_ idea?"

Mick smiled at him lovingly. "I was in your head, remember?"

Lance's patched up self-confidence got visible cracks again. His smile didn't just disappear, he also gritted his teeth fiercely. This was evident by the slight twitching of his cheek muscles.

"You love her," Mick simply continued courageously. "Not like a sister but as a man loves a woman. And that was precisely why she was able to harm the vampire society and also Gabriel so often. You couldn't resist her, much less punish her, even though this was your job. You've protected her. No matter where she was. And I have no doubt your powers are far reaching. That's the only reason she was spared by the Legion. You probably started negotiating with these people the moment she was brought to them, since Coraline wasn't even brought to the laboratory. Was it you that gave Cynthia the necessary information that persuaded them to exchange me for Coraline - to kill two birds with one stone?"

"You really have a fertile imagination, St. John," Lance responded conspicuously casual, but Mick could feel how upset he was internally, and was sure that his thoughts weren't completely wrong after all.

"And afterwards?" Mick continued unmoved. "Did you hide her first or did you immediately put her to work for you once again - behind the backs of everyone? Did _you_ tell her to go Dexter to try and find me because something kept you from just telling her where I was?"

"So you still think I'm the traitor, don't you?" Lance smiled.

"Oh - I trust Gabriel that you're on our side, that you support him, whenever and wherever you can, but I don't for a minute think that your loyalties include me. You hate me too much for that."

Lance just looked at him and somehow Mick suddenly got the feeling he was seeing something similar to acknowledgment in the cold gaze of his counterpart.

"The only question is: Why?"

"Why?" Lance tilted his head slightly. "You really want to know?" He eyed him up from top to bottom. "You have no business here, Mick St. John!" He again and again managed to make his name sound like an insult. "Not in our world, not in our family, and certainly not in this eternal war between humans and vampires! You weren't destined to stumble into this whole thing. But you couldn't leave it alone, always had to have your way. And now you can't stand the consequences, can't accept what's become of you by your own actions…"

"By… by _my_ ownactions?" Mick growled and wanted to take a threatening step toward Lance, but his leg still wouldn't cooperate with his orders yet, didn't move an inch. Hatred flared up in him, let the beast take over his head, upset.

"You wanted to have Coraline so badly, couldn't leave her alone even though she sent you away!" Lance replied now also clearly irate. "You share part of the blame for your becoming a vampire. And you also wanted the cure so much that she gave it to you about a year ago and with that, you signed your own application for the Legion's research! And instead of sharing your knowledge about the Legion and Peterson with others, perhaps informing Josef, you kept it to yourself and decided to tangle with this organization alone! You are _not_ the innocent victim that they all think you are and you're definitely not the hero everyone wants to see in you so much either! You are most certainly _not_ the solution to our problems!"

Mick's desire to once again hurl himself at this disgusting guy and tear him to pieces, was barley tamable and yet there was something besides this severely handicapped body, that kept him from doing it, that made it possible for him to remain in control and instead only look at this man coolly. It wasn't just his subconscious mind that told him that Lance wasn't wrong with some aspects of his bold statements but also the new insight Lance's words brought to him subliminally…

"You… you're jealous," it slipped quietly from Mick's lips and he knew he was right, that this was the reason for all the hostility, for all the hatred Lance had in fact shown him. It had been there during their first encounter, just like it was today. "You can't stand what others see in me…"

"They don't see_ anything_!" Lance hissed back, and even in his dead, black eye, life seemed to flare up. "You were never cut out to be a vampire, should never have been admitted into our family, but Coraline couldn't see this, didn't want to see the truth. And now that the Legion has changed you so much, all the others see you as some new mystical phenomenon, whose immense strength adds tremendous value to our battle. But they don't see how weak you are, how little you accept what you are. _You_ can never become the impetus for our resistance…"

"I don't want to be that anyway," Mick growled back. "I definitely won't be taking on that role in this war."

"But you already have!"

"And?" Mick uttered upset. "I hate it! If I could, I would love nothing better than to pass it to you. You can have it all, anything there is to do with this vampire world and this sick story of the Legion: my abilities, my situation… Coraline… Take her! I don't want her!"

"This is not about Coraline! She only plays a minor role here!"

"Then is it Gabriel? Is it because he cares so much about me?"

"It's about what he sees in you," Lance snapped. "He's completely deluded because he thinks he has found in you, everything that he had given up believing in for centuries! And I know that you'll only disappoint him! He sees something in you that you'll never be!"

"And what's that?"

"The thing, the Cercle du Sang fears the most: The link between humans and vampires, the one who will bring these two worlds together at last. The solution to all our problems…" The disdain in Lance's last words was clear, but it hadn't diminished Mick's shock. He just stared at his opponent outraged for a long moment, didn't know what to say. Lance's words shook him terribly. He wasn't a savior. He had already said this yesterday in the meeting. He still meant it and it disturbed him greatly that Gabriel had seemingly wanted him to slip into this role but had never spoken to him about it.

"How can a person who can't even manage to accept the two sides of his own nature and unite them equally, do this on a grand scale with two warring parties that have been fighting each other for thousands of years now?" Lance used his silence to continue vigorously. "I warned Gabriel many times, told him that he shouldn't put too much hope in you, but he doesn't listen to me, doesn't want to see what I see…"

"And what _do_ you see?" Mick asked back excited, quarreling with the emotional chaos within him.

Lance looked at him for a long moment and Mick couldn't really interpret his stare. The expression in his eyes had something strange in them because this familiar hostility and contempt was gone. His look was much more thoughtful, almost worried. His chest expanded with a heavy breath.

"I see a man who doesn't really know where he belongs, who, with his quest for things of the past and his fears of the future, forgets too often that his life is in the here and now, that only the present matters," he replied calmly and his voice lacked any trace of contempt or hatred. "You've been fighting a battle against yourself for years now, St. John - a battle that seems to have now reached, because of the changes in your body and soul, a new high. How can you expect to fight a battle for the rest of us? How do you expect to carry that responsibility for others, how can you concentrate on the fight against the Legion, when there's so much conflict within you? You can't - not without victims on our side… and I'll be the one to make sure that Gabriel doesn't become one of those victims."

Once again, Mick wasn't sure how to respond. He was shocked. Not because Lance had such a bad opinion of him - that was no real surprise - but because the old vampire had indeed recognized his problem, had seen through him. And one other thing touched something deep inside him. He had never before seen so much feeling reflected in Lance's eyes, so many real emotions, had not expected that this otherwise cold-looking man would have a heart that didn't beat just for himself. Apparently _his_ nerves had also been frayed by the war with the Legion that there was not enough strength left in him to hide his true feelings from others in such a stirring situation.

"You must really love him very much," Mick noted softly after a moment of tense silence.

The vampire looked at the floor, let out another almost resigned chuckle and shook his head. But Mick felt it wasn't a negative gesture, but was brought on by his inner bitterness. "He has always been like a father to me. Who wouldn't love his father?" He raised his eyes again, looked at Mick struggling with himself - but he'd lost this battle again, felt forced to go on. "All the years I've fought at Gabriel's side, stood by him, supported him whatever erratic mood swings he was going through," it slipped very softly from his lips. "I've seen him in states that would be hard for anyone to imagine. It was always his hopes for others that would pull him out of his crisis, and always - _always_, in the end it was the disappointment with those people that finally threw him into the next depression. You wouldn't believe it to look at him. Yet what he currently projects outwardly is only one side of him, the warrior, who has been awakened in him. And he's one of the most brilliant, most powerful warriors in the world, but if you too take away what he believes in, then he will fall - deeper than ever before. I know because the last time it happened he barely got back on his feet again…"

Lance turned his gaze away from Mick, probably because he didn't want the emotions that came with these memories to be reflected in his eyes.

"Last time?" Mick asked anyway. "Are you talking about Luis? Was he the last person Gabriel believed in?"

The nod was so restrained, it was hardly noticeable. "He had an incredible charisma, could cast a spell on almost everyone…" Lance let his saddened gaze roam over the barren landscape around them. "Luis' mother took him to Gabriel. He had tuberculosis and was dying… he was ten years old, just like…" Lance stopped, shook his head, closed his eyes. "She wanted Gabriel to save him. It didn't matter that he could no longer become the King of France. She only wanted to keep her son alive…"

"Does that mean she knew that Gabriel was a vampire?"

Lance raised his eyes again, a strange smile on his lips. "Her family had been in close contact with him for generations and he had also been in political affairs, their confidant and key adviser. Yet no one, except Maria and Gabriel, knew what the two had done on 22 March 1761 behind the backs of everyone. Luis' transformation was kept secret. Gabriel took care of the boy, just as he had cared for me, raised him under a different name and when the political situation became more explosive for the royal family and they needed his help, he turned the boy, who was by then a teenager, over to my care… And I failed. I too let myself be blinded by him, even worse than Gabriel…"

He shook his head, still disappointed with himself. "Gabriel realized his mistake at some point, realized that he had pinned hopes on Luis that he just couldn't comply with, didn't want to comply with. And instead of fighting for humans and vampires to be able to live with one another again, Luis made sure that everything became worse, that the Legion would once again wage war against us and even vampires fought one another. In the end Gabriel had to fight against his own pupil and had to…" Lance broke off again affected, but Mick knew exactly how his sentence would be finished.

"… kill him?" He stared at the older vampire in disbelief.

Lance hesitated a moment, but then decided nevertheless to tell the truth. "Gabriel, I'm sure, has told you that he was able to bring the Legion to the negotiating table, but there's a small detail, only very few people know. One of the conditions made by the Legion was that Gabriel had to hand Luis over to them because he had been the one to cause this bloody war. They said they would punish him for his misdeeds and lock him away forever, but Gabriel knew full well that they only wanted him so they could make sure he died in the cruelest way. Even so, he signed the contract and kept his promise to deliver Luis to them. But when he stood directly in front of the leaders of the Legion with him, he himself chopped off his head and thus prevented them from torturing him any further. After that Gabriel wasn't himself anymore. A part of him died with Luis and only resurfaced several weeks ago…"

"And the vampire society knows nothing about this?" Mick probed touched.

Lance nodded again. "And that's how it should remain. There are things about Gabriel that _no_ one is allowed to know - the story of Luis is far from being the most shocking one. But it has some parallels to what's happening now…"

Mick shook his head. "I don't think so…"

And then it was back this unpleasant, arrogant smile on Lance's lips. "The war with the Legion, the special person in our midst, Gabriel's hope in this person…"

"I'm not Luis!" Mick replied upset and anger boiled up in him again. "I'm not of noble blood, nor power-hungry and convinced that the vampires should take over world domination! And Gabriel didn't raise me. I'm not a competitor for you and the role of his son!"

"It's not about that!" Lance snarled and took a somewhat unsteady step towards him. "This is not about_ my_ personal feelings! This is about keeping Gabriel in a stable condition. If he dies, the whole vampire society falls apart! There will be power struggles, scheming and inner fights again, which will destroy us all in the end! The knowledge of his existence, the fear of his power and influence – that's what keeps us all in balance, what makes us behave ourselves. We need him! And right now _he_ needs _you _and his belief that with your help he can bring peace to this world again, that he can eliminate the mistakes he committed thousands and thousands of years ago! I know you don't think highly of vampires and in this respect are totally different from Luis, but instead you idealize human life. _That_ is your weakness, and therein lies the danger for us, for Gabriel. You wouldn't betray us for vampires sake, but maybe for the humans. But I won't let that happen… I will make sure that you stay at Gabriel's side until this is over, until he finds his inner peace and this time can retire satisfied and happy. I will ensure that you fulfill the role that was never due to you and one you really have no strength for. I will do everything to ensure that you don't fail, that you won't disappoint Gabriel – and if I have to fight at your side to achieve this, if I have to support you and align myself with you, then that's what I'll do, but don't think for a minute that I'll start to see you in a different light, to see you as something other than Mick St John, the middle-class private investigator. For I will never do this!"

"_I'm_ certainly the last person who would ask you to," Mick growled back. "For I _am_ no one else!" He breathed in deeply through the nose. "And shall _I_ tell _you_ something: I _will_ stay at Gabriel's side. I _will_ fight. Not because I permit myself to be bound to this role or let anyone force me into it, but because I _want_ it! I want to destroy the Legion because it threatens all that really means something to me in this life. And for _that_ I will use all my strength! And if it's necessary to join my two sides for this, I'll do that. I will fight for the people_I_ love, the things that _I_ believe in! And I will be at Gabriel's side, because I think he's the only one who can win this war against the Legion!"

Both stared at each other for a long moment, breathing heavily and full of fury. Neither wanted to avert their gaze first from the other's face, showing their weakness in this way.

"Then we are in agreement," Lance replied finally with combatively flickering eyes and Mick nodded reluctantly.

"As far as it's possible - yes."

Silence. This time it wasn't as tense as before. Even if the truth was hard to bear and had made it clear to both that they would never be friends, the clarity it somehow brought them did them well.

"Then we can be on our way, I think," Lance noted gruffly and took a step in the direction of the car.

Mick shifted his weight on his right leg and had also found that most of the strength on his right side had returned.

"It looks that way," he responded shortly and now headed for the car as well, keeping his eyes glued to the older vampire. He didn't really believe that Lance would attack him now, but better safe than sorry.

Only when they were both seated again and Mick started the engine, did the rest of their tension seem to fall away from them. Mick noticed from the corner of his eye that Lance sank in his seat a little deeper and his chest rose and fell under a deep breath - and this, even though the MP3 player had now reached Logan's with a grin announced No.103, 'Basement' by _Puddle of Mud_, making the old speakers of the car boom. Apparently it had done the older vampire some good to voice what he was truly thinking, that for the first time since traveling together he could really relax in Mick's presence. And Mick felt the same way. Strangely, he even felt a little more connected to Lance, could even suddenly imagine working with him. And when he thought about it for a while, he knew why he felt this way. The little quarrel with Lance had somehow given him more courage. Although he still couldn't stand Lance and some of his words annoyed the hell out of him, it somehow still felt good to know that there was someone else - someone he would have never thought would be like that - who put all his energy in the fight against the Legion and would certainly see this through to the bitter end. And one thing emerged more and more clearly from Mick's mind: Maybe they both had different beliefs, fought on the surface for different reasons, but their true motives were the same: They fought for the people they loved. And love was an incredibly powerful driving force…


	42. Scouting Party

_I'm so sorry for the late update but somehow my time-management isn't really working at the moment. I hope to get a grip on it soon (the next week doesn't seem to get as stressful as the last one) and then to be able to devote the attention to your comments that they really deserve. Until then I can only thank you again and tell you how much I loved them and how strongly they motivated me again. I hope you'll also enjoy this chapter and will be back at Thursday again. Have a great time until then, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Cleo28_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**S****couting Party **

* * *

"_The art of making plans is to forestall the difficulties of the realization."_

_Luc de Clapier Vauvenargues _

* * *

If you've ever watched feline predators on the hunt, one thing is quite clear: the less visible and the quieter they crept up on their prey, the closer they come to it, the greater their chances are of succeeding. And this is exactly what we would do. We tried to get as close as possible to the Legion, to attack them from behind with the element of surprise on our side, and to inflict as much damage as possible to keep them from getting back on their feet so quickly. In our case that meant not only sneaking up on their hiding place, but directly infiltrating the building to scout out the situation there. A truly ingenious plan in itself, but wouldn't you know it, there had to be this one small glitch: The person performing this delicate part of our plan unfortunately wasn't doing it of their own free will.

It had been a while ago since we dropped Cynthia off on the outskirts of Casa Grande after flying all night to South-Arizona with her by helicopter and then going on by car. She seemed to have accepted her fate and the risky task that awaited her, because throughout our journey, I had not once detected even a hint of hesitation or reluctance from her. Gabriel's old blood provided me with amazing insights into the psyche of the other vampires around me - especially the younger ones and those that came from the ancient vampire's lineage. And because Cynthia had been turned by Coraline and her nerves were too weak to defend herself against my groping for her emotions, I now had an excellent chance to observe her. Of course she was scared. Like everyone else here, she knew that she was risking her life with this mission. But her love for Coraline seemed to override her own instincts for survival and I felt sure that she would hold up under adversity, that she would complete her mission - even though it might be the last thing she ever did in her life. And because of that, I had no major problems letting her continue the rest of her way to the factory alone.

The rest of us had set out for our new hideout or better our new 'base of operations', where all other teams would slowly but surely be gathering - a small, inconspicuous inn on the outskirts of the city. Besides us, there were no other 'guests' there. The key to the house – oh, how resourceful people could sometimes be – was found under the doormat, along with a letter, asking us to put everything back the way we found it, when we left. I really wondered what the owner of the house had been told about us that he would up and leave his home and source of income so trustingly. One thing I was sure of at least was that there had to have been a large amount of money involved. Measured by his intellect and the long life Gabriel had now spent in this world, his wealth had to stagger the imagination. The financing of our missions so far had never been a problem, and this was probably the reason why.

And now we were sitting here, surrounded by all sorts of technical equipment that Seth, Thomas and Malik had assembled and were now booting up - I simply didn't have enough experience to do this, as I claimed at least in front of the others - and now, like them, waited for the first sign of life from Cynthia.

We all knew, despite her almost submissive behavior at the moment, how risky Gabriel's plan was to place Cynthia in the laboratory of the Legion as a spy. It wasn't just the fact that this was an unwilling female employee, who could, under pressure, quickly change her attitude towards us at any time that made this such a high risk plan, but also because there was a high probability that once Cynthia had made her appearance that the Legion would not only kill her, but would first use torture on her to extract information that could seriously compromise today's action. Quite apart from that, it was still going to be extremely difficult for her, without being seen, to attach a device to one of a network of cameras that would give us access to the interior of the building.

For these reasons, it wasn't surprising that we, while handling our important assignments – _I_ had graciously agreed to pack the small emergency bags for the teams - were all pretty tense, and constantly looked over at the computer monitor which was to provide the first signals from Cynthia. Since we had said goodbye, more than three hours had passed, and as more time passed we were becoming increasingly nervous. Although I was pleased that my task had distracted me from all my other, more private concerns, at a certain level of tension any ardently wished-for distraction became an agony and other problems seemed so small that one could not take them seriously anymore.

According to Seth we had to first get a signal from Cynthia's transmitter, after which we could then try to get sound transmission. If everything worked as it should, the young vampire would have accomplished in collaboration with Logan, a technical masterpiece, which had no equal. The two had started working on it back when Mick had been out of the country with Gabriel, and had not finished fine-tuning the device until yesterday. Their mission had been to develop a transmitter that not only revealed the position of the person marked, but could by sound waves also display the outline of this person's environment and thus was able to render whole views of buildings. According to Seth they had achieved an outstanding success and with the activation of the transmitter it would now be possible to see the floor plan in the areas of the Legion's building, through which Cynthia moved. We were then able to compare it to the blueprint of the building we already had. The real trick to Seth's transmitter was that it was able to analyze the signals around it and to tailor its own signals in such a way that they could not be distinguished from any others, thereby making it impossible for the Legion to detect the transmitter, even if it was already activated. Cynthia only had to switch it on thus showing us that she was still alive and that Gabriel's wonderful plan hadn't gone wrong from the start.

I stuffed another packet of A positive blood into one of the bags, which lay together with units of stored blood and different syringes in front of me on the small desk and for the umpteenth time now I ran one hand nervously across my face, only to stare once again at the motionless screen to my left. Why was nothing happening?

Seth, who had just finished connecting another computer to the network with Malik, sat down in the chair next to me in front of the screen with a sigh.

"We should see something shortly," he murmured softly.

"They may have discovered the transmitter," I voiced the unpleasant thought that had plagued me for some time.

Seth gave me such an indignant look, that a little smile escaped me. "Impossible!" he uttered angrily. "The transmitter is so small that it can't be seen with the naked eye. And even after it's activated, you still wouldn't be able to find it even if you knew what you were looking for. This is only because of Cynthia! Until she activates it, it can't send a signal!"

"Well, I hope she's not dead then," I sighed and got Thomas's attention.

"She isn't dead," he said, as he continued tying some of the cables together that could lead to a dangerous fall if the room filled with people thus making them harder to see. His gaze wandered to the door just before returning to my face. "_She_ would certainly have noticed this and informed us."

By 'she' he meant Coraline, who had joined us along with Guillermo and Tony a few minutes ago, a little pale and nervous. She had had the two men preparing one of the nearby rooms for a meeting. I had to agree with him – a Sire could always feel if his fledgling died, no matter how far away he was from them. And I too was sure that Coraline would tell us if anything had happened to Cynthia. Even though I carried a personal grudge against her because of the story with Mick, I had to admit that she had previously never given me any reason to doubt her loyalty to Gabriel or the vampire society. She stood by us and would remain there even if Cynthia lost her life in this mission, no matter how much she loved her.

"Josef?"

I winced violently and turned, irritated, towards the door in which Guillermo had just appeared and motioned for me to follow him out of the room. I furrowed my brows quizzically, but nevertheless readily walked to the door and stepped up to him in the hallway. This boring packing of emergency bags was probably in the long run not for such an imaginative mind such as mine anyway. This had to be the reason why I was so delighted with the interruption.

"You won't believe who's just arrived," Guillermo whispered to me. Apparently he hadn't planned on continuing our conversation there in the hall, because he started walking, without waiting for my reaction, back toward the small reception room of the inn, so I was then forced to follow him with another, this time slightly puzzled frown. He added nothing more to his few words, would probably rather show me what he was talking about.

The newcomers were humans that I could now smell and since there were very few humans with whom we co-operated, I wasn't really surprised when Benjamin Talbot and his friend Carl Davis entered the room and turned to me. Lawyer and policeman. Not exactly the kind professions you'd expect to see in abundance at events such as ours. And so I wasn't quite comfortable with the fact that they had conveniently paid us a visit during our organizational phase. As a consequence, it could easily happen that they saw things that were not meant for their eyes and I wondered who had let them in so thoughtlessly, without consulting with one of us elders.

My eyes roamed critically over Talbot's somewhat rumpled looking suit and I couldn't help that my eyebrows raised a little. His otherwise always so neat appearance left a lot to be desired today. A five o'clock shadow around his mouth and the loose tie… I almost felt tempted to shake my head, deliberately forgetting how I had looked only two days ago. It was obvious the young lawyer had changed, had become much less self-assured and arrogant since our last encounter, more nervous and excited. However, he immediately tried to conceal it with a confident smile.

"Kostan!" he greeted warmly and immediately approached me. "I would have never in a million years thought that I'd be so happy to see you. But I must admit given the current situation it's forced me to be happy about something as small as seeing a familiar face!"

I smiled back just as lovably. "You know Ben, as long as you don't fall gushingly around my neck, I think I can cope with this. What exactly brought you to us this early?"

Talbot needed a moment to recover from his slight annoyance with my remark, which I had noticed despite his persistent smile. "Are you currently handling the leadership of this small team," he asked finally, much cooler.

I thought for a moment and then shrugged my shoulders. "More or less…"

This seemed to suffice. "I don't know how privy you are to the plans of this Gabriel, but since we weren't attacked upon our arrival, I would imagine that those present here are at least aware that we have agreed to help you with this somewhat… tricky project."

I only nodded. Gabriel's phone call in the middle of the night with all the new information had rattled me so much, that I had actually forgotten about Talbots participation in things until he showed up – the success of our campaign depended in no small part on this very fine detail.

"And that leads me to the small problem which is the reason for our being here…"

Problem? I didn't like that sound of that at all! My superior self-confidence seemed to vanish at the mention of this innocent little word. So much for getting back to my old self again…

"I used my influence as an assistant DA to talk with the DA's office responsible for this town and they're willing to provide a task force of the local police for a seizure," Talbot continued immediately. "Unfortunately, the D.A's office here has a problem with handing over a search warrant for the factory and full control of the police force."

"Which means?" I probed suspiciously, fighting against the oppressive feeling in my stomach.

"That it won't be me but the chief of the police that will be giving the orders for the seizure and only when he sees it's absolute necessity."

I raised my eyebrows. "And just when would that be?"

"The use of armed force, grievous bodily harm, civilian endangerment… only clear indications of acts where the law has been grossly broken…"

"That means, not until this is clearly evident to the Chief…"

"… he won't intervene." Talbot nodded confirming and I would have liked to have strangled him for this. It didn't sound good. In fact it was pretty bad, because_ if_ a fight broke out, it would be in the laboratory and with that being below ground level it would be neither audible nor visible to the outside. So it became more and more important that Cynthia succeeded in her mission. If she could indeed tap into the cameras of the laboratory, we would be able to show the chief of the police exactly what was happening underground.

"Well, then we'll just have to make sure that he gets a front row seat to the criminal activities of these people," I said with an optimism I didn't really have. This was what happened when plans were made in a hurry - they limped along forward and backward and hid dangers that hardly anyone could estimate. Not even a Gabriel des Archanges…

Talbot nodded slightly delayed. "But you need to do this in a way that he doesn't get the idea that _you're_ the criminals. Otherwise you'll be in for a lot _more_ problems."

"This means we won't be able to shoot first or attack them in any way," Guillermo explained to me unnecessarily, and I gave him a slight frown. A great opportunity to pass a little of my stress and frustration on to someone else.

"What would I do without you?" I said sarcastically and immediately an embarrassed grin appeared on the Mexican's face. Mick would have probably answered me with "Despair, Josef, despair", but fortunately no one else dared to talk to me that way and so I could get back to addressing, undisturbed, my 'favorite' lawyer again.

"Does the police force know that we will be there?"

Talbot shook his head. "But the _D.A_. has been informed that we're working together on this case and that you're a special task force specifically assembled for these kinds of cases."

"These kinds of cases?" I repeated with quizzically raised eyebrows.

"We… we've told them that these people who are running this factory are members of a dangerous sect, that we've been chasing them for some time now," it was Lt. Davis that stepped in now, and one could tell that he didn't feel all that comfortable with having to lie to his colleagues. "A sect that's involved in illegal research on humans, probably torturing and even killing them."

I nodded understandingly. "That's not even a lie."

"Exactly," Talbot added and for that moment, I even liked him a little bit.

"And you still haven't been able to obtain a search warrant?" Guillermo asked blankly.

"Well, at the moment we've no real evidence that such things are going on in the factory," Ben explained quickly. "Neither photos nor documents… nothing. And the inhabitants of this town have allegedly never seen anything suspicious going on in there either."

"Allegedly …" Guillermo uttered contemptuously and Ben shrugged his shoulders.

"That's what they're saying in any case…"

"And the information you've given to the responsible D.A., will he keep it confidential?" I had to dig deeper now.

"I'm sure he will," Talbot replied to my relief. "I've known Dan a long time. He's very meticulous about larger-scale operations, but also very discreet, as long as everything's not cut and dry. The police won't have any of the details prior to the mission starting. I agreed with him on this and then the rest is in your hands. Give us solid evidence for the criminal activity going on in this factory and we'll get involved."

This deviated somewhat from the original plan, but was still better than nothing. There was nothing we could do but accept it. I inhaled deeply through my nose and nodded again. I couldn't do more, because at almost the same moment an excited voice echoed through the hall.

"Josef! It's there! It's there!"

My heart made a small, hopeful leap. It was Seth and the excitement in his voice could mean only one thing… I immediately set into motion, hurried without further thought out of the room and then down the hall toward the door where the young and terribly excited looking vampire waited.

"Do we have sound or is it just the normal channels?" I addressed him immediately, as I sensed that I had not only been followed by Guillermo but also by Talbot and Davis. Perhaps this wasn't so bad…

"So far, only a muted channel of the transmitter," Seth explained hastily, and hurried ahead of me back to the computer in front of which Malik and Thomas were already standing and looked tensely at a little flashing dot moving on the screen. Slowly a map of the building was forming. I stopped next to Thomas with wide eyes. Seth's ingenious little transmitter worked, because everywhere Cynthia moved new lines formed, walls, rooms appeared - the map, this would hopefully help us figure out precisely where to start our attack on the Legion.

"What exactly is that?" I heard Talbot diagonally behind me ask, and the rapid beating of his heart told me he already had some idea.

"_That's_ what's below the factory," I said and leaned in a little further, propping myself up on the back of the chair, on which Seth had just sat down. "Can you compare this to the plans we already have of the factory?"

"Sure," Seth said and his fingers were flying almost as fast as Logan's over the keyboard. Beneath the flashing point and the newly formed red lines, appeared the outline of the basement, which had originally been drawn for the construction of the factory. Seth turned it so that it was perfectly aligned with the emerging plan and one could immediately see that in the areas where Cynthia had already been a lot of things had changed. There were definitely more rooms.

"This… this… flashing point is it someone you know?" Carl now asked hesitating. Somehow he didn't seem very comfortable with the idea.

"Someone who owes us a favor," I replied coolly. At least it wasn't a lie.

"And this person simply walked inside there?"

"Not 'simply'," I replied a bit annoyed. "This is all very complicated…"

"… and dangerous," Davis added with audible reproach in his voice.

"Of course." I gave him a false smile over my shoulder.

"What happens if this person is busted?" this good 'super cop' now had to ask.

"Then they'll probably be arrested…" What a performance. I didn't even believe it myself!

"Arrested…" Davis repeated skeptically and shook his head.

"But that won't happen," I added quickly and now sounded a whole lot more convincing. "The plan is pretty airtight."

"And what exactly _is_ the plan?" now Talbot had to ask as well with a nod in the direction of the screen.

Seth turned around in his chair to face me and looked at me with pleading eyes, so I just had to nod after a moment's hesitation. For two reasons: First, it was just nice that he, in spite of Malik's and Thomas' not to be overlooked presence, still saw me as the person, who made the decisions around here and secondly the few days as a human had made me alarmingly soft – not to mention the fact that I was now sure I could trust Talbot and Davis. Gabriel did, so I could too.

The young vampire took a deep breath and I knew that I would need to settle in for a long monologue. Seth just wasn't a fan of short statements. "Well," he started a bit pompous and reminded me a little bit of Logan, "our spy, has a transmitter, which gives away not only her position but also scans the environment using ultrasonic waves. It then sends us these pictures. It uses a frequency that adapts itself to the frequencies of other devices around it thus making it harder to detect. This means we'll be able to get a fairly accurate picture of all the rooms in the basement. Furthermore, in the barrette of the spy there is a small device in which you can tap into all the surveillance cameras throughout the building. The only drawback is that it must be attached to one of the cameras directly. Otherwise the device will only send us, hopefully soon, sound transmission - for it can do this also."

"Did you just say barrette?" Talbot probed strangely tense. "Does that mean your spy is a woman?"

Seth nodded eagerly, and Ben looked at me almost in horror.

"You've sent Beth into that building?"

I was taken aback. Beth? What an absurd idea! But even more interesting was the immense horror that spoke so clearly from Talbot's dark eyes. This entirely false assumption seemed to really stir up the young lawyer. Apparently, he seemed to like Beth more than he had been willing to admit. Mick's initial jealousy regarding this man had not been entirely unjustified.

Seth, unfortunately, uttered a chuckle – myself, I would have liked to have enjoyed Ben's discomfort a little longer - and shook his head. "Not Beth! Are you crazy? Mick would kill us!"

A wave of relief not only swept over Talbot, but also Davis and brought a slight smile to my lips. Our little Beth was really a master at making the hearts of the men around her, melt.

Talbot's chest expanded with a deep breath. "Well," he said, now more relaxed. "Even though I don't endorse sending a human into the laboratory – does this mean, if this woman is successful in tapping into the cameras there, you'll also have access to all the other cameras?"

Seth and I nodded in sync.

"This increases the probability that one can see what's going on down there, substantially," the lawyer said hopefully. "Can you forward the transmission on to other devices as well – let's say for example, to another PC, located near the factory and in the hands of the police force?"

A smile crept to my lips. "I think that might be possible. What do you say, Seth?"

The young vampire nodded again in this over-zealous manner. "That would be no problem."

"Then I'll make sure that we have a PC ready for the action," Talbot said. "And if that person there…" He pointed to the now frozen point on the monitor. "…really manages to get hold of one of the cameras, then there should be no problem mobilizing the police force. You just need to be careful what you pass on to us. And the moment we get involved, you must leave the building. Not that you'll be mistaken for the enemy."

"We've got everything under control," I replied calmly, even though the D.A's remark annoyed me slightly. We weren't complete idiots, and certainly wouldn't be holding our vampire faces to the camera or better yet show them how we can tear one of the Legionnaires to pieces… What a wonderful idea…

A crackling near me made me stop and Seth also held his breath for a moment. We both knew immediately what it was, even though it took a moment before the signal was clear enough for you to hear human voices. My heart began to beat faster immediately.

"… toss her. She seems to be… bugs or other…" This was a man's voice coming from the small speakers on the screen. Not familiar.

"What… what is it?" Ben asked behind me and stepped even closer to me. However, I immediately shook my head and raised my hand to keep him silent.

"What exactly are you doing here?" The voice was now clearly understandable and it sent ice cold shivers down my back. Not only because it was so emotionless, but because I knew who it was - Gallagher. There was no doubt. How I hated this man… The video and our last meeting was so ingrained in my mind…

"She says she…"

"I want to hear it from her!"

There was a moment of a breathless silence. No, it was not breathless, because Cynthia's fast, anxious breathing could clearly be heard.

"I got busted," one could hear her now stammer bravely. "Henry, the idiot thought he could save his own life by betraying me. I only got enough warning to be able to escape them…"

"Just in time, huh?" There was such a lurking in Gallagher's voice I didn't like at all.

"Henry's dead," Cynthia went on bravely. "They injected him with this drug that you were able to develop because of his cooperation."

There was a chuckle, followed by an audible, almost contented sigh. "That's what you call a Nemesis. Although it is of course annoying that we've lost such a cooperative employee. That would make two in the last few days."

"Two?" Cynthia probed frightened.

"Oh, didn't anyone tell you? Jason was also found dead yesterday - or rather parts of him. We haven't put him completely together yet. It's almost like a puzzle."

I had wondered earlier why we hadn't heard anything from Jason for awhile and had asked myself what Gabriel was going to do with him. This probably settled the case. Gabriel seemed to be sticking to what he said in the last great vampire meeting. Traitors would be executed without mercy, once their betrayal was proven and their usefulness to the community used up.

"So you're saying you've been betrayed and are now on the run," I heard Gallagher go on and could tell he was approaching the transmitter. "But I still don't understand why you came here. As _I_ recall, our little joint venture ended the moment you supplied us with useless products."

Oh, that didn't sound good! Of course, this fact was not lost on him. One of the many risks we had been aware of but couldn't change.

"Actually, it's going to give me great pleasure to lock you up and let you sit and think about what I'm going to do to you to teach you it's not nice to mess with me." His voice was now booming, so he must have stepped up pretty close to poor Cynthia.

"But I don't think you're stupid enough to show up here and ask for help without having an ace in your pocket, so first of all I'll hold off taking 'care' of you and listen to what you have to offer."

Cynthia's swallow was heard loudly and clearly now.

"I… I still have contact with someone who works closely with the team around Gabriel. I… I can probably get you very important information."

"You said you were on the run…"

"Yes, but you have ways of helping me contact my source anew…"

The snide laughter that was heard immediately sent a whole series of unpleasant showers trickling down my spine. "You can _tell_ me a lot, Cynthia. What I need is proof!"

"I know for a fact they're planning to attack one of your labs tomorrow."

"I already_ know_ that."

I stumbled and my stomach made an artistic twirl.

"I even know which two laboratories are most at risk. So if you can't give me any more useful information than this, Cynthia, it means that we have no further use for you."

"I… I can get you, Mick's blood!" it burst out of Cynthia in panic and her words caused a tense moment of silence – and not just over there in the laboratory.

"Mick? You mean test subject No 230208."

There were steps in the background heard and then the voice of the soldier, who had spoken previously. "She brought this along."

I was sure that he meant the vial of Mick's blood which Gabriel had given Cynthia wisely.

"Why didn't you tell me about this immediately," Gallagher snapped at the man. Renewed silence. Gallagher was probably looking at the ampoule now. Really annoying that we still had no visual transmission. That had to change as soon as possible.

"Take this to Dr. Hopps. He needs to test this to see if it really is the blood of our 'lost son'!"

Again for a few seconds only noises of feet were heard, the opening of a door and the strained breathing of Cynthia.

"And you come with me now!" Gallagher uttered, now also clearly tense and he seemed to be moving together with our 'friend'. "I have no idea how you managed to get this, but if it's really the blood of our test object then you did have quite an ace up your sleeve…"

Something in his tone told me that he wasn't just pleased with that fact but also seemed little disappointed that he would no longer be able to take his anger out on Cynthia. For a while, nothing more than the sounds of footsteps on a hard floor was heard and the little dot on the screen started moving again, showing us additional walls and other rooms on our map. This really was working great.

"Where is he taking her?" I heard Talbot ask hesitantly and quietly behind me and I felt compelled to shrug my shoulders. The answer to his question came from the speakers. First, it was only the rattle of keys, then Cynthia's terrified voice.

"A prison cell? What… what are you doing?"

"You didn't seriously believe that I'd let you walk around here free, when we're still not sure whether you're telling the truth or not, did you?" Gallagher brought forth almost amused. "We'll first check the blood and if it's of any value to us, I'll then confer with Paul on how to proceed further…"

Paul… that could only be Ritchcroft! Once again, Gabriel had been right. This other important man of the Legion was also in the laboratory. It was incredible, somehow things really seemed to be falling into place.

I winced as a scream came from the speakers.

"You must keep very quiet for now…" Gallagher's voice was strangely soft and quiet, even though the threat that lay in his words was more than audible. "Otherwise I'll have to come up with something special, to make you much more cooperative."

The next sound that came from Cynthia was a tortured whimper and I knew that he must have somehow grabbed her, inflicted pain on her, so that she took him seriously. I did already.

"Believe me - no one can lie to me," he whispered now. "I can break even the strongest will… and I'm very creative…"

Cynthia inhaled haltingly. Again steps and the closing of a door could be heard, followed by oppressive silence that was broken only by Cynthia's fast breathing. And then the words came that none of us wanted to hear, that no one had expected, very quietly, not to hear for human ears: "There… there's no camera in here…"


	43. Blood of the Lily

_Hi my dears! I'm back with the next chapter and as you can guess by the title a few questions will be answered with this chapter. I really hope you like it, for I so enjoyed to write it. Thanks so much for your reviews. I loved them and wish I would have more time to respond to them. But I think that will only be the case when my vacation starts (one week before Christmas) until then I hope you don't mind that I only can thank you this short. You are my muses. I'll be back at Sunday with the next chapter and already wish you a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**B****lood of the Lily**

* * *

"_Each water has its source, each tree its roots."_

_From China_

* * *

Actually, the rattling of a train, the steady jostling and swaying in a cozy cabin, had always had in the past a calming effect on Beth. She had been able to relax with a book, or sometimes even lightly snooze the time away, knowing the train would bring her to her final destination, with no detours, traffic jams, rest breaks or other delays. Well, even trains could sometimes have technical problems, guaranteeing your late arrival, but so far she had been spared of this, and had had only good experiences with trains, and for the most part felt quite comfortable in them. Just not today. Today the calmness and serenity just wasn't there, just didn't seem to want to come and all Logan's sincere attempts at cheering her up and the casual conversation he tried to involve her in didn't change this.

Beth had been surprised that Gabriel had taken the young vampire along. She had initially assumed that the old vampire wanted to travel alone with her. And she wasn't sure yet if this sudden change of mind wasn't in some way linked to the incidents of last night, if maybe Gabriel simply didn't want to be alone with her again after their mental connection to prevent her from starting a conversation with him about the things she had seen. She couldn't do this as long as Logan was there anyway, not only because the thoughts that plagued her were just too personal, but also because she didn't want anyone to know that she had allowed Gabriel to bite her. This feeling of betrayal, of cheating on Mick had not left her, had even grown stronger as she had lain in Mick's arms last night and had recapitulated everything. She knew it would hurt him deeply if he found out about it, that it would not only drive a wedge between him and Gabriel, no one would be able to remove so quickly, but also between Mick and_ her_. He had always been hard on himself after he bit her, so how would he react once he found out another vampire had done this behind his back? No, he couldn't be allowed to learn this _ever_ and this alone was reason enough to urgently speak with Gabriel, although at the same time she was terribly afraid to and could hardly bring herself to look him in the eye right now.

Three things she absolutely had to clear up with him before their mission. First, how they should deal with the incident between them; secondly what exactly was going on with her and, thirdly, what was the story behind the images from Gabriel's past and how did they relate to their current situation. That they _were _related, of this Beth was sure. She had been able to feel it somehow.

"Is everything all right?" Logan's timid voice ripped her from her thoughts and Beth almost winced. She nodded quickly and gave him a short, slightly cramped smile.

"I'm just asking because you look so pale again," the young vampire added, and raised his eyebrows questioningly. "When was the last time you ate something?"

She really had to think about it and noticed that her stomach was already actually begging for attention. "Earlier, shortly after searching for our compartment…"

"And are there any of Ruth's sandwiches left?"

Beth opened her backpack and quickly looked through it. An embarrassed grin crept to her lips as she raised her gaze again and looked at Logan. She hadn't even noticed she had eaten them all – all three of them, really quite a record for her.

Logan let out a chuckle, shut his laptop, placed it beside him on the seat and stood up. "I'll go get you something from the dining car," he grinned and walked to the door. "To starve isn't good for you…"

Beth laughed. "I'm not _starved_…"

Logan wanted to say something, but he didn't get the chance because at that very moment the cabin door opened and Gabriel entered. It had been a while since he had gone out into the corridor to make an important phone call and now gave a slightly more relaxed impression than before. He eyed up Logan shortly and raised his brows.

"Where are you going?"

"To the dining car," Logan said quickly. "Beth needs something to eat!"

Beth immediately shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed. "No, I…"

"That's a good idea," Gabriel cut her off easily. "And take your time."

Now, it was Logan's eyebrows that wandered upwards a little.

"Beth and I have some important issues to discuss," was Gabriel's surprising answer to Logan's non-verbal question. She had not really expected him to be the one to volunteer to her interrogation, and somehow her heart immediately began to up its speed.

Logan nodded understandingly. "Then… I'll be back in an hour?"

Gabriel thought a moment and then shook his head. "Better make it two."

Now, Beth's eyebrows moved upwards. Two hours? It appeared as though Gabriel's need for discussion was just as great - and the speed of her pulse moved into an unhealthy direction. She almost felt tempted to stop Logan to ask him to stay with her, to hold her hand during the talk – _almost_, because the majority of her mind really wanted a private conversation, without other participants around, who could join in with unwanted questions. So she let Logan leave, but her eyes turned away from Gabriel. Instead she looked out the window somewhat ill at ease. She listened as the door of the compartment was pushed closed and then noticed from the corner of her eye that the old vampire walked to the row of seats opposite her and then reached for his bag, which he had previously pushed into the luggage compartment above the seats. He took something out and then sat down directly opposite her.

Beth couldn't help it. Her eyes automatically darted over to him, first, slid over his hands that had closed around the aged cover of a very thick book and then roamed up to his face. The cool determination that had been his constant companion since the early hours of the morning had now mostly disappeared from his face. Instead, there was a warm sparkle in these incredibly blue, expressive eyes, mixed with a hint of uncertainty and sadness.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday evening," it slipped only very lowly from the old vampire's lips. "I should have known that this would happen when I bite you. I could have tested your blood in another way, without putting us both through this… this feeling of chaos. That was thoughtless, unnecessary and deeply selfish of me. I didn't quite have myself under control yesterday. And for that I humbly apologize."

Beth was speechless for a moment. Gabriel's little speech was really surprising and difficult to process because she didn't know exactly what to make of it or how to deal with it. So she just nodded and cleared her throat. This was actually the perfect opportunity to address one of her biggest concerns.

"We… we should keep this whole thing just between us," she said quickly, looking intently at Gabriel.

"If you mean that Mick shouldn't know about me biting you, then, on that point we agree," Gabriel responded calmly. "I don't think he currently has the mindset to understand such an act. And we shouldn't burden him further with it."

Again, she responded with a nod, but furrowed her brows slightly, because Gabriel looked at her now with a deeply thoughtful expression.

"I _do_ think, however, that _you_ at least should finally learn what's behind all this chaos around us," the old vampire continued. "Everything you _want_ to know and everything you _need_ to know. For you _and_ for Mick, since Mick himself is not able to process…," he raised the book, "… this here. But I think_ you_ can handle it."

Beth's eyebrows automatically moved towards each other, as she took a closer look at the old book in the vampire's hands. It was really thick, with two locks on the front, a dark frame and an equally dark cross in the middle - a Lily Cross, if Beth wasn't mistaken.

"What… what is that?" she stammered in confusion. "Is this the book of the _Sangsujet_?"

"It is," Gabriel replied with an almost solemn nod and Beth could hardly believe it when he reached out his hands in her direction and held the book out to her. She first had to catch her breath before she was able to take it and bed it carefully onto her lap. Her gaze slid once more over the old, brown cover and her fingers instinctually followed the hard contours of the lily cross in the middle.

"How old is it?" it slipped only very softly, almost reverently from her lips.

"The first entries are about thousand and eight hundred years old and written on papyrus. I put them in there when I made the book."

Beth raised her gaze in bewilderment. "That old? I… I thought the development of the cure started around the Middle Ages…"

Gabriel gave her a gentle smile. "No, that's when the first violent conflicts arose with the Legion. The cure has been around much longer. Even longer than this book. Of course, the cure has continually been further developed, but its origins go back to the time of the Sumerians…"

Beth looked at the old vampire for a long time, speechless, while the thoughts in her head were spinning. "Mick said you were born as a Sumerian… And in our last talk with you it sounded as if the cure was not only developed _by_ you and some of the other Ancients, but also _for _you…"

"Not just _for_ me but _through_ me," Gabriel corrected her gently and in doing so confused her even more.

"I… I don't understand," she stammered, and he nodded immediately.

"To understand this, one must first know what the original cure was made of."

"And what _was_ it made of?" Beth just had to ask the question that Gabriel had previously never wanted to answer. But he seemed to have changed his mind, inhaled deeply to actually respond.

"It consists of the juice of an extinct lily, the blood of a Sangsujet and of _my_ blood, Beth."

"Of _your_ blood?" she repeated incredulously.

"_My_ blood is more or less the key to everything that's happening around us…"

"Vampire blood?"

He shook his head a little impatiently. "I'm not a normal vampire, Beth. My father was a human being and my mother was a Nigong."

Once again, Beth stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing how to react to this information. Gabriel waited patiently, until she had recovered enough from her shock so that she could speak again.

"But… but then… then you're half Nigong. But you… you said earlier you were turned by another vampire and didn't transform on your own into a vampire."

"And this is true. I do indeed have the genes for the building of vampire hormones, but I was not able to mutate into a vampire on my own. This, only very few halfbreeds could do. Like many other offspring between a human and a Nigong, I actually should have died. That I didn't was only because my father was a powerful king and was able to consult with the most experienced doctors to keep his heir alive. I didn't die right away because I had also inherited a few cells that could produce the blocking agents, and along with the application of some herbal remedies, it kept me alive long enough for the doctors to find the cure that would ultimately save my life."

"The juice of the lily," Beth concluded impressed and Gabriel nodded with a small smile.

"It increased the effect of the blocking agents in me, activated my cells to dramatically reproduce more and even strengthened my immune system to fight against the harmful vampire-hormones. But unfortunately, this juice also had a few unpleasant side effects, caused hallucinations and a state similar to drug intoxication. And its effects faded quickly. It wasn't an optimal solution and the doctors couldn't predict how long I would live using this juice."

"That's why you had to be turned," Beth understood immediately.

"I actually wanted it," Gabriel gave back quietly. "We thought the vampire who transformed me at that time to be a goddess, and because of all the life-threatening situations I had gone through my desire to achieve immortality had grown so much, that I didn't waste any thoughts on what the disadvantages of my new form of existence would mean for me. I just did it and then felt much better, more powerful than I ever had before."

"Did the negative aspects of vampire life not disturb you?" Beth just had to know.

"Through my genetics I've always been a very special vampire," Gabriel answered without hesitation. "I still am. I still have cells, which from time to time still produce blocking agents - even though I don't take the cure. There are days when these cells are suddenly more active and almost turn me back into a human. Then, the sun doesn't harm me and I can eat normal human food, can almost taste and feel like a human. But usually this only lasts a few hours and I can't control it."

"But… while we were in the hospital during the mission you transformed into a human…" Beth knew.

"With the help of a weakened form of the cure," he replied, smiling. "Without at least a _little_ help, I can't do it on command. Only Mick can do this. But I can still turn back into a vampire without assistance. This I have absolute control over."

"How?"

"Centuries of training. I've learned to do many things just by concentrated exercise. Many of my skills are not as mysterious as most people think and could actually be learned by many other vampires. Other skills are indeed special."

Beth looked at him for a moment quite thoughtfully, then she breathed deeply and tried again to concentrate on what they had just talked about.

"How old were you when you were turned?"

"Sixteen. Back then this was a mature age."

Beth cocked her head, narrowed her eyes a little. "Since you were turned and your problems were solved, why did you continue working on the cure?"

"I didn't," was Gabriel's amazing response. "At least not at first. It's just that your Sire has amazing access to your emotional state and to your mind so you automatically open up to them, entrust them with secrets that nobody else knows. It was in this way that my Sire also learned of the effect of the juice of the lily on my body. She asked me to drink the juice again and I turned back into a human before her eyes - but only for a few minutes. With her, the juice had no effect. We now think it has something to do with the bloodline and the age of the vampire. Some vampires who are direct descendents from the bloodline of the Nigong also have cells that produce these blocking agents. This diminishes with the advancing age of the vampire so much so that they one day become useless and don't react to the pure juice of the lily. But my Sire noticed that if she drank my blood after I had again become human, she could also transform back into a human for a few minutes. She brought the cure to the other powerful 'deities' and they began to investigate this further. Eventually, they noticed that the effect would last longer if I drank the blood of a certain blood type and then took the juice of the lily and that was how they discovered all the ingredients for the cure."

Beth frowned. "Does that mean they wanted to be human again?"

"They wanted what the Legion now also wants, what all groups who have ever heard of the cure want: to combine the advantages of both species and to mutate into the most powerful beings in the world. The Ancients were quite different from today's vampires. They were actually more similar to humans, since they, like me, didn't have as many problems with sun light and human food like modern vampires do, but in return they suffered from sever illness and disease-like conditions, because back then they didn't have the advantage of cooling down their bodies as much. With the help of the cure they could survive these problems and their wish to live a better form of existence of course became immense."

"Does that mean _they_ created these lists of people with specific blood types?" Beth asked straight out, and Gabriel nodded immediately.

"There were very few bloodlines from which people with this particular blood type were born, whose blood brought about the required reaction with my blood and the juice of the lily," Gabriel explained. "The _Blood of the Lily_, as we called this special blood and also the later cure, was inherited very unpredictably. It could skip a whole generation and then suddenly reappear in an enhanced form or completely disappear from a blood line. Therefore, it was necessary to observe all blood lines in which the _Blood of the Lily_ had already been passed and to test it again and again. Each member of the Council of Elders was entrusted with two blood lines, dedicated himself to their exploration and documentation…"

"Then you were one of the Elders?" Beth just had to ask in between, but basically knew already since she had the evidence of this in her hands.

"Yes, inevitably, since I was, through my genetics, incredibly important for the _Anunna_," Gabriel gave back quietly and Beth thought to hear a hint of bitterness in his voice. "And one of the blood-lines I was assigned to observe was my own."

Pictures of Gabriel's memories flashed up in front of Beth's mind and immediately brought back some of her initial excitement. "_Your_ blood line," she repeated. "This means that you had already fathered children as a human being…"

He shook his head and she looked at him puzzled, at the same time feeling a strange flutter in her stomach. She had seen that Gabriel had had a child and had guessed that this had happened when he had still or again been human. But if he had not fathered it as a human being…

"But I had a sister," Gabriel rescued her from the unsettling spiral of thoughts into which she had just started to move. "A sister who had the _Blood of the Lily_ in her - unlike me."

Beth's eyes slid over the cover of the book. _She _was listed in this book – this Gabriel had confessed to her last night. "Does… does that mean I come of her?" Beth put her exciting thoughts into words, wide-eyed, and was once again surprised by a shake of his head.

"Not you…"

"_Mick_?" Beth eyes indeed became even wider. "But then… it means he's related to you!"

Gabriel nodded with a small smile and Beth could tell he more than liked this fact. "And not just in this respect."

Beth hesitated, drew her brows together confused. "What do you mean?"

Gabriel's chest expanded under the deep breath that he had to take now to continue, and his eyes wandered over to the window of their compartment, stared into the distance at things that seemed to be such a long time ago. "Do you still remember what you saw yesterday, when I drank your blood?" he asked quietly.

Beth nodded and knew that the old vampire perceived it, even though he still hadn't looked back at her. How could she have forgotten this? It had been so upsetting that she hadn't been able to sleep half the night - despite the warm, protective body behind her that she had snuggled into.

"Open the book," the old vampire told her softly and Beth lowered her eyes again, looked at it for a moment with a pounding heart, before she opened the two locks and lifted the cover. The first few pages were yellowed and some heavily damaged. They were indeed made of papyrus and, as far as Beth could tell, were written in Latin. At the top of each page were letters and numbers, and Beth was sure that this information was from the Roman calendar.

"Turn to the third page," Gabriel went on with a strangely heavy voice and Beth very carefully turned over the papyrus. At the top stood a name and behind it a date: _Laelia, a. Kal. Jun, anno 949 a.u.c_. The notes beneath, she couldn't really decipher and so she looked up again, searched Gabriel's gaze, whose bright eyes now rested on her face again.

"You need to know that for a long time the _Sangsujets_ knew who we were and what role they played for us," the vampire said softly. "They weren't just preyed on by us but mostly led a life of wealth and without concern. Their only duty was to inform us of each new birth and, when the time came, to allow us do some tests on these humans. If it turned out that one of these young humans carried the blood of the Lily in them, they had to hand them over to us."

Beth stared at him stunned. "_Hand them over_?"

Gabriel nodded troubled and Beth could see that from today's standpoint he considered this behavior as barbaric as she did.

"And… and what exactly was done to these humans?" she asked with uneasiness, because she knew only too well she wasn't going to like what was to follow.

This time Gabriel had visible difficulty voicing the truth, apparently struggling with himself because it took several minutes before he spoke again. And he did it very quietly. "They were left to bleed, so the _Annuna_ could produce as much of the cure as possible with them."

Beth's eyes widened in horror. "You… you killed them…," she whispered and knew she was right. Gabriel's gaze shifted to his hands which were still in his lap as though they could not hurt anyone. But the man had committed so many murders, had brought, with the other Ancients, so much misery upon these innocent people.

"Only some of them - not all," he said softly.

"Yes, of course!" Beth gasped indignantly for air. "Because some of them still had to reproduce, so you could replenish your supplies for your great cure!"

Gabriel inhaled through his nose audibly. "I can understand your repugnance, Beth, and I even despise myself today for many of the things I did as a young vampire. It took me a long time before I figured out that to possess power and not use it for the good of others, is one of the greatest sins in this world. I needed another person to really open my eyes to this." Gabriel's chest rose and fell once more under a heavy breath, his gaze wandered over to the opened page beneath Beth's fingers. "Laelia was a Sangsujet. She was the daughter of a wealthy Roman merchant and a slave and became one of the most incredible people to ever walk this earth. Strong, passionate, just, kind and so full of love…" Gabriel paused, and visibly clenched his jaw, because apparently his feelings threatened to overwhelm him. After all the years that had passed since then, his feelings for this woman still seemed to be too intense to bear - and that allowed Beth to feel compassion for him, despite the atrocities that he and the other vampires had done to the Sangsujet.

"Normally, the Sangsujet were tested for their… usefulness when they were fully grown," the old vampire continued heavily. "But I… I couldn't do this with her. That was clear to me the first time I looked into her eyes. Some… some people touch you so deeply inside… They just grab your heart and never release it again…"

Beth nodded silently and felt deeply touched when Gabriel looked at her with this suspicious glistening in his eyes, seeking the understanding that she, only too willingly, gave him. Mick was such a person and she knew that to lose him would tear her heart into pieces, just as Laelia's death did with Gabriel's heart.

"I… I knew I could never hurt her in any way," Gabriel went on quietly and with a slightly trembling voice. "I left her alone, took care of the other Sangsujets, trying to divert the other's attention from her, to somehow protect her. But eventually the Council of Elders found out and demanded that I not only test her blood, but try to transform her…" Gabriel paused again, shaking with a slightly desperate looking smile his face. "Of course she had the _Blood of the Lily_ and to such a strong degree that once I had bitten her I didn't even need the juice of the lily to turn into a human. She was, with my blood, as compatible as no one else before. And when I realized that…" Gabriel swallowed hard. "I… I couldn't hand her over and just let her die. Somehow I felt that she was of great importance to my life and I just took her and escaped with her - as far away as possible. And we indeed managed to remain undetected for several years. What I didn't expect was that… that she…"

"… she would fall in love with her guardian," Beth added in a husky voice, while an all too familiar burning rose up into her eyes and nose.

"And he with her," Gabriel brought out only very softly and when he looked up again, with this melancholy, yet incredibly warm smile on his lips, she knew he would voice what she was thinking. "Sometimes it's quite mysterious how some stories repeat. As if they long for a different ending."

A different ending… Yes, Mick's and her story just _had_ to have a different ending!

"She died…, didn't she?" Beth breathed and blinked, struggling with the tears that just didn't want to disappear.

Gabriel nodded, and the deep sadness in his eyes was back, passing over to Beth more and more. "And a part of me died with her," it slipped barely audible from his lips.

"Who… who killed her?" Beth brought out only in a whisper.

"Roman Legionnaires," Gabriel replied now again a little more firmly. "But they were acting on behalf of others…"

Other people… Beth knew who these others were. She shook her head, deeply shaken. "Why?"

"In the end they just wanted revenge for my betrayal. They didn't care what kind of precious blood they shed there…"

Beth now also breathed deeply, trying to sort her thoughts better. She knew that there was another important part to this story, she absolutely had to know, but she just had to throw one question in between. It was simply too urgent, weighed too heavily on her heart. "If Mick is of your bloodline, then…"

"… you are of Laelia's," Gabriel finished her sentence.

Beth swallowed hard. That wasn't necessarily a comforting thought. "And this… _Blood of the Lily_ flows in my veins," she continued to get her concerns off her chest. "How… how strong is it in me?"

"Very strong."

"As strong as in Laelia?"

Beth's heart was beating really fast by now and when Gabriel nodded again it even made a small troubled leap.

"That's why no one should know about this, Beth," Gabriel added worriedly and looked at her intently. "Not any other human nor other vampires close to you. It's enough that Mick and I know it."

"And… _does_ Mick already know about this?"

"Not in detail, but I think his ideas are already moving in that direction."

Beth closed her eyes, pushing her anger about Mick's silence on this issue to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on what was really important, on verbalizing the thoughts and questions that moved her so since the previous evening. "You said yesterday the changes in my body are related to the activation of these special cells in me, and that… that all this could even kill me in the end. Does he know that as well?"

"No, and he shouldn't."

"Why not? That was the reason for biting me - to be able to determine, if I'm seriously sick…"

Gabriel smiled again in that strange way and shook his head. "No, for some time I've had a very different assumption about the reason for your changes. And this has been confirmed."

Beth's guts knotted up and she swallowed hard. Her eyes evaded his gaze, roamed down to the book again, the fine hieroglyphics that had brought Laelia's name at once so very close to her. The images of Gabriel's memories came flooding back. Laelia in his arms, his hands gently caressing her rounded belly, the baby in his hands… the baby…

'It can't be. It can't,' it was hammering in her head, though she dared not even think about it. She felt sick again and suddenly felt so weak and shaky. God! Weren't those even the signs for it?

She noticed from the corner of her eye that the old vampire got up, came over to her and then crouched down in front of her. The knot in Beth's intestines became even stronger as she now looked into his incredibly compassionate, warm blue eyes, and at once could see how much hope and joy had been revived in them.

"Beth…" He laid his hands on hers that now clung somewhat cramped onto the book and he looked up to her from below. "You _know_ it… You can feel it," she heard him whisper.

She shook her head, although that was a lie. She felt it_ exactly_, had actually felt it for some time. She just hadn't wanted to admit it, hadn't allowed her mind to take this unthinkable idea and turn it into true knowledge.

"You're pregnant, Beth," the old vampire voiced the words she didn't dare think. "You carry new life under your heart, new life you and Mick have created together…"

Beth couldn't help it. She shook her head vehemently immediately fighting this thought and the chaos of feelings that was arising in her. "That… that's not possible. Vampires cannot father children…" She had already faced that long ago, had not allowed herself to entertain this kind of thought in her relationship with Mick again…

"Mick is not a vampire anymore," Gabriel replied softly. "And you're not a normal human either. If you were, then indeed this probably could not have happened, but… it was fate that allowed you to take in his blood, to change something in you, that it changed you in a way that you and Mick are suddenly also genetically compatible."

Beth couldn't breathe for a moment, pressed her hand to her chest, as if she could hold her wildly beating heart in check that way, while hot tears shot into her eyes unrestrained.

"This… this cannot be…" she finally managed to stammer in a husky voice, still shaking her head. "It… it's not possible… Not now… not in this…" She couldn't continue, because somehow a desperate sob slipped out of her throat and made sure that the first tears were running down her cheek uncontrollably. A child? A child of Mick's? My God! Gone was the air again.

"Breathe, Beth," the warm, soft sound of Gabriel's voice penetrated her confused, almost panicky mind and she obeyed, sucked, between two more sobs, air deeply into her lungs.

"Everything's going to be fine," the old vampire continued softly and his large, warm hand stroked her arm reassuringly. "The baby will be healthy. It won't have its father's problems."

Beth bravely blinked away her tears, tried to focus on speaking, to at least be able to get rid of _some _of her frightening thoughts, to free herself from the chaos inside her. "No… no half-vampire?" she stammered jerkily and a warm, compassionate smile played about Gabriel's lips before he nodded.

"No drugs, no painful cramps, no thirst for blood… He or she will be able to live a normal life."

A wave of relief washed over her and took at least one of her biggest concerns with it. "But… why… did I…" God, it was so difficult to speak, when you couldn't breathe properly at the same time.

"Why did you still develop these abilities?" the old vampire finished her question correctly and this time she nodded silently.

"Because the child in you is still special," was the alarming answer. "Mick and you created out of your love for each other something that everyone else has only tried to gain by force before. Your child is the perfect form of what Mick actually should have become. A human who unites the advantages of both forms of existence…"

"A… a Nigong?" Beth gasped in disbelief now.

Gabriel thought for a moment, then nodded. "In a modified form…"

A baby with supernatural skills… pregnant by a human-vampire hybrid… It all sounded so unreal. She still couldn't really believe it and yet felt slowly that a big part of her initial panic and desperation for some reason evaporated, allowing her to calm down slowly.

"How… how do you know this for sure?" Beth asked now a bit firmer and wiped with one hand the slowly dwindling tears from her cheeks.

There it was again, this deep sadness that Gabriel usually knew to hide so well from the eyes of others'. Yet, he forced himself to smile. "Because my son was also special. Laelia showed during her pregnancy the same signs as you have, the same strength and problems. I must admit that in the beginning it hadn't dawned on me that a pregnancy was the reason for the changes in you. It was only when I heard that your last contact with vampire blood was so long ago, that it occurred to me that something like this had happened once before, and the reason for it. And from that moment on I knew that you must have somehow ingested Mick's blood. And when you did, you acquainted your body with his vampire side and thus ensured that you could conceive a child together. It's just… just miraculous…"

That was it. And scary. And exciting… Pregnant… A normal pregnancy was already an earth-shaking thing, but this…

"What… what exactly… happened with Laelia during her pregnancy?" Beth brought out with difficulty.

"The child in her adjusted her metabolism to its needs," Gabriel responded gently and stood up, sat down on the seat beside her. Beth turned to him and swallowed hard.

"Does that mean that she herself became a Nigong?"

The old vampire cocked his head and thought a little longer about the question. "I think, in a way. Only not quite so special, not quite so strong."

"Meaning?"

"Your strength will not necessarily increase much more. It will remain at whatever level you'll reach by the time the baby's heart begins to beat."

Beth held her breath once more. _Heartbeat_? Suddenly, the idea of being pregnant became much more real and a strange warm feeling went through her chest, began to fight back her still continuing fears and concerns, slowly dissolving the tensions in her interior. "And… _is_ there already a heartbeat?" she now asked, wondering about the hope and excitement in her voice. Just now, the thought of being pregnant had deeply shocked her but suddenly she _wanted_ the heart of the little human inside her to already be beating? Yes… deep inside her heart she wanted it…

Gabriel leaned toward her, closed his eyes and concentrated for a few seconds. When a warm smile slipped on his lips, Beth's eyes filled with tears again, only this time they weren't tears of fear and despair. The warm feeling inside her grew, now completely chased away her discomfort. Her hand moved to her belly, touched it, trembling. '_New Life'_ Mick and her had created… a baby… _their _baby…

"Beth, I just want you to know that this child won't take anything away from you, but will only give you so much more," said Gabriel quietly now. "Of course in your situation it's particularly difficult to deal with such thoughts right now. Apart from the fact that you're constantly moving in great danger, you two have not even had enough time to get used to the idea of being a couple. And with the situation we've been in, you still aren't really acquainted with each other and the baby's not going to make this any easier. But there are some reasons that may help you to look forward to the baby: This child will develop much more slowly in your belly than any other child, because in her or his body and yours there are still much more complicated processes taking place than with a normal pregnancy. Furthermore Laelia kept her abilities even after the birth - which suggests that the changes will remain in you, perhaps permanently, and you will most likely live longer than any other normal person in this world. And _most_ importantly: you and Mick, you love each other so much, how can a child born from this union, not enrich your life?"

Beth avoided his gaze, staring at the book on her lap. "I… I'm just so scared," she whispered. "You were right when you said that I must have felt it long ago. I think I _have_, but… it's simply not the right time, because so much around us is still so terribly chaotic. Mick is still not himself, the Legion is chasing us all, and we're constantly in danger… where… where is there room for a baby?" She took a trembling breath. "Mick and I, we… we have to fight so hard for our relationship and haven't even been able to consistently cope with each other yet. We don't even know if our relationship will survive all this …"

The sobbing was unstoppable, just as the tears now running down her cheeks were again. Gabriel's gaze became very soft and compassionate, and as he put his arms around her and drew her to his chest, she didn't resist, just dropped against him, like last night, hid her face at his chest and cried her sorrows away quietly. Even though his journey into the past had upset the old vampire so emotionally, he still radiated a strength and calmness that did her incredibly well, which gave her a feeling of security and protection, a feeling that she absolutely needed in her sensitive state right now. Why did everything always have to be so complicated? Why did good things always seem to arrive at such a bad time, that she simply had to think of them as something bad? If their lives had continued more normally, if they had had the opportunity to develop their relationship properly, to become acquainted, to get used to each other without all this stress, without this life-threatening situation, then this miracle that was growing there in her belly would have made their happiness perfect, would have made her cheer and shed only tears of joy. But because it _wasn't_ this way her fears and concerns were so colossally huge that it really was hard for her to be happy.

"A love like yours will survive any obstacle, Beth," she heard Gabriel say now quietly, and the vibration of his chest while speaking had a really calming effect on her. "I'm not saying that all this will be easy for you - but you'll make it and in the end you will be able to be truly happy about this child."

Beth sniffled audibly and leaned slowly backwards, wiped one hand over her tear-stained cheeks. She had to look terrible.

"Mick always wanted children," she replied softly. "He was so unhappy that his vampire existence deprived him of this joy. But I don't know how… how he'll react when he learns that he will now still be a… a father. His nerves are so fragile…"

Gabriel nodded in agreement. "They are indeed and you should in no case overcome him with this, but wait for the right moment."

"I don't know with our current situation if such a moment will ever come," Beth said with a slight shake of the head.

"It will," said the old vampire with a confidence that she herself couldn't understand at the moment. "And if Mick previously suffered from not being able to father children, then he will calm down quite quickly, despite all the excitement and be glad in the end very much."

Beth took a deep breath. "Above all he'll be terribly worried. That the baby might be a half-vampire, or not be healthy, or about what would happen if others learn of my pregnancy, what happens if…" She broke off. That was indeed a scary thought. What _would_ happen when others learned of the child?

"No one is _allowed_ to learn of this, Beth," Gabriel said at once. "It has to be kept secret, even once we've come to grips with our problems with the Legion. But I'm sure it will be possible. We'll think of something. Fortunately, the slow growth of the baby will allow a little more generous time-frame. We'll be able to wangle it. I promise you!"

"And… and if they hear it?" Beth asked with trepidation. "I mean the other vampires - when they hear the baby's heartbeat?"

"They won't," Gabriel tried to reassure her immediately. "Your baby's heart does not beat as fast as the heart of a normal baby. It's only a little faster than yours, and will more likely be perceived by most vampires as a slight anomaly in _your_ heartbeat - like a small cardiac defect. You don't need to worry about this."

Beth took a deep, heavy breath, tried everything to relax. Her eyes wandered to her hand that had somehow automatically roamed back to her belly. "I wish I could hear it," she murmured softly.

"But you _can_," she heard Gabriel's voice beside her and she looked at him in surprise. "You only have to focus on your sense of hearing. Close your eyes. It works better."

Beth didn't hesitate, but simply did what Gabriel told her.

"Find your own heartbeat first," he whispered now. "And once you have it, you only need to listen for the weaker thumping lying further down in your body."

Beth focused, trying to breathe deeply and calmly, although she was at the same time terribly excited. To find her own heart beat was not difficult and the more she concentrated the more clearly she also heard the opening and closing of her heart valves, the noise of her own blood rushing through her veins… and there it was. Weaker, quieter, a thumping that followed the louder sound of her own heart. Beth throat narrowed and her nose began to tingle. The heartbeat of her baby, their little miracle, sometimes quiet, sometimes louder, sometimes in sync with her own heartbeat, sometimes a little bit delayed. It really existed, lived and grew slowly inside her. Beth again raised her eyelids and felt the tears break from her lashes. But this time they weren't tears of sadness or despair, but tears of joy and as she looked into Gabriel's smiling face, a noise came from her throat, which was kind of a laugh _and_ a sob. She knew that Gabriel understood her without words: never in her life before had she heard a more beautiful sound than this faint thumping.


	44. Change of Plan

_I'm really, really sorry that I couldn't post this chapter earlier but we weren't able to get this ready in time. But now it is ready and I can post it. Thank you so, so much for the many (and long) reviews. Loved them so much and promise that someday I will respond to them in more detail again. I'm so happy that you all liked the idea of Beth being pregnant so much! That's just great and it's so motivating. Nevertheless I also have to put up here on this site an announcement concerning my updates, that I've posted on two other sites as well:_ _The English version of 'Blood of the Lily' has almost caught up with the German one so I need to slow down the updating pace a bit to keep up a regular posting rhythm - I thought about every five days and will then let it change into once a week. This would mean that, when I post the next chapter today, that the next will be posted at Saturday. _

_I really hope you don't mind and still read on my story, even though you now have to wait a bit longer for the continuation. I'll do my best to write on my story as fast as possible. And now I wish you much fun with the next chapter. See you at Saturday again, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**C****hange of Plan**

A dot. One small blinking dot and the sound of strained breathing - that was all Cynthia had been reduced to. So far away from them and yet so close. A traitor and yet an accomplice. In fact she was one of the key elements in this pretty bold action, she and the technology she was carrying.

"And she said it was a holding cell where she was taken?" Mick asked, still staring strained at the screen, blocking out the murmuring of the others around him as best he could.

Seth, who was sitting in front of him nodded hurriedly and Mick took a deep breath, and ran a hand nervously across his chin. The virtual plans that had been created on the screen had of course not shown what the rooms were being used for, but if Cynthia said she was in a cell, then it was a huge possibility that the rooms next to and across from her were also holding cells. That's how it had been in the other laboratories… and in the one he himself had been held in. And if that were true, then Frank had to be in one of these cells.

Mick closed his eyes briefly tried to fight the growing feeling of tightness in his chest, to allow no room for the images of his memories in his troubled mind.

"Well, she may not be able to get to the cameras right now," he forced himself to consider aloud, "but maybe she'll take this as her opportunity to find out where Frank is."

"Maybe," Josef agreed with him. His friend was leaning against the table next to him, his arms crossed over his chest, and tilted his head as if carefully weighing this statement. "If in fact he's even there."

"_He's_ there," Mick added immediately in a firm voice, looking sternly at his best friend. Doubts were less than helpful – and he had enough of them himself. What he needed now was a little more assurance. Frank_ had_ to be there! They couldn't risk all their lives for nothing. Because with every passing minute, with each bit of shocking news, it became more and more clear that_ that _was exactlywhat they were about to do.

"Okay, okay," Josef raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "I see it's time to wake the merry, little optimist, which is surely lying dormant _somewhere_ within me. But you have to admit there hasn't really been a reason for me to do this lately."

Josef was referring to the fact that in addition to his growing suspicions, that they were heading into a trap, some things weren't working out as they should right now. Mainly Cynthia's inability to tap into the cameras of the laboratory was to blame for this. Without the cameras, without the pictures or other evidence of the things that were happening down there, Ben wasn't going to be able to guarantee them the support they greatly needed for their withdrawal from the laboratory. The lawyer had informed Mick about this when he had met him at the front door upon his arrival. It had been strange to see him again after those two days. Somehow, this old hostility, this mistrust between them had suddenly disappeared. Instead, Mick had had the feeling he was meeting with an ally - not only in terms of the Legion, but also in relation to their uncovering what was going on in the background. A exchange of views had been enough to let them know that they were both a bit wiser than before, but that they still didn't know everything and urgently _had_ to and _wanted_ to hold on to their so quickly conceived conspiracy plans.

"Take care of yourselves," Ben had said before he had gone with Carl to his car to organize other important things, and besides his sincere concern regarding their mission, a clear 'I still need you' had been heard in his voice.

"See you," Mick had replied with a nod and in doing so made the promise that he would be meeting him again soon. Then the lawyer was gone, and Mick prayed inwardly, that he might still succeed in gaining full control of the police force. Gabriel's plan, because of the time pressure they were under, and the short preparation time, was on really shaky ground. Any complication, any unforeseen changes could bring all their plans crashing down on itself – of that Mick was sure. Although Gabriel on the outside pretended with this mission he had everything under control - Mick simply felt this was more illusion than reality and therefore knew it was more important than ever to put the leadership of the various actions into the hands of capable fighters. Ben seemed to be such a fighter. That he had succeeded in such a short amount of time to take advantage of his contacts so that he not only protected himself somehow from the Legion but could also rely on the help of the local DA's office and police without the Legion becoming aware, took tremendous skill and a keen mind. Of course he wasn't a miracle worker and couldn't prevent certain difficulties from arising. But it still wasn't pleasant to constantly be reminded of the risks involved with this mission. And that was why Mick could only roll his eyes at Josef's comment and then preferred to turn to Seth again.

"Is there anything else Cynthia can do while she's in there or_ is_ already doing?"

"Well, her transmitter is receiving the signals around it," the young vampire said. "Because of that we know what frequency they're on, and we might be able to hack into it."

"To do what?" Mick asked keen-eared.

"Send a false alarm?" Seth suggested with a shrug after a moment's hesitation. "In any case this is what Gabriel asked for yesterday and was quite pleased when I was able to confirm it."

"I think this is how he's planning to get a team into the lab," Guillermo joined in from the background and Mick could now feel that he had broken off his conversation with Malik and approached them, although Lance was standing right behind Mick and the Mexican couldn't stand the Frenchman. "But I'm not sure of that either."

No one was 'sure', because they each only knew a small part of the whole plan and had actually been waiting for Gabriel to finally appear and put it all together for them. The strategy Gabriel had come up with had worked: No one knew exactly how and when everything would take place and Mick was also sure that each team that had previously appeared had been given a different purpose for this mission. But now, Gabriel had to hurry with his appearance, for this had already started to cause some problems and anger to spread among those present. While you waited, you talked and the more you talked, the more you learned of things that didn't please you…

Mick and Lance had arrived at their new meeting place late in the afternoon and thus were among the last of the 'teams' that had still been missing. Besides the familiar faces of his friends and some members of the inner circle, two teams of the Cleaners had also arrived and had increased the numbers of their task force considerably. It did indeed look as if Gabriel was preparing for a small battle and that fact only heightened the steadily mounting unrest in Mick's gut. In real battles, losses were usually not one-sided. They could count themselves lucky that they had gotten off so lightly in their recent actions. It certainly wouldn't remain that way forever…

"Were you able to find out, whether the lab actually has a hidden emergency exit somewhere?" Patricia, one of the leaders of the Cleaner's teams that had just approached them inquired, and Mick sat up and looked at her frowning.

"All the other labs had at least one," she added, explaining, "and Gabriel said we should try to get in that way."

"Well, we're not completely sure," said Thomas, who was sitting at one of the other monitors and had turned to her, "but one of the on-site observation teams sent these pictures a few hours ago."

He clicked on a video icon on his screen and Mick was fast approaching, even a little faster than Patricia. The recording showed the entrance of a small mom-and-pop store in fast motion. There wasn't really much activity there but from time to time someone would go in and out again. Then something strange happened: Three men had exited that had not previously gone in. Their civilian clothes had not helped them – as far as Mick knew, teleporting hadn't been invented yet and that only left one explanation: They had to have come from somewhere else.

"That's it," Patricia voiced Mick's thought and a small, satisfied smile appeared on her lips. "Looks like we really will have something to do soon."

"Do you have any idea where it leads to in the laboratory?" Mick addressed his question to Thomas. The elder vampire nodded to Seth and only a few seconds later, the floor plan appeared on his monitor. He pointed to a small area on the left side of the building with the mouse.

"We suspect somewhere around here…"

Mick got the feeling he had seen this before… He closed his eyes briefly, tried to breathe more calmly and relaxed, while he tried something he had never deliberately attempted before: To bring up images from his memory, images that could be useful to them. Frank had managed to get him a map of the laboratory back then so Mick could memorize it for his escape. This he had done, over several days, and he had a pretty good visual memory - one of many special skills as a private investigator that had helped him so successful in his work. He himself had also _seen_ much of the laboratory during his escape attempts, had also been pushed through the corridors… pushed… strapped to a stretcher, twitching with the painful after-effects of tests… He clamped his eyes shut even tighter. Not these images… the other ones, the useful ones…

"Mick?"

The map… What had he seen?

"Mick? Is everything all right?" That was Josef's worried voice beside him, his hand, touching his arm gently.

Mick opened his eyes again, breathing in tensely through his nose. "I know what's there. Accommodations for the armed guards." He pointed to two rooms of equal size, which lay at the very end of the corridor. "Directly across from that is the armory and right over there should be the sleeping quarters for the doctors and their assistants."

Josef wasn't the only one looking at him amazed.

"How… how do you know this?" Patricia asked confused. "Were you in there once?"

He shook his head. "The labs are all pretty similar to one another, if not identical – probably to keep the ever-changing teams from having to adjust to their surroundings all the time."

"That's true," now another deep voice was heard from the background. Max, who had arrived along with three men from his team at almost the same time as Lance and Mick, now stepped closer with obvious interest. "I've been in two of the laboratories of the Legion so far and they're very similar to each other. Also, it makes sense for the armory to be set up near the lounges used by the soldiers so that they have quick access to it in case of an emergency. That's how _I_ would do it."

Patricia nodded in agreement. "It's an advantage for us as well. If we can enter through the 'emergency exit' and quickly subdue the troops there, we can cut off the others access to any new weapons or ammunition and they'll only be able to fight with what they're carrying with them – and that won't last forever."

"Do we know if the soldiers in the lab are in possession of the new weapon yet?" the tall, blond man next to Max asked.

Thomas shook his head. "I don't think they've had enough time to produce the drug in large quantities. It's only been available for testing for a few days. If they are in possession of it and use it on us, they'll quickly run out. It's more likely they'll use the melting silver bullets. The cure for that is in the emergency kits we've already packed for everybody. You should still try to avoid getting shot though."

"What about the alarm systems, automatic locking of doors and other security measures?" Patricia asked.

"I think once we're in and they realize who we are they'll raise the alarms," Thomas replied openly. "I also think they'll block the doors and try to hamper our senses in every way possible. But we'll inform you about that later."

"Well, I hope soon," murmured the Cleaner somewhat grudgingly.

"How many of you will be going in there anyway?" Guillermo asked her while thoughtfully frowning at her.

"There are six of us," Patricia replied willingly. "But I have no idea how many teams Gabriel intends to send in as a whole. For some reason, he's trying to keep everything a secret until the last minute, probably to prevent our exact plan of action from being discovered by the traitors within our ranks."

"Traitors?" Mick repeated keen-eared. "You mean there's more than one?"

Patricia raised her eyebrows a little and then uttered a small, mirthless laugh. "Do you really think that one can work alone so unobtrusively and successful? I'm almost certain there's more than one rotten egg. The vampires of the _Cercle_ weren't alone either."

The idea was neither stupid nor new, even though it left a sour feeling in Mick's stomach. Of course you could work more effectively as a team or even more people than if you worked alone. They could keep each other safe and warn each other. Only it was extremely difficult for Mick to imagine that there was more than one person whom they had trusted and worked with so closely that could deceive them like this, without raising suspicions. He only hoped it wasn't someone he was really close to.

"I don't think that now is the right time to discuss this traitor-business", Malik now came forward to speak and like Josef had before, leaned in towards Thomas' table and folded his arms over his chest. His admonishing glance made Patricia's phony smile disappear immediately. "Obviously we had to make sure the traitor didn't receive clear information, but when Gabriel arrives, he'll clarify everything and then everyone will know exactly what he has to do."

"Is it true that there will be an attack on one of the other labs not too far from here?" asked another woman from Patricia's team.

"I told you, we'll clarify that when Gabriel gets here," Malik gave back now even more harshly and the contracting of his dark eyebrows was impressively threatening.

"Who told you that?" it slipped from Guillermo's lips anyway, it was obvious he didn't quite believe this story.

"And who's to say it _isn't_ true," Patricia asked back, ignoring Malik's stunned shake of the head.

Max let out a chuckle. "I guess his obfuscation has been a thorough success," he noted with amusement. "This probably means that each one of us has been given a separate reason and a different approach for this mission. Who of you is expected to be in the field _today_?"

A few hands went up, the others just gave Max a stunned look - including Patricia and her team. "_Today_?" she repeated in shock.

"So I was told," said Max. "But... as we've just found out – that doesn't mean it's true."

"And what have you been told is the primary target for this action?"

"The liberation of Frank Peterson," was the reply Mick had already expected. It appeared that Gabriel was of the opinion that Max was one of the few who could be trusted and had told him at least part of the truth.

Patricia, however, was gasping for air shocked. "I'm not going in there just to free a _human_! We were told this is about catching Gallagher and Ritchcroft and inflicting as much damage to the Legion as possible! I don't give a damn what happens to this… _human_!"

Mick furrowed his brows angrily, while Guillermo took an outraged breath.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Say what?" Patricia asked back provokingly.

"The word 'human," the Mexican growled. "Why do you say it as if they should be met with contempt."

Patricia went silent for now, just looked at him as if she wasn't sure exactly how free she could speak in front of him and all the others. But then she decided on the truth. "Because I don't like working with humans – that's why. I don't trust them."

Mick also uttered an angry laugh now. "This could make our situation quite difficult, because, as you may have noticed, there are humans already working together with us."

Patricia looked at him, eyed him up briefly with a mixture of mistrust and restrained anger in her eyes. "That doesn't mean I have to change my attitude about them," she replied snidely and Mick felt a slight tension building in the room. The other conversations had become much quieter and many of those present were now looking at them. Apparently Patricia wasn't the only one who felt that way about humans. The vampires had indeed accepted Gabriel's decisions regarding the humans working on their side, and took his threats seriously, but that didn't mean they had changed their attitudes towards these humans - and this was what made Mick's blood begin to boil slowly.

"Your attitude?" he repeated, his cheek muscles twitching with tension. "Hostility is probably a more fitting term…"

"It's _Humans_ that are chasing us right now, Mick!" Patricia exclaimed hotheaded. "It was _Humans_ who kidnapped and tortured you and I've seen, time and again how they can be, how much they fear us and fight us when they're finally confronted with us. I don't trust them, and I'm not the only one. Each one of us knows by now that there's a traitor in our ranks - only no one has yet dared to suspect one of the humans working with us. Not because it's not what we're thinking, but because we fear getting into a fight with those who are so close with these humans. And keeping our anger and our lack of understanding to ourselves when this action is mostly about freeing a human who has experimented on vampires, just doesn't make it any easier."

Anger was a good cue. The anger seething in Mick was already at a frightening level, but he managed to successfully hide it behind a bemused blinking and shaking of his head and finally by moving his lips into a smile. "Then you really don't understand what this is all about, Patricia."

The Cleaner looked at him perplexed, but then let out an angry laugh. "Oh, please, what's that supposed to mean?"

"That you don't really know who we are fighting against," Mick replied strongly and couldn't avoid his nostrils from quivering a bit.

But the anger in Patricia seemed to grow as well, because she took a threatening step toward him. "Now listen to me, my dear…"

"No!" Mick cut her short brusquely and emphasized his words with a deprecating gesture. "Now _you_ will listen to _me_!" He exhaled through his nose a little more forcefully and gritted his teeth. 'Stay calm! Just stay calm…'

"This isn't a war between humans and vampires. Even though, sadly, some vampires still see it that way. It's about stopping a criminal organization, which not only threatens _us_ specifically, but also any one else who gets in their way - no matter if they're human or vampire."

"But it's _us_ they want to exterminate!" Patricia replied furiously.

"Yes, _they_ - _the Legion_! But the Legion doesn't represent the entire human race. Just as _you_ don't represent allthevampires of this world!"

"They've always persecuted, hunted and killed us… They…"

"Define 'they'!" Mick interrupted her, agitated. "_All_ the humans of this world?"

Patricia didn't respond to his question just flashed an upset gaze at him. All the better for him…

"Or was it perhaps just a small group of them," he went on unhindered, and raised an eyebrow, "a group that had been turned against vampires by the Legion? With the same prejudices that _you're_ now displaying, only that _they've_ portrayed _us_ as the bloodthirsty, dangerous monsters…"

"This… this isn't the same," Patricia now replied clearly more subdued.

"It's not?"

"No, I don't attack _every_ human, but only fight against the Legion, because_ they_ attack _every_ vampire they meet. Without exception, every vampire…"

"That's right - each and every_ person_, whether they're vampire or human," he changed her statement quickly. "The Legion also didn't hesitate in assassinating important people in politics. And in doing so, turned against _any_ order in this society. Even against that of other _humans_!"

Patricia panted enraged, struggling for better arguments. "Yes, and… and that's the only reason why this lawyer and his friend are helping us!"

"Exactly!" Mick glared angrily at this stubborn woman. "He fights for justice and order, and stands with the people fighting the_ real_ criminals in this story. He knows what we are and yet he _still_ fights on our side - because it doesn't matter to him. He doesn't differentiate between human or vampire, only between friend and foe. What's wrong with this attitude? Tell me that!"

Patricia took a deep breath, but then let it out again unused. Of course she couldn't respond to that without showing it was her own attitude that was out of place.

"As for your suspicions," Mick added. "No one will not take you seriously if you can give good reasons for your assertions. But to accuse the humans who work with us simply because they're human beings is the wrong approach in identifying the real traitors."

"Well," it was now one of the men from Max' team that unfortunately had to interfere, "perhaps it's because it's hard for us to understand why humans would join us, even though they're supposed to stay true to their own kind."

"True to the Legion?" Josef asked from behind Mick, and stepped to his side with a deceptively amused expression. "If the Legion were a vampire-association, would you stand by them just because of that, Vincent?"

"Probably not," the vampire admitted after a moment's hesitation. "But that doesn't change the fact that some of us have doubts about the loyalty of these humans."

"And I don't understand why!" Mick looked at him intently and he realized only now how quiet it had become in the room. He felt as if all eyes were now directed at him, that everyone was waiting for his next words, and yet he couldn't retreat, couldn't simply put an end to this difficult topic. "All the traitors who've been exposed so far have been vampires!" He paused, looked around the ranks of his allies briefly and noted that only the memory of this fact had already an impact because most of them dodged his gaze. "Among us there are just as many criminals and killers as there are in the humans' society," he continued. "I know this because of the kind of work I do and you should too, Patricia… Evil is everywhere. It can't be linked to just one kind only – _we_ especially should not think that way."

The Cleaner held his gaze, but now looked much less confident than before. There was such a distressed flickering in her eyes that told him his words had also stirred up something inside of her.

Mick looked at Vincent again. "We're not so different from humans as we think…" His gaze roamed once more over the faces of the people standing around him. "We were all humans at one time. We were _born_ as human beings! And the vampire existence hasn't made us completely different creatures!"

"Do you really believe that?" He heard a cool voice and as he turned, he looked into Lance's different colored eyes. "Do you really think you're still the same person you were sixty years ago?"

Mick should have actually been infuriated by this remark, but something told him that Lance was trying to lead him somewhere with this question, wanted to get him to say something specific in front of the others. So he thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"But then again I wasn't the same person at thirty that I was when I was fifteen or twenty. Any change in our circumstances will also change ourselves. But that doesn't change the basic structure of my character all of a sudden. It doesn't make me forget where I come from."

"Well," Lance eyed him up briefly, keeping the role of the cool, arrogant opponent. "Right now, it must be much easier for you to recognize your roots than it is for any other of us."

Mick frowned. "Why? Because I'm half human?" He shook his head with a small smile. "Memories aren't related to body temperature and pulse rate. All that lies between you and your existence as a human is time and the changes that has brought about with it. To forget that you once were human yourself and to go on fueling the distrust against the humans of today, to continue to look for reasons why we should fight each other is one of the most stupid things we can do in this situation." He took another deep breath, searching for the right words to make them understand what was going on in his head. "We have to stop seeing only the differences between us and finally begin to recognize our similarities. Basically, it doesn't matter where we come from and what has led us to fight against the Legion. The important thing is that we all _want_ to fight against them, that we all have the same _goal_: to put the Legion in their place, to ensure that they can no longer do any more damage. And it doesn't matter whether we come from Europe, Asia, Australia or any where else, whether we're white, black, green or polka dot, whether we are humans or vampires. The important thing is what we _want_ and that we recognize that we can achieve our goal only by working together. Because the Legion has shown us exactly what happens when you can't trust each other, when we start to fight and split into different camps. _We_ should distinguish ourselves in being able to overcome our own shadows and work with _everyone_ who offers us their assistance, without prejudice and misplaced suspicions."

The skeptical look on Lance's face wasn't quite genuine and Mick knew he had said exactly the right thing. He could feel it in the air around him, felt he had made most of those present think about his words. Vincent hesitated a moment, then nodded and Patricia no longer seemed to have any arguments she could oppose him with. Whether she had indeed accepted that he was right, Mick couldn't say for sure, because at that exact moment he felt the all too familiar burst of energy, that told him Gabriel was approaching. Only seconds later he could hear a car stop in front of the house and felt all the other vampires become tense around him and looked expectantly at the exit to the room.

"I think we'll now finally get our long-awaited answers," Josef muttered.

It hadn't taken long for Gabriel's dark and imposing figure to appear in the doorway, followed by Logan and a smaller more delicate person, whose sight immediately caused a warm longing in Mick's chest and this strong need to take her into his arms and hug her close to himself, to lose this tension and turmoil inside of him.

Beth's eyes also lit up, pleased, when she noticed him in the middle of the gathering in the now much too narrow looking room, but since the other two men still stood in the way, she could only give him a small, helpless smile, which immediately reflected on Mick's face.

Gabriel let his gaze quickly wander over the many people looking at him expectantly, and then nodded satisfied. "Well, it seems as if our timing and coordination has at least worked," he noted, and moved toward Seth, so that Beth could finally pass him and hurried with a sly grin towards Mick. And although Mick could feel exactly how much she longed to fall around his neck, they left it as only a cursory, somewhat stiff hug. The atmosphere in the room was just too tense and for the moment it was enough for Mick to just feel her close to him in order to calm down a bit. What was more important was that she had also survived her journey with Gabriel safely, and had recovered a little. And apparently she had, because there was this lively, hopeful sparkle in her eyes again that she had lost in recent days.

"We won't have much time," Gabriel announced, while Mick was still looking into Beth's warm, so affectionate eyes and a loving smile appeared on his lips that was quickly mirrored on hers.

"I know some of you are a little upset because you've each been ordered here under varying circumstances and with different instructions," the old vampire said and Mick only now managed to break away from Beth's face. "However, this was absolutely necessary in order for this mission not to be jeopardized." He paused, let his cool, almost stern gaze roam over the faces of each team member. "The operation will take place today. To be more specific: In the next hour."

The tension grew significantly, but no one dared interrupt the old vampire.

"Our goal is to take Gallagher and Ritchcroft into custody and free Frank Peterson. No one - _no one_will cause this man any harm, no matter how strongly you may feel about him. We need him urgently. The same goes for any other human who's fighting with us – such as Benjamin Talbot and the police unit that will allow us to withdraw."

Another short pause followed his words and the old vampire used this break to look intently at specific people with whom Mick had also noticed a slight hostility towards humans.

"In the next few minutes the station of the Legion will receive a message that another lab not too far away from them is under attack," Gabriel continued to enlighten everyone else. "This is indeed true. I've charged another team with doing exactly that and to inflict as much damage there as they can. They will try to take the control center to send an emergency call to Gallagher. He will be informed that they have taken several prisoners during the battle and want to fly them over to them by helicopter. This helicopter will be staffed by my team - with humans and vampires and I think we'll be able to safely enter the laboratory that way. Once inside we will then open the main entrance for Max and Josef's team."

Mick couldn't help it: His mouth dropped in amazement. This was indeed a risky, but rather ingenious idea. And he even knew which helicopter they would use. It was amazing how quickly Gabriel could assimilate things into his plans.

"Patricia and Veronica - you and your teams will take, as discussed, the emergency exit." Gabriel continued giving commands. "And Max…"

"Yes," the vampire stepped forward immediately, with a look in his eyes that reflected almost something like happiness. "Were you able to secure the truck and the overalls?"

"Was my easiest part…" Max replied with a gentle smile.

"And did you swap ideas on the mission?" He pointed at Josef, who nodded and in doing so immediately threw Mick for a loop. Josef was personally involved in the whole thing? This didn't please him at all.

"We'll work it out somehow," his friend replied and it was obvious that he, too, did not quite feel well about his commitment. "Coraline, William and John are to prepare the truck for our needs.

"Excellent, we…"

A gasp was heard from the speakers of one of the PCs and it immediately silenced the room. Everyone knew it was Cynthia and that something was now happening to her in the cell. It rattled and banged, a door was opened… steps… clothes rustled… Cynthia let out a horrified sound that very quickly became pained as she crashed loudly against something.

"You miserable, little bitch!" hissed a voice that went right through Mick. Cynthia gasped for air at nearly the same time he did. There was a loud smack and then Cynthia went to the ground. She whimpered, gasped in horror again and Mick automatically took a step back and tried to fight against the fast beating of his heart, the pressure on his lungs, the memories that immediately surfaced. To _know_ that Gallagher was there was completely different than _listening_ to him, and to cope with the storm of different feelings caused by him: Panic, hate, shock and urgent need to press into a corner, to wrap his arms around his head and turn off all his senses, to retreat deeply into his mind and never resurface. But there was at once Beth's hand sliding into his, squeezing it gently, while her other hand reassuringly stroked his arm. And it actually helped somehow, kept him in the here and now, kept him at her side and made it possible for him to defy the pull of his memories, of his panic attack - despite the terrible noises that continued to assault his ears.

Gallagher was doing something, because now Cynthia screamed shrilly, gasped, struggled for breath. "You knew it, didn't you? You knew it!" he hissed in Mick's ear and Mick gritted his teeth, breathing deeply and slowly. 'He is not here. Not with you.'

"They've attacked laboratory 6," Gallagher growled. "They've killed countless soldiers. Killed them!" Something cracked disgustingly and Cynthia gave a dreadful moan.

Mick closed his eyes. A violent tremor ran through his body and cold sweat seemed to break out from every pore. He knew this cracking… knew it well…

"What else do you know… What?"

"I… I know nothing," Cynthia sobbed and a wave of pity flooded Mick. No one deserved to fall into this man's hands. No one…

Another piercing cry of pain and Mick had to free himself from Beth, had to move away from these noises, the things happening there. He rushed to the door and stopped, ran his trembling fingers through his hair. He couldn't walk away, couldn't…

"Steven!" Another voice brought Cynthia and Mick's suffering to an end. Another _familiar _voice. "Didn't we agree that we still need her?"

Mick turned around again, breathing heavily, frowning. It was Ritchcroft. He had not heard the voice often, but it seemed to have remained in his memory somehow. So he really was there!

"I'm sure she knows more!" Gallagher replied, and Cynthia's deep, exhausted groan told Mick that this sadist had finally let her go – he knew how that sounded also. He himself had made that sound often enough.

"And besides, she's a vampire - everything heals. Faster than she deserves."

"We've no time for that now!" Ritchcroft replied. "We first need to get a handle on this crisis. We'll take care of her later…"

"What's the hurry?" Gallagher then asked a little further away this time.

"We received an emergency call. They say they're bringing us important subjects by helicopter…"

Silence. Steps. Again, a door opened and then Gallagher's voice seemed to be a lot further away. "Then we should contact the helicopter…"

"Logan!" Gabriel pointed to the computer and the young vampire immediately hurried over, sat down at the chair Seth had quickly cleared for him. His fingers flew swiftly over the keyboard, while Seth put the headset on him. Several fields appeared on the screen. Then a crackle in the line and shortly afterwards, backed by the sound of loud engine noise, a distinctive voice could be heard. "Yes, I'll be with you in five minutes."

"Grigori, patch your radio through to me," it immediately burst out of Logan. "Now!"

"O… okay."

The noise in the background became even louder and Logan looked almost scared up at Gabriel, who had come to his side.

"You're doing fine," said the old vampire, and laid a calming hand on Logan's shoulder. He reached into his jacket pocket, took out a notepad and put it next to Logan on the table. "That's your name, your application number and everything else you need to know. If it gets too difficult, you can pass them to me."

Mick now also stepped closer to the computer again, grateful that his pulse had lowered somewhat and his breathing had calmed, despite the tense situation. He told Beth, who was looking at him anxiously, with one look that he was back in control. Nevertheless, the noise and crackling that could now be heard from the speakers, caused him to wince. And then it was back, this terrible voice.

"Station 5, Gallagher here. Who am I speaking to?"

"Sergeant Nelson, Section 3, Station 6, application number 3507," Logan replied immediately and he was even able to keep the excitement that was written in his eyes out of his voice. "We've three possible test objects on board, that urgently need to be transferred somewhere. One directly from the lab and two new prisoners."

Silence at the other end of the line - a strange, unexpected silence that caused an uneasy feeling in Mick's interior, but still made him step closer to Logan.

"We've no room for any more test subjects," it resounded from the speakers, and Mick's stomach flipped almost painfully - not only with Gallagher's words, but also because a wave of terror struck him from Gabriel.

"Try to make contact with Station 7."

"That… that's impossible," Logan uttered quickly, looking for help from Gabriel, whose thoughts seemed to be tumbling. "Our tanks are almost empty. We won't make it that far…"

Mick grew even more tense and his pulse was pounding loudly in his ears. Gallagher wasn't a stupid man, and seemed to have an uncanny sense of when something was strange about a story. He would not give in until he was supplied with a bait that could make him forget all caution. And there _was_ such a bait…

"You can land here and refuel the helicopter," Gallagher confirmed Mick's conjecture and the tension in Gabriel grew noticeably. Apparently the success of this mission seemed to depend heavily on this action, more than the old vampire had admitted before, and Mick's thoughts tumbled, making room for an idea that was incredibly dangerous, but seemed to be their only solution to this serious problem.

"Say that you have me!" It broke out of Mick against his own will in the frequency of the vampires.

Gabriel's head snapped around to him in horror and although he seemed to know immediately Mick's reason for this action and that this was the only way to salvage the situation, Mick still heard a sharp '_No way_!' in his head. But he neither responded to Gabriel's defense nor to Beth's breathed "Mick, don't!". Instead he only looked at Logan.

"Say it, Logan! Say that you have me!"

And Logan did - _against _Gabriel's will, _for_ the mission. "We… I think we have this half-vampire."

It became scarily quiet – and not just on the other side of the connection. Only after a few more agonizing seconds did Gallagher and Ritchcroft give another sign of life.

"No.230208?" came the incredulous question.

"No idea," Logan replied convincingly. "But he's no real vampire, yet he doesn't die with… with a bullet to the back of his head. He came with the attackers and was immune to most of our weapons. It wasn't until one of our snipers hit him, that he collapsed and hasn't woken since." Logan grimaced about his own imagined story, although it wasn't that bad, and shrugged his shoulders helplessly in Mick's direction. But he kept on listening intensely.

"This could really be him. Good. You have permission to land," were the redeeming words and Mick could see everyone around him breathe a sigh of relief. "Make contact again, as soon as you arrive. Gallagher over and out."

Logan grabbed his headset with trembling fingers, laid it down next to him and then ran his hand across his face. "God! That was close!"

"It was," Gabriel agreed, but no longer looked at him, but at Mick. "You know you now have to go in there with us? They'll make sure we really have you before they let us in."

Mick gritted his teeth and nodded uneasily. It was quite clear that he had become involved in an incredibly dangerous game with his action.

"It wasn't necessary," the old vampire added sternly. "There's always a contingency plan. We would have gotten in - it just would have been a little more difficult."

Mick lowered his gaze - not because he was cursing his own, perhaps a bit rushed action, but because he refused to let anyone else see that he didn't quite believe Gabriel. He himself had felt how much Gallagher's unexpected reaction had set the vampire under pressure. Even now his tension was far from gone, and Mick thought he knew the reason: It was difficult to determine whether their enemy had actually bought their lie or whether they were now themselves being lured into a trap.

Gabriel closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath and then turned to the others, who were now, even more than they had before, waiting for clear instructions from him. "Over there in the great room are bulletproof vests, weapons and other equipment," he said quickly. "Arm yourselves the best you can. This won't be easy. My team stays here to debrief. Seth, pack your bags and drive to the meeting point with Talbot and _you_…" He pointed his finger at Beth, who was still paralyzed and had become terribly pale beside Mick. "… _stay here_! You're not to move an inch from this house! Is that clear?"

Mick didn't like the tone of voice the old vampire used with Beth, but when it came to the context of his statement, he was in complete agreement.

"I know that previously Mick had no direct involvement in this mission. That can't be changed now, however. But I will bring him back to you safe and sound - I promise! But you are to stay out of this whole thing, please!"

Beth stared at him. She had considerable difficulty breathing, and her eyes were shimmering suspiciously, but she gave no reply, showed no reluctance. She only seemed so terrible distraught that Mick just _had_ to take a step towards her and pull her into his arms. He expected resistance, a move to avoid him, or some other gesture to show him how disappointed she was with his behavior, her anger that she surely felt along with her fear. But that didn't happen. Instead, she pushed her slightly shaky arms around his waist, buried her face in his chest and closed her eyes, breathing deeply in and out. It was the first time in a long, long time that Beth had no strength to rebel against his actions, the first time that he felt not only physically but also emotionally as if he were the stronger of the two of them.

"Everything will be fine," he whispered into her hair. "We can do this, Beth."

And somehow he really believed it, in spite of this more than difficult mission.


	45. Tension

_Here I am again as promised with the next chapter. I thank you all so much for your comments and have to tell you that you made me write a whole new German chapter within just four days. I'm so happy with that that I could hug you to death. Thank you so, so much! You really are my muses and I love each single word you write to me. _

_**Scififan30**__: I also hope my plan with the updating works and it's really great to hear that you'll stay with me and my stories. Also, that you like it that Beth is pregnant._

_**Marcy**__: No need to worry if I'm a bit too late. A few days is okay, only if it's about a week and there's no sign of me – then something's wrong. But I think that won't happen. Ummm… let's see if Beth can really behave… ;o)_

_**Lucretiareadsall**__: I'm happy the chapter was so full of suspense for you but there will be even more action soon, so be prepared! And Mick… yeah, he needed to say that. Not only for himself but also for all the other vampires and he's indeed developing leadership abilities, isn't he?_

_**Borntobemybaby**__: I know, I also am not that happy with Mick going into the lab – but he needs to do this. There is no other way, never was. Concerning the posting: It feels now much better to have more time for writing the German chapters and translating them. The stress is gone somehow and there's no other possibility to prevent too long breaks between the posting of the chapters._

_**Jameni**__: It will be a while until they are able to take a break again and a lot will happen. I think not to tell Mick about the baby was the right decision for his nerves are not the best and he can't be distracted now. This would be too dangerous. Concerning Beth's influence you're totally right. But she definitely can't go in there with him. _

_**Moonjat54**__: We'll soon see how useful Mick will be in the lab. I really loved to write his speech for the humans and am so glad that you all liked it as well. We'll see how it affected the other vampires._

_**Loveyoujar**__: It won't be easy for Mick to walk into the lab and see Gallagher – there you're right. But he has to do it. It will for sure be an acid test for him. We'll see if Beth stays in the car… But the idea with the babies… why not? LOL! And I promise I will complete this story!_

_**Betsal**__: It will definitely be hard for Mick. It will be hard for all of our dear vampires and there will be a lot of action soon… so, maybe it will also be hard for you… *insert wide grin here*_

_So, I think I will be able to post the next chapter on Thursday (in five days – funny it's a Thursday again). Have a great weekend and remember I'm totally happy about any word you write to me! Yours Jenna_

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by Sg6169 _

* * *

**T****ension**

* * *

"_Who passes through the fear is able to leave it behind."_

_Anke Maggauer Kirsch_

* * *

Noises, depending on the situation you're in, could sometimes greatly affect your mood. The simple act of opening and closing a Velcro fastener could suddenly turn into something incredibly aggressive, threatening, and grate on nerves as if someone worked on them with coarse sandpaper. That's what it felt like for me at least, when I slipped into the bulletproof vest Max had just passed me and fastened it. The protective vests, weapons and emergency bags we had assembled told me that Gabriel and the other leaders of this mission were already aware of what kind of dangerous game we were in for and that we would certainly not be getting in and out of this guarded station of the Legion without difficulty. That I wasn't alone in this thinking, I could feel from the tight, oppressive silence in the room in which all teams had gathered. Hardly anyone had said a word or even looked at each other for more than a few seconds - probably out of fear that their concerns would be reflected in their eyes and make you even more nervous. Although we vampires always pretended as if it wasn't so: we _were_ afraid of death. And even fewer of us had any desire to end up as guinea pigs in the laboratories of the Legion.

My guts cramped at the thought - not because I myself was afraid of this, but because this led me to my next greatest worry: Mick's participation in this mission. I couldn't believe it when he - once again, the all noble martyr - laid himself on the altar as bait for Gallagher, thus risking his life without even being anywhere near the laboratory. Quite apart from that, he would be exposing himself to an enormous emotional burden with his inevitable encounter with Gallagher.

Gallagher and Ritchcroft had been expecting an attack. That a station other than theirs had been hit, they hadn't considered, and it had indeed put them off their stride, but I was sure, with our approaching helicopter, all precautions would be taken. They had to be aware that their chances of this being a trap were better than 50 percent and would therefore be quite prepared for it. They knew how dangerous Mick was, and because of that alone would be providing a heavily armed reception committee. The more I thought about it, the more insane Gabriel's plan seemed to get. Even if the Legion didn't see this as a trap and his team actually got into the lab - how in the hell were they going to overpower the men down there? How was Mick going free himself from the hands of his enemies? What was the plan, if right from the start the Legionaires injected him with powerful drugs to tranquilize him? Gabriel would not only lose an extremely valuable member of the team, but he would also have to carry Mick around like an extra appendage…

I shook my head and looked over to the door. Mick and his team had not shown up yet, and I wondered what was taking them so long. Of course they had a lot to go over, had to plan everything down to the smallest detail so that nothing would go wrong. But it had been almost an hour and Ritchcroft and Gallagher were waiting for the helicopter. Even though the other lab was still quite far from Station 5 – at some point soon they would need to leave so as not to make themselves appear any more suspicious.

"Here, take this!" I heard Max say beside me and looked at his hand, which now held another one of the syringes that would counteract the effects of the Silver Bullets. "With _your _luck, when it comes to the Legion's new weapons, you'll probably be the first one hit again…"

I furrowed my brows a little perturbed, took the syringe from his hand however, and stowed it in the side pocket of the rather loose fitting, dark army pants that I had to wear for this mission. "Don't make things worse than they already are," I growled, and a minimal smile crossed his lips.

"Don't worry, we'll sort it out somehow - even if I have to carry you around with me again," he replied, patting my back soothingly. "I'm getting used to it."

I could see his frugal smile become a huge grin and could only shake my head. "You're almost looking forward to this, aren't you?"

"What can I say… I'm a man of action," he replied with a shrug. "And I love a challenge…"

"Well, I'm sure you'll be getting one today," I mumbled, and immediately felt an unpleasant twinge in my stomach. When I thought about it closer, our mission was no less dangerous than that of Gabriel's team. One of the trucks, which drove daily to bring the materials for the indeed active toy factory, had been prepared so that a group of about six vampires could hide in the back. The truck was to be driven as close to the elevators of the laboratory as possible and then we would jump out at the right moment and overpower the guards present there and force them to provide access to the elevators. The plan was to lock up all the workers in a big office there in the factory until then. So far the plan wasn't really that dangerous for us. Because of the thorough research that Gabriel had organized in advance, we already knew there were no special precautions taken or traps waiting for us up in the factory. For them to install such devices had not been possible due to the camouflage and the factory workers being present. Everything would be quite different however, once we drove down to the lab, and I had no doubt our welcome there would be a nice one. But that wouldn't matter since the laboratory would be attacked simultaneously from several sides. And because of that, there would be less soldiers to deal with than if we were the only ones attacking, but even then it could still be dangerous. If I understood correctly, our orders were to keep a lookout for Peterson and take him along with us if we indeed found him somewhere. Otherwise, our main objective was to engage as many soldiers as we could so that Gabriel and his team could carry out their plan as unopposed as possible. The same was probably true for Patricia's team.

My gaze wandered over to the group of Cleaners, who had gathered not far from us, preparing for their part of the operation. It surprised me a little to see Coraline with them, who had also slipped into this simple, dark outfit - it was hard to believe, but even in this her sex appeal wasn't lost. Patricia had just finished explaining to her how to operate the rifle, which she held in her hands and gave the same strained expression as I did.

"Will she be entering the lab with the Cleaners?" I asked Max with a nod in her direction.

Max followed my gaze, frowning. "Yeah, Gabriel wanted this," was the expected response.

I tilted my head, letting the thoughts in my mind take shape. "Can it be that there is now at least one person in every team who was directly turned into a vampire by Gabriel?" I voiced my observation by way of a question to Max and now his glance wandered back over to Coraline.

"Yeah," he noted thoughtfully. "And in his own team there are _a lot_ of vampires who are directly descended from him."

I thought for a moment. From what I had observed, apart from Mick, Malik, Thomas and Lance had stayed in the room with him. John Wu, who operated the helicopter, and Grigori had entered the room just as I had left. They were all very old and experienced vampires and that they came from Gabriel's blood line, I could not only smell but could also feel in some way. Whether they were his direct fledglings, I didn't know. But they were at least very strong, very experienced, and very powerful…

"Do you think it's _them_?" I thought about it quietly and Max raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Who?"

"The other _des Archanges_. The Archangels…"

Max shrugged his shoulders undecided. "It's just a legend."

I shook my head. "Every legend has some truth behind it. And that would explain, why Gabriel is still so confident. It's said that if they fought together, there was nary a superior force in the world that could stop them. If you strike off all the exaggerations that come along with such legends it means at least that it's quite hard for their opponents to overcome them."

Max himself now tilted his head to one side pondering. "I've heard, they move and fight as if one man. A man with a thousand arms and legs that no one can get past." He let out a chuckle. "Do you believe this?"

I sighed lowly. "I'd like to. Believe me, if it were true I'd no longer have any qualms about walking into that lab."

I turned to the door leading to the hall, because I suddenly felt a very strong tingling coming from this direction, enough to make the hair on my body stand up and cause a strange shiver to run down my back. Only a heartbeat later, Gabriel entered the room, followed by the rest of his team, including Mick.

My eyes widened. If I hadn't felt Gabriel's distinctive aura and didn't have such a strong connection to him through my transformation – I wouldn't have recognized him. It was no wonder he had taken so long. He had shorn his dark hair to a short military cut, wore - probably affixed - a beard around his lips and had, as far as I could tell from where I stood, green eyes. Like the rest of his team, he wore the typical dark, relatively tight-fitting clothes of the Legion, which revealed just how physically fit this man was. Someday I was going to have to get the number of his personal trainer…

Besides Gabriel, Thomas and John had also changed their appearance drastically, had transformed themselves into two deceptively similar looking Legionnaires and it was only as they came closer that I suddenly noticed exactly what it was that caused these two to appear so very different: they were humans. Of course! If they wanted to pass as Legionnaires and be able to get into the laboratory, they _had_ to be humans. There, while in the other room, they had to have taken the cure and transformed.

I couldn't help it, I felt slightly sick. Two less fighters, two more to be protected by Gabriel when they finally reached the laboratory. But maybe they would be able to change back once inside. Gabriel had indeed said that such a fast re-transformation was dangerous, but they were older than most vampires and more than likely descended directly from Gabriel. And because of that, it might be possible for them to do it without collapsing. Gabriel himself had had no problems doing it and it made me wonder why he hadn't already taken on his human form.

My gaze wandered over to Mick, who had made no change to his appearance, but _had_ changed significantly inside. I could clearly feel this. He was still tense and worried, but there was an optimistic determination and willingness to fight in his gaze, which I had not seen for a long time. Something had been awakened in him since we had last talked. Something had changed in him because of the things, the events that had taken place around him, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of this. For the mission, it was certainly beneficial, but whether this was really good for him…?

"We need to leave now," said Gabriel quickly, who had stopped in the middle of the room between us and then turned to Max. "Your truck needs to enter the factory in about twenty minutes. The people there are expecting a delivery so you should have no problems getting in. You should be able to make it to the basement and then you'll have to wait for us to open the door." His eyes flew over to Patricia. "At the same time you need to get to work on the emergency exit. This will cause significant problems for them, having to fight on three fronts at the same time. Just be careful with strange looking bullets. Whoever reaches Cynthia first, get the device for the video system and attach it as soon as possible to one of the cameras. We need those pictures from the surveillance system not only to help us find Peterson and get an overall view of the situation, but to also transmit specific images to the police unit outside. Once they intervene, we'll need to withdraw as quickly as possible. No one is to attack these people, no matter what they do. If they arrest you, go with them. When it's over Ben Talbot will resolve this peacefully. They're our allies. The ones_ I_ care about are Gallagher and Ritchcroft."

Gabriel let his gaze wander again and received eager nods from all sides. "Well," he said, squared his shoulders and breathed in deeply. "Let's roll!"

The discomfort in my chest grew and my heart beat faster. There was no turning back now. Mick's and my eyes met and he nodded to me as he walked past me, a small encouraging smile on his lips, I could only answer half-heartedly. I still couldn't feel optimistically. Everything just felt too unpredictable and dangerous. And I found it really hard not to reach out and grab my best friend by the shoulder and hold him back, to keep him from throwing himself into this daring action. He had already been through enough with the Legion. And it also seemed strange to me that Beth wasn't here protesting loudly against his participation in this mission, something I would have expected much earlier. My eyes flew across the room to the door. Where was she anyway?

* * *

"Would you like a cup of tea perhaps or maybe something to eat?"

Beth looked up slightly confused into Logan's questioning brown eyes and blinked a few times while the meaning of his words penetrated her mind and freed her somewhat from the paralyzed state in which she had been for some time.

"No, I…" She managed a half-hearted smile. "I… I'm okay Logan. Thank you."

"Are you sure?" he asked again and Beth felt like he knew exactly what was going on inside her, that he knew how much the unexpected change of plans in the upcoming mission had distressed her. Or maybe it was her rather strange passive behavior, which for her, was also quite disconcerting. This wasn't her usual behavior. She usually had something to say about the situation, and always wanted to take an active part in everything.

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied quickly, but avoided his gaze and rose from the chair she had been sitting in for some time. She couldn't talk about what was bothering her. She didn't really know what was wrong herself. "I… I'll just go and get some fresh air…"

She didn't even wait for his reaction, but felt his worried stare at her back as she left the room and then stopped undecided in the hall. Actually, it wasn't fresh air she longed for, but rather a small, quiet place, where she could sort out her thoughts, some place she could make plans for herself. But here in this strange shelter there were still so many people, so much chaos that she would probably be forced to look for a place in the garden.

On her way to the exit Beth cast a brief glance into the large room where all the teams had gathered to prepare for their mission and noted with unease that Gabriel and Mick had already disappeared. Standing next to some vampires she wasn't very familiar with, was Josef, who seemed tense as he talked to Max, but she quickly kept on walking, so as not to make her presence felt and only add to his burdens with her concerns. He couldn't help her anyway, would only tell her once again that she had to stay here and keep her feet still until everything was over.

It felt really good to leave the somewhat musty interior of the house and go into the garden. In a secluded corner framed by rose bushes stood a small wooden bench on which she sat and then drew the evening air deep into her lungs. That felt so good and again brought a little more clarity into her head. She leaned back a little and closed her eyes, trying to relax, despite the tense situation in which they were all in. The paralyzing fear that had gripped her when Mick catapulted himself, without any prior discussion, into the mission thus risking his life again, had only now begun to slowly evaporate, allowing her old self to finally surface from beneath the frozen, helpless woman who had lost her fighting spirit. This frail person had kept her still long enough, watching everything from afar: The discussion on the exact procedures, the preparations… This person couldn't be allowed to continue holding the upper hand, even if it was good for Mick. An understanding, helpless Beth remained where she was, and thus stayed out of danger. That she was eaten up with fear inside, no one had really noticed. Mick had, every now and then, given her a slightly worried and remorseful look, and had only been able to exchange a few words with her before he had taken her in his arms and had to leave. She had held him, had let him feel how much she loved and needed him and had tried to show him at least physically, that he absolutely had to come back safe, that she couldn't live without him. For she had had no strength for words of farewell left. The thought of losing him had just been too unbearable - now more than ever. She had thought for a moment about telling him that she was expecting a child, that they would, sometime in the future, be a little family and if for no other reason, he had to come back. But in the end she hadn't done it. For Mick to survive this mission unharmed, he would need to be highly focused and should not have to mentally deal with anything else. Beth knew him too well, knew that although this would have been a beautiful message, he wouldn't have been able to digest it properly. He often tended to make things more complicated than they actually were and in a situation like this, an emotionally troubled Mick wasn't particularly helpful. And he _had_ to get out of the laboratory again, _had_ to survive this … had to, had to, had to!

Beth sucked air deeply into her nose, fought against the claw that had wrapped itself around her intestines like a vise grip and just didn't seem to want to let go. And this panic that washed over her in waves again and again, causing her heart to pound faster… She had to get her emotions back under control and sort out her thoughts if she didn't want break down, and become hysterical. Because now there was another person in her life she had to worry about, and this little creature was also vulnerable to any turbulence inside her.

'Breathe quietly and think,' she told herself inwardly over and over like a mantra and after a while it started to work, her own thoughts lifting her up, started to have the positive effect she needed on her emotional side. As terrible as it was that Mick was going into this laboratory, exposing himself to further stress and risk, perhaps falling into the hands of his worst enemy again – at least he had Gabriel as well as the other old, battle-tested and very strong vampires at his side, who for sure wouldn't relinquish him so readily to Gallagher. And the plan that Gabriel had gone over with his team as well as her, Logan and Seth was really very intelligent and very likely to succeed - if everything went as it should. Her stomach made a small somersault. So far, things had rarely happened as scheduled, had always developed a life of their own and turned into situations that only Gabriel's sharp mind and quick action had been able to get under control again.

'And Gabriel_ is_ now with Mick,' she said to herself again. 'And he promised to bring him back safely to you - and he will. Without fail!'

A noise from the house caused Beth to open her eyes again. The next team got up to go into battle. The Cleaners and… was that Coraline? So she was going with them too, fighting along side Mick against the Legion. Now, on top of Beth's fears and worries, a good amount of anger and jealousy was added. Mick's ex-wife went with him, or at least was close to him and was also being informed about everything that was going on in the laboratory, while Beth had to remain here, waiting in uncertainty and fear for them to return. Somehow that just didn't sit well with her at all. It wasn't like her. This was not the role she liked to play.

Once again, the front door opened. The first two men leaving the house Beth didn't know, then Max, Guillermo and Josef followed. Beth's heart clenched and her nose began to tingle treacherously. It hurt to see him leave. She didn't want her friend to also throw himself into this dangerous battle, couldn't bear not knowing whether he would come back. But just as she had done with Mick, she kept quiet and hadn't moved. It made no sense. There were no words to stop him and she couldn't protect anyone, wasn't able to help this time - at least not when she had to stay here, so far away from the front. She felt so useless, helpless, and dependent on the decisions of others. How she hated that.

Her painstakingly elaborate struggle for some peace had vanished - not because she was gripped by fear and despair again, but because her old self had finally begun to stir, refused to go along with the decisions of the others. She understood that because of her pregnancy Gabriel couldn't let her directly participate in the mission and that was reasonable and appropriate. She didn't want that either, but he couldn't ask her to stay away from the scene completely and just expect her to wait here. There had to be a way to support the teams from outside, without putting oneself in danger, and still get a little closer to the action. Weren't there teams set up to fend off threats from outside and were also there to maintain contact with Talbot? Talbot… surely _he_ had to be positioned somewhere near the laboratory and wasn't Seth supposed to go to him? Seth, who was now walking out of the house with two heavy cases, headed for one of the parked cars in front of the house…

Beth gave it no further thought, simply jumped up and hurried after him. Josef's team had just driven off and would not notice that she was sneaking up on Seth. Very good. All she needed now was a good excuse.

The young vampire was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he had only noticed her after he had opened the car door and loaded his suitcases onto the back seat. Surprise appeared on his boyish face.

"Are you going to Ben Talbot's location now?" Beth asked with her most beautiful smile and Seth blinked at her in confusion before he was able to nod slowly.

"Great! Because Josef and I had a short talk just now and he told me it might be better if I went with you. You know, female charm and so on. And I have a pretty good rapport with Ben…"

Seth frowned now somewhat overwhelmed. "But… but Gabriel said…"

She interrupted him with a waving hand. "Josef said, he'll clarify this with him," she replied lightly and simply walked around the car to the passenger door. "You know Josef. He doesn't like dancing to someone else's tune. He'll take responsibility. And it's not like I'd be in any danger with Talbot, with a dozen heavily armed policemen around me…" She uttered a girlish laugh, just opened the car door and slid into the passenger seat.

Seth still stood stunned in the open door and looked at her speechlessly. She bent forward a little and cocked her head with a smile on her lips.

"Are you coming?" she asked, with a glance that usually opened doors for her. This time it was to make sure that a door closed - _behind_ Seth after he had sat down without further resistance in the driver's seat. He looked at her again, still a little unsure.

"And Josef is really okay with this?" he asked again and Beth nodded emphatically. She fervently hoped that Seth's vampire abilities had not developed as much as Mick's and that he wouldn't see through her lie. She was lucky. Seth took a deep breath, started the engine and in fact drove off. Now if only fortune would smile down on her until they reached their destination and made sure that Logan didn't notice her departure to early. Once she was with Talbot, wild horses couldn't drag her back to the car. And there certainly wasn't going to be anyone with the time available to personally take care of her and drive her, against her will, back to the house. Even if she couldn't be with Mick directly, she would at least be close to him and would experience first-hand what was happening there in the laboratory. And maybe if the need arose, she would also be able to influence what happened from the outside a little.


	46. Sleep of the Dead

_Hi! I'm back again with the next chapter. I've not much time again, but I still want to thank you so, so much for your comments and send you some fat hugs! I'm so glad to have some readers here who write these great reviews for me and support me so much with that. You're the best! I will be back in five days I think, so Tuesday will be the next posting day. Wish you a great weekend and hug you all once more, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**S****leep of the Dead**

* * *

"_**Death is given to us, for life we have to fight."**_

_**Bernhard Steiner**_

* * *

_Die. That was all he wanted to do. Escape from this horrible nightmare that was his reality at this moment to somewhere where there was nothing left that tormented him, where he felt neither physical nor mental pain. He simply would come apart, disappear, escape from all this. He would not survive this much longer, would die anyway so why not do it immediately. He could simply follow the pull of the darkness that opened up before him again and again, called for him and enticed him. And the closer he came to it, the farther away his environment and the voices diverged from him, the less noticeable were the things they were doing to him, the pain they inflicted upon him, just to re-elicit the beast inside him. They could not know what he knew, that it would not appear again because it had retired and given up just as he had. It no longer had the strength to fight, just wanted to get out of his body and find its inner peace. It was over._

'_Just stop breathing,' he heard a small voice deep inside him. 'Silence your heartbeat, let go… let go… The world is better off without you… _she_ will be better off without you… It's very simple… let go…'_

_He could not. Did not know how, though he wanted it so much. He felt clearly that there still was a tiny part inside him that simply did not want to let go, that was clinging to the little bit of life that still was inside him. So he just lay there motionless, with open, set eyes, perceiving his environment only dimly. His body was shaken by a blow, but the ensuing pain was not really palpable for him, though he knew that the bones in his leg had yielded to the force of the impact. His breathing became calmer and his heart was beating slower despite the things that happened to him. Die. Concentrate on the goal._

_Someone shouted at him… full of hatred, full of anger. He could see through the veil around his perception a face distorted with rage and then his body was once again shaken with a severe blow. This time it struck his chest, breaking some ribs and throwing his heartbeat out of its rhythm._

'_Use this! Stop it! Stop it!' One heartbeat. Pause. Another heartbeat. Pause. Slower, still slower. He concentrated all his remaining energy on it. A last beat… then it became dark around him and so quiet… so wonderfully quiet._

"_Mick… Mick, I know you're still somewhere inside there!"_

_He knew the voice speaking to him, trying so desperately to get through to him. The only voice he had ever wanted to hear in this hell his life had become. The only person who stood by his side and tried to help him. But Mick did not listen to him, refusing to let him bring him back into real life. It was so wonderful here. So silent, so cottony warm and soft. No fears, no helplessness, no pain. Here he was well and no one could do anything to him. He wanted to stay here until he died in fact, because he was not really dead now, he knew. _

"_Come on! Don't give up! Fight! Fight!"_

'_Go away! Let me die. I don't wanna fight anymore. Don't wanna feel… feel _any_thing anymore.'_

"_You cannot give up now. Don't let me down. I need you Mick… I… I've already planned everything. We'll be able to escape. We'll get out of here! But only when you're back to 100 percent again - only when you begin to fight again!"_

_For what? What was worth fighting for, living for and continuing this suffering?_

"_If you won't do it for yourself or for me, at least do it for Beth. Do it for her. You want to see her again. You told me that it's the only thing you wish for anymore. To once again see her… Mick! Do you hear me?"_

_Beth. His Beth. The memories were coming back. Beth, as a frightened little girl huddled up against the corner, as he picked her up and she clung to him full of trust… He was her guardian angel. She had said it that night and it still was the same - for more than 24 years._

"_She… she needs you Mick. She misses you. She loves you. Don't leave her without saying good bye to her. You cannot do this to her!"_

_She was so beautiful as she walked through that icy fountain, her shoes in her hand, her eyes firmly focused on her goal. So beautiful also was the smile she gave him when they parted at the door of Jack's house. A team. They were… and they would be forever._

"_Remember her! Think of her! You cannot leave her alone! She needs you!"_

_Not leave her alone… his Beth. Her lips on his, her warm body beneath him, her breath on his skin, the pounding of her heart against his chest. They were one, united in body and soul in the middle of these ecstatic feelings. 'I love you… love you so much,' she had said. Oh, God, how he longed for her, for her and the deep love that he needed so much. He did not want to go, did not want to leave her alone._

"_Who will protect her when you're not here anymore, Mick? Who? Didn't you tell me that she's always so careless?"_

_That she was indeed… so terribly careless… Could never stay in the car, always had to get herself into the most spine-crawling situations._

"_She will also lose her guardian angel in you, Mick. It's very dangerous to be alone in this world. And when she looks for you, she may perhaps come across these people. And you know how these people are… who will protect her from them if you don't come back, Mick?"_

_No one… no one would be able to protect her. _He_ had to do that. Had to be there for her, had to be with his Beth… His heart contracted and with a strong thrust again pumped blood into his veins and immediately this terrible maelstrom from outside began, this suction that wanted to bring him back to life again. A considerable part of him screamed in despair and began to struggle. He could not do this, didn't want to return to this nightmare of unending torment. Beth was not here, was not with him. He would not see her, would not look into her eyes when he awoke. These beautiful, large, dark blue eyes that had looked at him so full of love as he had said goodbye to her back then. It seemed to be such a long time ago…_

"_Oh, God, please won't you move again? Please show me somehow that you're still in there, that you can hear me."_

_His heart contracted again, relaxed, contracted… it began to beat more regularly, taking on a slow, almost sluggish pace, but it moved more clearly and more rhythmically than before._

"_I know that you're not dead, Mick. I know that you're still alive. Your heart beats every now and then, when it needs to. I have no idea how you do this, but you… you only _look _as if you're dead. In reality, you're only in quite a strange coma." A deep sigh followed the professor's shaky words that penetrated now much clearer to Mick's ears. "We… we could use this for our flight, you know. But first you have to wake up once again, come out of there - wherever you might be now. Without you I can't plan this, Mick. I need you. And I promise that we will succeed this time. We will get out of here and you will see Beth again."_

"_Beth…" That was his own voice, so weak that it could barely be heard and Frank gasped._

"_Mick! Oh, God, I knew it! I _knew_ it!" He heard a laugh of relief and then another halting inhalation. Someone touched his shoulder. He could feel it even through the dense cocoon that was still blocking him off from the outside world._

"_You're breathing properly again!" _

_That was true, and it hurt. Mick started to struggle once again, desperately gripping the darkness, because he now felt strongly that the world out there was indeed as bad as he remembered, full of pain and suffering. But he could not hold the darkness and was full of panic when the cocoon began to dissolve around him._

"_Yes, that's right, come out of there, come back to me," the professor pressed gently, and his hand stroked Mick's cheek. Mick grimaced, let out the moan that the recurring pain evoked and doubled over. There it was, the hell that awaited him, that did not want to let him get out of its claws. Throbbing, buzzing, stinging pain all over his body. He felt sick and instinctively rolled onto his side causing himself even more pain. Someone grabbed his arm. There was a short prick and a mild burning sensation spread rapidly from the injection point into his upper arm and finally into his whole body, easing the tensions inside him and bringing some alleviation of the pain._

"_You'll feel better soon," he heard Frank say quietly in a husky voice as his cool hand again touched Mick's forehead, gently stroking his twitching face. The brightness of his surroundings piercing through his closed eyelids tried to force him to open his eyes and look into the terrible face of reality. But he could not and did not want to do this. Instead he just lay there breathing heavily, trying to block out the inhuman pain and the thought that he really was still alive._

"_They've forbidden me to give you morphine because they thought that you would die, but now I can use it again," Frank whispered and a low sob left his lips. "You're back." His trembling fingers calmingly and affectionately continued to stroke Mick but they could not ease his pain, could not change the fact that he was back again, that he had returned to life - to this terrible life that he did not want to live._

"_I… I don't want this…" Mick gasped and his parched throat now tied up. "Let me …"_

"_No…"_

"_Let me die…" There was such pressure on his chest and burning in his eyes. It hurt so much. Not only externally, but also internally. There was nothing left of him. He was a wreck… completely destroyed and utterly helpless… so helpless._

"_No," Frank whispered with a broken voice._

"_Please… let… let me die." Mick felt something warm and wet run down his cheek and took a trembling breath. "Please…"_

"_You must not give up, Mick," Frank whispered. "Not now. You've always fought so hard. You cannot give up now. We will escape tomorrow. And we will seek and find Beth and… and you will recover. I promise you!"_

"_Beth…" Mick laboriously lifted his lids and saw only the blurry outlines of Frank's face close to his. But he could still perceive that the old man smiled._

"_Yes, she's out there waiting for you. And this time we will do it! You just have to recover first. You have to try again to awaken the vampire inside you so that he can heal your injuries."_

_Awaken the beast…_

"_No… no sense…" it slipped exhaustedly over his numb lips._

"_It makes a lot of sense. I brought someone into this who has insured that they will leave you alone for a while now. I've now gotten back responsibility for you. You can recover and then we will flee. But you can only do this if you wake up the vampire in you again."_

_Wake up… was he still alive? Mick listened to himself and he could actually feel him, felt him stirring, reacting to his groping. _

"_Frank…"_

"_Yes."_

"_If… if we don't… succeed…" Mick closed his eyes briefly, because talking strained him so much. "If they catch us again… then you have to… finish this."_

_Mick raised his eyelids again in time to see the professor nodding hesitantly._

"_Promise…"_

_The old man swallowed hard, but then he nodded again. "I promise."_

_Mick took a deep breath, and although it was incredibly painful it renewed his focus on the vampire within him, decoying him with thoughts of freedom, of vengeance._

"_I… I need to fix you now, unfortunately," he heard Frank say. "Is that okay?"_

_Mick managed a barely perceptible nod, and with the professor's help turned onto his back. Stinging pain in his leg and his chest made him groan aloud and again he grimaced. Eventually he was lying exhausted and breathing heavily on his back. He closed his eyes and gave his human side the rest it needed. And he could do this without any further concerns, as the vampire inside him approached with rapid speed, taking possession of his body at exactly the moment when Frank closed the shackles around his wrists. It was strange, but the wild beast in him initially had only one thought: Beth. He had to find her, had to know if she indeed was still alive, if she was really looking for him, if her mind was still turned toward him. A storm of energy shot through his temples, made him shudder and open his mind so much that he thought he might be able to suddenly mentally embrace the whole world and perceive all the energies around him, even the ones further away and all the ones he'd ever come in contact with. And suddenly he felt as if he could feel her, as if he could meet her familiar energy somewhere off in the far distance, this warmth and love and this searching longing, which he also felt so deeply. She was there, was really there and had not forgotten him, would find him, find him… one day… because she had realized that he was still alive, that he wanted to live – because of her._

* * *

'Sleep of the dead' Gabriel called the state in which the old vampires and formerly the Nigong could put themselves to defend themselves effectively against harmful influences from outside and to quickly help themselves regenerate. It was a kind of coma that reduced all bodily functions to an absolute minimum and caused the body to appear from outside to be dead. Not even another vampire was able to detect the person who was in such a state, at least as long as the person was out of sight. Originally it had been a protective mechanism but Gabriel and the other Ancients had evolved this ability and had used it to deceive their enemies and by doing so were better be able to overpower them. If one had it down cold, one could even maintain one's body tension, remain in an upright or sitting position - this Malik had shown him recently so impressively.

In the four weeks that Mick had spent with the vampire elder, Gabriel had told him about some of the special skills of the ancient vampires, including this one. And they had at least tested each one of them. All of them could only be accomplished with utmost concentration and body control and needed deft handling and a precise use of the energy reserves of the vampiric organism. Mick had had problems with many of these techniques, but not with this one as he had already discovered and used it before he had met Gabriel - to escape from the laboratory and in Mexico when the Legion had overwhelmed him and Josef. Before his training with the old vampire, however, he had only been capable of getting _into_ this death sleep on his own. Getting _out_ of it had required outside help or a strong stimulus. Now it was different. Now he was even aware of what was happening around him, what was said and done to him. Even though everything was far away he could concentrate on it and make his mind digest the information that was sent to him through his senses.

"We're going to land at any moment," he heard Gabriel say next to him, his voice echoing strangely. "Stay in this state until I give you the sign."

In his normal state this information would have made Mick nervous, it would have increased his heart rate and make him sweat which would betray him immediately. But the dark cocoon around him was protecting him from his emotional world, allowing him to remain completely unaffected. Nothing could shake him right now. Not their daring plan, not his concerns for his friends, not his fears for the future or for Beth. He was so far away from all this that he perceived the whole situation only as an outsider would and yet he was deep inside his body.

Mick had not always felt as calm about their mission as he now felt. There had been a moment when the doubt, the uncertainty and his fears had returned - just before they had boarded the helicopter. But with the help of his more relaxed vampiric side he had managed to get a grip on it, he had even been able to lay down on one of the stretchers in the helicopter and then to go into this comatose hibernation - along with Lance and Grigori, who were playing the other two 'fresh' test subjects. They had used some of the blood bags to make it look as if they had really received a few serious injuries and Lance and Grigori had even been staked. The others had to act quickly to make them fit to fight again, but it made their cover much more realistic.

Gabriel had only turned into a human once they were in the helicopter. Why he had done this so late had initially not been clear to Mick. However, he believed now that it was linked to the traitor in their ranks who they urgently had to find. As a vampire Gabriel had better insight into the emotions of the other people around him and could better perceive suspicious behavior, so he had stayed a vampire as long as he had been in the house.

"It's suspiciously deserted on the roof," now Mick heard Thomas say from the pilot's seat. So this probably meant that they were already in the landing approach. Only a few minutes earlier a radio message had come in, telling them that they had permission to land on the roof under the restriction of not getting out immediately. Mick had instantly realized that the Legion only wanted to first direct their thermal imaging cameras towards them to determine whether more vampires were on board as they had reported.

"That means there will be a nice little welcoming committee," added another, to Mick not yet so familiar voice. It had to be John Wu.

"That's not surprising," Gabriel murmured. "They'll probably first ground us and free us of any weapons to really make sure that we are not a danger to them. Are you keeping your ID cards in readiness? This is the first thing they'll try to check."

"Yeah, here." John let out a low sigh. "This won't be easy."

He was right. The plan was to get as deeply into the building as possible, to take Gallagher and Ritchcroft hostage and then force them to take them to Peterson and Cynthia. Gabriel had taken Mick aside before their departure and had exacted a promise out of him to not pounce immediately full of hatred on Gallagher and tear him apart, but to stick to the plan: Arrest their two enemies, free Peterson with their help, take them along for questioning. Then he could do with Gallagher whatever he wanted. This prospect had finally made Mick give Gabriel the required promise. However, he did not really know if he could keep it. Once he was out of this comatose state, most of his humanity and fallibility would return, and with it the trauma that had so often made him do stupid things.

"The important thing is that you inject yourselves with the syringes for re-transformation at the right time," Gabriel said now. "Lance, Mick, Malik and I will try to back you up as long as we can, but you must recover as quickly as possible."

"It'll work," Thomas replied, but the optimism in his voice seemed slightly put on. "In the last training session, it worked out quite well. I don't think it will be a big problem. Our organisms have become sufficiently accustomed to it."

Gabriel said nothing more and Mick thought he knew the reason for this. The helicopter dropped significantly and they would land in a few minutes on the roof of the factory. There was simply no time for further arrangements.

He was right. The jolt that went through the helicopter revealed that they had just landed and caused the tension around Mick to grow.

"They're coming," he heard Gabriel whisper and only seconds later Mick heard through the veil around his mind the tramping of boots on the hard concrete floor… loud calls, the order to get out of the helicopter and to lift their hands over their heads.

'Stay where you are… stay where you are… deep down inside the darkness,' he told himself. 'It's still not time to get active and here you're safe. Here you can stay if something goes wrong…' This was a comforting thought. He didn't have to face his worst enemy if he didn't want to and could just stay in this cocoon.

From very far away he felt that his stretcher was moved out of the helicopter, was lifted off and folded out on the ground. Somewhere a portable radio crackled and Mick focused on it.

"Hold the camera on his face!"

He knew the voice that echoed through the radio. It was burned into his memory forever, in the most terrible way, but it didn't affect him - not in this state.

"It could be him. I've checked the soldiers' identities. They are fine - so bring them all down here! I urgently have to see him!"

The excitement in Gallagher's voice filtered down into Mick's mind. Excitement was not good. It caused you to become careless and in this case it played right into Gabriel's hands. It seemed that his plan would indeed work.

Strained breathing. Quick steps. Someone apologized for the overdone precautions. But that was all that was said. Time seemed to pass haltingly slow, but even that didn't matter to Mick. He had all the time in the world and he would also take his time with Gallagher, once he had his hands on him. Oh, yeah…

The scents around Mick changed. First it smelled of the linoleum floor of a corridor and then of an elevator and the noise which soon rang out and the slight jerk that followed told Mick that he was right and that they were being transported by elevator down to the center.

"Were there many losses in Station 6," he heard a completely unfamiliar voice ask hesitantly.

"Several," Gabriel replied immediately. "It was not easy to keep the upper hand and defeat the monsters – but, thankfully, we managed it. I just hope they don't attack the station here so soon."

"They could try," the man replied with a chuckle. "There are so many troops stationed here and the entrance and exit doors can only be opened from inside. We are perfectly careful who we let in here. Why do you think we were so careful with you and have first seized your weapons and scanned you? Gallagher knows what he's doing."

"Indeed," Gabriel returned impressed and the next jolt that went through the elevator probably meant that they had reached the station.

Mick's stretcher set into motion again, and rolled clattering through the next corridor. It was not long until he could hear from a different direction the quick steps of several people - a troop of a couple of soldiers who were approaching them. Then suddenly there was this tingling that penetrated his body from outside and he could hear Gabriel's voice as clearly as if it were his own. 'Get ready. These are the subjects and they are concentrating wonderfully on you, Mick. On my signal.'

"It's really him!" Gallagher's voice almost cheered, though he sounded too far away to have reached them and the vampire inside Mick began to stir against his will. "Take this. I have to play it safe and insure that he doesn't wake up too soon."

"Wait…!" This was Ritchcroft and Mick knew immediately that he had noticed something. There was such fright in his voice. But the mental 'Now!' Gabriel sent out prevented the man from inflicting more damage with his sudden realization.

A violent burst of energy shot from the outside into Mick's body and catapulted him out of his death sleep with a speed he would have never been able to bring up alone, and even insured that he immediately jumped up from the stretcher. His rested senses captured everything around him in a split second: Four men beside and behind him, six of them before him, including Gallagher and Ritchcroft and all produced their weapons in sync. Quick for humans but far too slowly for such old vampires like Lance, Grigori, Malik and especially Gabriel. The old vampire made a huge leap, suddenly had Ritchcroft in his arms and thrust his elbow into the face of the soldier next to him while Malik crashed with such drive into Gallagher and another man that they both hit the ground. All this Mick noticed only fleetingly from the corner of his eye as he kicked one of the soldiers at the side of his stretcher with such force in the face that the skull bones audibly cracked and he collapsed like a wet sack, pressing the trigger of his gun and almost riddling his comrade in front of him with bullets. Another bullet hissed past Mick's shoulder only because Thomas had quick-wittedly hit the arm of the other shooter. Mick rolled over his bed, grabbed the stretcher in the same movement and brought it up as a shield between Thomas and the next approaching bullets while at the same moment kicking the man next to Thomas with full force in the solar plexus. He hadn't much time to determine whether the impact achieved the desired effect because John in his human condition was having problems with his opponent. He had leaped onto him clutching the hand that held the dangerous gun and pressed it up so that the bullets hit the ceiling splintering it and the lights above them. Mick took a large step toward him, grabbed the neck of the man and ended the fight with a quick, powerful movement. The soldier collapsed noisily and Mick paid no more attention to him. Instead, his eyes flew over to Gabriel and the others, fixed on the man Lance clutched tightly who was still trying to free himself with all his might, his eyes glowing with hatred and bloodlust - emotions that were very quickly also spreading in Mick. He had been indifferent to the men who lay motionless at his feet, opponents he had had to neutralize to not get injured or killed. But Gallagher… Mick could not help it. The memories could not be turned off, fueled his hatred and his desire for revenge and causing tightness in his chest, accelerating the beating of his heart and causing cold sweat to appear on his forehead. 'Don't think about it… just focus on what is important.'

Quick steps could be heard from a different direction along with the loading of weapons as the next unit approached. Mick tensed up and focused his senses on the new threat, a group of five or six men. Horror ran ahead of them but also steely determination to attack immediately.

"Weapons down or they'll die!" Gabriel's deep voice boomed threateningly down the hallway the moment the men turned the corner, as expected heavily armed and their weapons at the ready. "And don't dare to come closer!"

The men remained still their wide eyes roaming shocked from Gallagher to Ritchcroft and back and some of them aimed at Gabriel, Lance Malik and Grigori. Seeing the two most important men in this station in the hands of the enemy with sharp blades of antique swords at their necks was probably something they had not expected. Mick remained where he was. He knew exactly how delicate the situation was and how easily a shot could go off. It was very unlikely that it would hit one of the vampires but it was urgent that Ritchcroft and Gallagher stayed alive initially.

"You will now do as follows," Gabriel went on while the soldiers still pointed their weapons from one enemy to the other and seemed to be totally overwhelmed with the situation. "You will lower your weapons very slowly and then throw them into the room over there." He nodded to the door on his right. "Go!"

Some of the men lowered their weapons immediately while a few others still did not quite know what to do.

"Do… do what he says," Mick now heard Ritchcroft gasp and after seemingly endless seconds of waiting the first soldier of the troop set with a grim face into motion, approached the door and threw his gun into the room. The others reluctantly followed his example and soon the whole squad was disarmed. Only now did Mick dare to slowly walk towards Gabriel and the others, knowing that John and Thomas would follow him.

"And now you will go into the room to the right of you and close the door behind you," Gabriel commanded and again Ritchcroft nodded to them and the men reluctantly did what was required of them.

"You've surely got a key to the door," the old vampire growled into his hostage's ear.

"Not… not me, but Gallagher…"

Mick could not help it, even though he knew that it was unreasonable his eyes flew over to his worst enemy and met his. The hatred that met him could definitely rival Mick's own, but he was not intimidated by this as he felt his anger and the need to tear this man apart only getting stronger. Mick stepped up to him, pushed back his memories with a vengeance and even reduced the pounding of his heart a little. He had to focus on his revenge fantasies in order to keep the memories from overtaking his reason.

"Where's the key," he brought out in an icy voice, a voice that sounded almost foreign to him. 'Give me a reason to attack you - give it to me,' said the same voice deep inside him. 'I want so much to show you what I'm longing for.'

Gallagher did not respond to him but looked at him full of contempt and hatred.

"I would suggest that you answer his question," Lance whispered softly into the man's ear. "Otherwise, we'll let him have a little fun with you right now."

Gallagher's eyes grew even darker, but he relented. "Left pocket," he said hatefully. Mick reached into his pocket and produced a thick bunch of keys keeping his eyes glued to the man before him. He would certainly not avoid his gaze, knowing that Gallagher would interpret it as a sign of weakness.

"Which one is it?" Mick asked sharply, and a deep sense of satisfaction ran through his body when Gallagher dropped his gaze and focused for a moment on the bunch of keys.

"The black one," the man responded grumpily.

Despite his victory, it was hard for Mick to remove his gaze again from those cold eyes, but he had to in order to go over to the door and lock it. The door looked stable and he was sure that the window in it was of bulletproof glass as it was in all the stations of the Legion. The soldiers would be here for a while. Nevertheless, Mick looked inquiringly at Gabriel as he turned back to the others. It confused him profoundly that no further backup was advancing. There were cameras installed everywhere and their struggle had been too loud to not be noticed by others. The answer to his unspoken question came not from the old vampire but from the loud crackling of the walkie-talkie at Gallagher's belt.

"We're under attack! Some people have entered the factory… and others are using the emergency exit… We urgently need more back-up… Can anyone hear me?"

Gabriel nodded and he pushed Ritchcroft over to Malik who immediately seized him firmly and pressed instead of a sword an automatic weapon to his temple. Gabriel approached Gallagher, grabbed the walkie-talkie from his belt to then switch it off with a slightly provocative smile. "Well," the old vampire said, turned around and eyed them all up quickly. "Did you inject my blood?" He addressed Thomas and John who nodded immediately. They still didn't look very healthy and strong at the moment but rather pale and a little bit harried.

Gabriel looked again at Malik. "Let our friend here show you, Thomas and John where the control room is. Open the doors for the other teams so they can get through to us. And keep an eye on our hostage. We still need him."

He did not even wait for a nod from Malik but immediately turned to Mick. "_We_'ll let Gallagher lead us to Peterson and Cynthia. Both our teams will stay together as long as we have to walk in the same direction."

He nodded invitingly towards Lance and the vampire immediately set into motion pushing the still slightly struggling Gallagher ahead of them while Mick picked up a fully automatic weapon from the ground with clenched teeth, preparing inwardly for the next dangerous steps in their mission and simultaneously fighting against the intensifying need to attack Gallagher.

His eyes met Gabriel's. The old vampire nodded encouragingly. "You can do this," he whispered to him and patted his shoulder in a fatherly way. Unfortunately, Mick saw in his bright eyes, a hint of what Mick also felt more and more clearly: unease and doubt. Gabriel was bedeviled by the same thought as he: This had all been much too easy so far.


	47. Approximation

_It's time again for the next post. So here it is. Thank you all so much for all your dear reviews. Yes, the battle has now started and it won't stay as easy as it was at the beginning. It's the Legion they fight against. And they won't give up this easily. _

_I'm still under time pressure and have additionally gotten a bit ill, so I still can't answer to your comments in detail. But I loved them and am so happy to have readers here who are writing constantly some comments. Feel hugged and kissed. I'll post the next chapter in five days again, so it will be Sunday this time. Have a great time until then, yours Jenna/Lilith_

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**A****pproximation**

I had never really fancied combat, reckless behavior or the need to test my strength. In this I was quite different from Max or even Mick. I didn't need to prove to myself that I could totally outperform most of the world's population. Besides, with most combat missions came great effort, a certain amount of risk and various physical discomforts and bodily harm - with the jostling of crates, behind which we hid, I had already gotten a splinter in my finger that was annoying as hell. And then there were the musty odors and the dirt everywhere. For one with such refined tastes and a keen appreciation of beauty, this really did nothing to improve my mood, even if it wasn't my own clothes being subjected to the attacks of dust and other debris. In addition, I was still suffering from the narrowness here in our hiding place and the unwanted physical contact with my colleagues that couldn't be avoided as we'd bump into each other with the constant jerking and bouncing of the truck again and again.

No, combat missions were so not my thing. How wonderful everything had once been, when I called the shots in the vampiric community in LA as one of the elders and it had only taken a nod for certain actions to be carried out or to have them stopped. From behind the desk these combat missions looked simple and not as unsettling, but here, in the middle of the action, I didn't like them at all. I was almost jealous of Logan, Seth and Beth. They were somewhat protected and could sit back and watch the whole thing from a distance, didn't need to exert themselves particularly.

Well, Beth probably didn't like this one bit. She was very much like Mick and would have preferred to take an active role in all this - even though she had held back and had been unusually unresponsive and unemotional. The shock of Mick's participation in the whole thing seemed to have shaken her to the core, so much so that she hadn't recovered so quickly. But she _would_ recover - Of that I was certain and would then probably try to find a way to at least get close to where the action was. Logan was going to have his hands full stopping her if he even had the time for it, and I doubted he would be any match for the craftiness of a Beth Turner. Even Mick and I had often had problems keeping her in check once the natural born fighter in her came out and she felt compelled to meddle in things, to 'help' where she could. Strong women, even though they were fascinating and admirable, could sometimes be so incredibly detrimental to ones nerves. And all this was about Mick, whom she essentially worried about constantly… rightly so I had to admit, for _if_ there was anyone who surpassed Beth in her fearlessness, it was my best friend. Quite apart from that I was still asking myself, how in the hell the situation between him and Gallagher would go. If I were him I'd throw myself onto the man and tear him to pieces the minute I saw him. No, not just if I were him, but also as his best friend. Even though it had been awhile since I had seen this horrific video at the farm house in Mexico, where this sadist had taken his hatred of the world out on my friend - I hadn't forgotten it. No one could forget something like that. I'd been able to push it to the back of my mind, but now that we were about to get our hands on Gallagher…

As I thought about it a bit longer, there were actually three important reasons that, next to Gabriel's strict instructions, drove me to want to take part in this action and to get it done as quickly as possible: my concern that Beth, if we didn't act fast enough, would somehow find a way to interfere and place herself in even more danger; my fear for Mick and his tendency to sacrifice himself for others and my strong desire to get my hands on Gallagher or at least be there when Mick confronted this man. These thoughts made it possible for me to put my distaste for combat aside, to mobilize my strength and even yearn for the moment I could actually use them. Maybe this yearning could also be due to the fact that the squatting position I was in behind these boxes was becoming more and more uncomfortable and my legs were falling asleep.

To my relief, the truck came to a stop as we reached the factory. I strained my hearing a bit more and soon heard two men talking with each other.

"I'm delivering the promised goods from Phoenix," said the driver of our truck, who had either been bribed or really didn't know what he was transporting, among other things in his truck. We had picked him up on our way to the factory and Max had motioned for him to take the driver's seat.

"You're a little late, Hugh," replied another voice and I respectfully raised my eyebrows. The men here even knew this driver. This made our cover perfect and everything much easier.

"Okay, drive in, you know where to…"

Those simple words had never sounded so wonderful to me. Our plan seemed to be working. Either Gabriel was really a strategic genius or we were all heading straight into a trap.

"That was easy," Max whispered to me and then looked around. "As soon as they open the door and a few of them enter to unload the stuff, we'll grab them and take them hostage as planned. You're not allowed to kill or even seriously injure any of these people. At least there's not to be any corpses left lying around when the police get here later. Is that clear?"

The others nodded almost in sync. Then no one stirred as the truck came to a stop again and the engine was switched off. It took only a few heartbeats before the rear of the truck began to move, opened mechanically. Dim light fell into the dark interior, spread slowly, so that it soon fell between the boxes we had huddled behind.

"Nick! Bring the dolly over here," boomed the deep voice of one of the workers' through the cargo space. No suspicious noises. No crackling of radios or cocking of weapons.

I focused a little more. There were also no unusual odors, no breathless anticipation in front of the truck. Their hearts were beating very calmly and relaxed, just the way they usually did when they went about their work. No one smelled of sweat or behaved suspiciously in anyway.

There was a rumble and without actually seeing it I knew one of the men had climbed onto the bed of the truck to inspect the cargo more closely. I looked at Max and he raised his hand and showed me with three fingers how many he wanted to take out. I just nodded and concentrated on the sounds around me. Outside, a heavy machine passed the truck, probably a forklift, and, in addition to the usual noises in a factory, different voices from farther away could be heard. Everything stayed relaxed and calm. The worker in our truck was joined by another and they came closer, further inspecting the cargo.

"This here needs to go to Section B," said one of them dragging a box, scraping it over the ground. "Tim, get your ass over here and help us raise the truck bed!"

My gaze searched for Max' eyes again and this time he nodded to me. Once the third man was aboard and had raised the truck bed, we would strike. I peered through a gap between two tall boxes. A khaki-clad butt swayed in front of me, while its owner pushed another box forward. He was now fairly close to our hiding place and it was time to take action.

The quiet hum of the loading ramp broke off with a mechanical clicking and that was our signal to start. Almost in sync Max and I tensed our bodies and jumped, flying with ease over the boxes in front of us, followed by Guillermo, Vincent, William and Enrique. The men before us didn't stand a chance. Everything happened so fast they hadn't even have time to scream in horror or utter any other panicked noises before a hand was clamped tightly over their mouths and the barrel of a gun was pressed against their temples. The dramatic baring of our fangs was spared for now, because the men already understood they were not to make a sound or any false moves. The man I had grabbed was very young and began to tremble and sweat immediately. Yuck! Why was it always me who had such 'luck'? At least he'd been so afraid he hadn't even thought about struggling against me. Outside, no one had noticed a thing; everyone had gone on about their work, since our swift action had been carried out far enough in the back of the truck to go undetected.

"How many guards are here?" Max whispered to his hostage, who was totally frozen with shock as well, and detached his fingers from the man's mouth so he could respond.

The man took a trembling breath. "U… usually four men… but… but one is out sick…"

"Where are they now?"

"One has… has just let the lift down… and… and Leo and Al are back at the office."

Max nodded to Guillermo, who had no hostage thanks to Vincent's fast reaction and the Mexican immediately understood, approached the loading ramp, holding his hand over the button that activated it and nodded to us.

"Go to the ramp and wave them over," Max told his hostage and let him go. "One false move and your friends here are dead!"

The man nodded quickly and then walked with a wildly beating heart and shaky legs towards the ramp to indeed wave to the guards. His fear of us was too great to do anything stupid. Very few people in our society in threatening situations had enough strength to resist.

I inwardly crossed my fingers as I heard the guards' steps coming closer. We had to act quickly and accurately, if we were to keep the situation under control. Max gave Guillermo a sign and the vampire pressed the button, and the ramp began to lower. At the same time he signaled Enrique and William to get ready.

"What's wrong?" I heard a man's voice from outside and this time didn't need to look at Max to know he and the others would now become active again. Max, Enrique, Guillermo and William jumped from the truck and Vincent and I pushed our hostages towards the loading ramp and thus into the limelight. Over my hostage's shoulder I saw Enrique wrench the weapon, with one deft movement of his hand, from one of the guards and then press it to his temple, while Max had long since grabbed his worker again, who had wrongfully believed to be free and was now staring pale and shaken at the motionless guard at his feet.

The other workers around us at first hadn't understood what was happening, had just paused in their work and looked at us - until the first horrified cries were heard. And then the panic set in, the first workers threw themselves around and stormed off towards the exit, but they didn't get far. Guillermo and William were faster and forcefully demonstrated why it was better not to mess with vampires. One by one the men flew back in the direction from which they had come, crashed painfully into boxes, tools, and even their own comrades, and remained on the floor, groaning. No normal mortal could rival the speed and power of a vampire.

"No one leaves the factory!" Max' deep, booming voice roared through the hall and in doing so, assured that everyone present stayed where they were, frightened. "If anyone does something we haven't previously commanded, he'll be responsible for the deaths of your comrades, one by one. But if you do as we tell you to, no one will get hurt."

From somewhere came a faint whimper, but most of the workers had stayed quiet, just breathing rapidly and waited with wildly beating hearts for what was to come.

"You will all now put down anything you may be holding, raise your hands above your head so that we can see them, and then walk slowly - _slowly_ - over to the staff room next to the office. Do it now!"

The desired response came hesitantly, but it came. One by one, the workers raised their hands and began to move, walked with trembling knees and anxious glances in our direction to the said premise. There had to be a total of thirty-five men and women. Our observation team had previously counted the workers who had entered the building and I began counting myself internally as the men and women disappeared into the lounge, while Guillermo raised the ramp again for me and Vincent.

When we too had finally reached the ground with our trembling hostages who had become all smelly with fear – or maybe it was just my hostage that had the unpleasant perspiration - all the other workers had finally been safely stowed away in their nice little room. Max nodded to me and I was finally able to shove my _Blob_ away, relieved. The boy stumbled a bit, but quickly caught himself, then hurried over to his friends. I was almost sure I had even heard a faint sob, before he finally disappeared from my field of vision and I shook my head, annoyed. As if _he_ had suffered more than I had from our involuntarily intimate embrace…

Vincent had also let go of his hostage, now grabbed the stunned security guard at Max' feet, and loaded him over his shoulder. Max himself addressed the guard in Enrique's arms over the shoulder of his own hostage.

"Where's the elevator to the basement?"

"It… it'll only take you to the storage cellar - no further," the man gasped with a mixture of fear and defiance in his voice.

"_Where_ is the elevator?" Max repeated his question now much more threateningly and his eyes bored into those of his opponent's.

The man swallowed hard and then nodded diagonally to the right. "Over… over there. Where the forklifts are."

He was right. As far as I could tell from our vantage point it indeed looked like an elevator door.

Max turned to Guillermo and William. "See to it that you barricade the staff room in some way."

The two vampires nodded and hurried off right away, while we too set into motion and headed for the elevator. So far, everything had gone exactly as planned and for some reason this was unsettling to me. From experience with such missions I knew eventually something had gone wrong and since nothing had happened so far, it would probably happen later when we were in the basement - down where everything would be much more critical and dangerous; down where we couldn't _afford_ to make any mistakes!

But first, we had to _get_ there. The security guard hadn't lied to us - Logan had also already figured out that you couldn't get into the station until the door was first opened from the inside. And this was only going to happen after you held your friendly face up to a camera and a man in the control center identified you.

There were also cameras here in the factory – a lot of them as far as I could see as we approached our first destination with quick steps. So the nice man in the control center had certainly had a look at us already. It was just a feeling but I was sure he wasn't going to let us in voluntarily. For this he'd probably need a little of Gabriel's persuasion – who was hopefully long since on his way to him. If not, we'd soon have a huge problem since Patricia's and our team, could soon be standing in front of a closed door.

* * *

The toy factory wasn't that far outside the city, amidst the prairie-like landscape that reached to the spurs of an impressive mountain range in the distance. Shriveled, hard grass, green bushes and small trees helped the parched region not to appear quite so bleak as it actually was and here and there a tall cactus even reached its arms into the blue sky like a lonely sentinel, who didn't know if there was even anything to watch here. The factory, whose roof and outline Beth could just now make out from a distance in the middle of this sparely vegetated terrain, was maybe a suitable object and Beth's heart began to beat a little faster at the sight of it, even though the building was still a good distance away. She turned and when she could still see the roofs of houses from the city with a quick glance out of the rear window of their car, she felt a little bit better. Although civilization was fairly close it was still no guarantee that something couldn't happen to her – but somehow it was comforting to know that there was still life nearby, that they weren't alone with the Legion.

Of course, Seth didn't drive to much closer to the factory but turned onto a small, bumpy dirt road, and drove a good way into the unkempt landscape. The car shook and jerked and after a while Beth started to wonder if Seth really knew where he was going. He looked a bit helpless and nervous. But her concern was unfounded. It wasn't long before Beth spotted the first patrol car of the police team they would soon join and the associated men and women in dark blue uniforms, standing together in small groups, talking or staring more or less concentrated through the bushes and trees in the direction of the factory.

Automatically Beth's brows furrowed. The people here gave anything but the impression that they were expecting at any moment to be needed for a dangerous mission. Rather it looked as if they didn't really take this all too seriously and saw it as more of an exercise than a real mission. All together there were two police vans, two civilian vehicles and one OB van, in front of which she now spotted Carl and Ben. They were talking with a slightly older, not so sporty looking man, who also wore the dark uniform and equipment of the special unit, and were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't even taken time to turn to the newcomers. It wasn't until Beth opened her door and got out that Ben was able to break away from his conversation and looked at her. He hadn't been expecting her - how could he? - and for a few heartbeats just stared at her, blinking with his mouth open. But he finally managed to break away from his frozen state and approached her and Seth.

"What… what are _you_ doing here?" he greeted her bewildered and she quickly put on a confident smile.

"I've come to give a little support here," she replied calmly. "And yes, I'm fine thank you. And you?"

Ben didn't respond to her question. "Says who?" he instantly probed to her annoyance and his dark brows moved towards each other with suspicion.

"Josef," she said lightly and just pushed past him, and walked up to the OB van. "He thought I'd be of more use here than in the house with Logan… So you've even managed to get a broadcasting van?"

It took a while before Ben replied and his voice still had a slightly skeptical tone. "Yes. I wasn't too sure if this would work, but we were lucky… So, Kostan was able to come through for you once again?"

Uh, oh! Seemingly it wasn't so easy to distract Benjamin Talbot. Beth just continued walking towards Carl and put on her brightest smile as he too turned to her with a frown.

"Has anyone okayed you staying here with us?" her old friend additionally had to ask her and it was really hard to keep her smile up. Somehow, her feminine charms weren't quite as effective as they usually were.

"Would I be here otherwise?" she asked back cheerfully and Carl's immediate nod even annoyed her a bit.

"Yes, you would!" he now had to add. "You never have been one to follow instructions much."

"She said Josef wanted her to come here," she now heard Seth say somewhat uncertain and as she turned he was just approaching them with his two aluminum cases.

"And you just took her word for it?" Ben asked, almost annoyed now.

"Why shouldn't he? It's the truth," Beth lied and thought she was really convincing, but their looks told her that this ploy wasn't really working.

"Could I perhaps first know who our enchanting visitor here is?" someone else came to her rescue and Beth's smile became a whole lot friendlier when she turned to the policeman next to Carl, who had already been eyeing her up conspicuously the entire time.

"But of course," Ben replied, trying to remain polite and Beth could clearly feel how inappropriate the man's interest in her was for him. "Chief Harris, this is Beth Turner, who also works for the organization we've just spoken about. Beth, this is Chief Harris, the leader of the special unit and thus the person primarily responsible for any actions to be taken by this team today."

Beth immediately reached out her hand towards the man and he took it with a slightly sleazy grin and a further blatant inspection of her body.

"I'm pleased to meet you," she lied and the man indeed dared to lick his lips somewhat lecherously.

"Not as much as_ I_ am," he said and uttered a displeasing laugh. "Then I'm just hoping for some good cooperation today."

Beth nodded, still smiling, and wrenched her fingers from the much too firm grip of his hand. She let her eyes glide over to the van next to him.

"So this is the OB van," she said. "May I take a look inside?"

"But of course," Harris replied immediately. "This is indeed the new work place for your friend here." He rudely patted Seth's shoulder, who winced violently, before he approached the van and opened the rear doors.

"Here you go," the chief grinned, pointing with a welcoming gesture into the interior of the van. Beth ignored the hand he held out to help her up and climbed into the van smoothly without his help, followed by Seth. Inside it looked like any other van Logan had worked in before. It was equipped with monitors, computers, and other technical equipment that she couldn't really identify, and two seats. Well, that was really wonderful! At least she wouldn't have to stand the entire time.

She nodded, satisfied. "We'll definitely be able work quite well in here," she said in the direction of the Chief and then looked at Seth invitingly.

The boy blinked a little confused, but nodded obediently. "Yes… um… then we'll get to work at once."

He pushed one of his cases over to Beth and then knelt on the floor to open the other case and got out a laptop and associated equipment. Beth hesitated for a moment and was forced to look towards the door when a loud cough was heard from that direction.

Ben stood there instead of the Chief, who had left to take care of something else, and he smiled at her a little _too_ kindly. "Beth, can you perhaps come out here for a moment? I'd like to have a little talk with you."

Oh, oh! That didn't sound good. She shook her head. "It's really a bad time right now," she replied quickly. "We have a lot to do…"

Ben's smile became a whole lot more cramped and could barely hide his anger about her behavior. "It's just for a few minutes…"

"Unfortunately I really don't have time for even a few minutes." She wasn't about to get out and allow Ben or Carl to send her away again. She could guess just by the way he was looking at her that this was exactly what this was about. She quickly knelt beside Seth and now opened her case, inspected the things inside in detail, without actually knowing anything about them and began to unpack the case very slowly.

She heard an incredulous laugh and then the van moved slightly as Ben climbed in and approached her. Beth's heart immediately began to beat faster. Surely the lawyer wouldn't dare drag her out of the van in front of everyone, would he?

Ben went into a crouch beside her, leaning close to her.

"I've no idea what's prompted you to come here and place yourself in danger rather than watching from a safe distance," he whispered to her. "But don't think for a minute that I believe this was agreed upon by anyone. I can hardly force you leave here against your will, but perhaps if I reason with you, you'll see just how irrational and dangerous this action is. This is a matter for the police, not for civilians!"

"It's not like I'm wanting to storm the factory," Beth replied quietly and looked at him now but in addition to his anger about her behavior she recognized genuine concern in his eyes. "All I want is to be close to Mick and to watch what's going on inside the building."

Ben's eyebrows drew together, made the surprise on his face visible with her words. "Close to Mick? Does that mean he's gone in there?"

Beth nodded uneasily and the recent thought of it made the uncomfortable pressure in her stomach grow again.

"He had to," Seth now added for her, looking similarly gloomy as she felt. "Otherwise they never would have gotten in there…"

"They're _already_ in there?" Ben voiced the question that was immediately also on Beth's tongue.

Seth glanced at his watch and then nodded. "And that's why we really need to hurry," he said, rose with his laptop and placed it on the desk next to one of the monitors. "I have to connect this as quickly as possible…"

Beth also got up, and Talbot followed, giving her a deeply thoughtful look.

"I'm now beginning to understand," he said softly, and she could read in his eyes that he really did, that he realized how incredibly important it was for her to be here.

"I… I won't do anything unreasonable, Ben," she gave back just as quietly and couldn't help it when her voice took on a slightly pleading tone. "I just want to be here with Seth and support him somehow…"

Ben took a deep breath and ran his hand through his, for him, unusually tousled hair. Finally, he nodded and a wave of relief washed over Beth. She almost felt tempted to fall around his neck full of gratitude. My goodness, why was she so terribly emotional at the moment?

"But you have to promise me you're not going to leave this van, especially when the action starts or any other critical thing happens," Ben said now strictly and even raised one finger to emphasize his words.

Beth started nodding, even as he was still speaking. "I will – really!" she added to her gesture. She almost believed it herself because it wasn't just her own life she was now risking with her irrational behavior. Her stomach constricted once again, this time because the thought was still so foreign to her and she didn't know exactly how to deal with it, how to behave.

For a moment Ben's eyes rested on her searchingly, then he turned to Seth. "Exactly how is all this supposed to work?"

The young vampire took a deep breath and reached for the equipment Beth had quickly lay out beside him on the desk. "Well, this device here," he began while assembling the parts with practiced movements, "will capture the radio waves of the transmitter Cynthia needs to connect to the transmission network in the lab. Then the data and images the device records will be forwarded by my laptop to Logan, who will then send it back to me …" Seth looked briefly to the still open door of the car and went on much more quietly, "… censored, because there are things the people here _shouldn't_ see. Then I can hopefully redirect the images from the CCTV cameras to the monitors here."

"Will we be able to see what our teams are doing?" Beth asked, having a sense of foreboding.

Of course, Seth shook his head. "Only Logan can see that. He'll first need to filter a lot of things before it reaches us here."

Beth suppressed a frustrated sigh. She had not expected this. Perhaps she had been too quick in pushing herself into the wrong team. Because of this she wasn't going to know what was going on down there in the laboratory, what was happening to Mick and the others. But if she drove back to Logan, she would no longer be in the vicinity of the laboratory and her friend was certainly not going to let her escape a second time. Somehow, her two major concerns to 'see Mick' and 'be close to Mick' couldn't really be brought together right now. But somewhere deep in her mind a new idea was stirring, something she hadn't yet considered, but revealed upon further reflection a third option; a very unusual option no one would notice, one she wouldn't be putting herself in danger with. Maybe she could, if she tried to relax and close her eyes, draw on her mental connection to Mick. She had never tried this consciously before and didn't know if she was close enough to him to do it, but it couldn't hurt to try.

"All right," she heard Ben say, after he too had been absorbed in his own thoughts for a while, "then get everything ready here and call me when the first images start coming in. And then we'll see if we can light a fire under this apathetic bunch here."

Seth nodded quickly and Ben looked at Beth once again intently. "I'm counting on your word," he said sternly and she forced herself to nod, finally giving Ben enough reassurance to leave the van. She wasn't lying to him - she _would _physically be here in the van. After all they had never talked about her doing this with her mind.


	48. Acid Test

_Hi there! I'm healthy again and here's the next chapter for you. As you can guess it's about Mick's team again. Hope you'll like it. And thanks a lot for your comments. I loved them so much. Feel hugged and kissed. I'll be back within the next five days. That means… yes, around Christmas – as kind of a little Christmas-present. Wish you all the best until then, yours Jenna _

_Translated by Cleo28  
_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**A****cid Test**

* * *

"_**Only the one who knows his limits, knows when he exceeds them." **_

_**Rupert Schützbach (* 1933) **_

* * *

"_Do you think you're stronger than me? Do you really think that?" the terrible voice gasped in his ear, the voice in which there was nothing but hatred and aggression. "Maybe you're stronger than the others, but in the end I will break you. I will destroy you so deeply that you will never fully recover, but will become either the rabid beast you are in truth or just a whining, shaking thing lying in a corner and begging me to finally allow you to die. Do you hear me? Do you HEAR me?"_

He _heard_ him still. At night in his dreams, during the day in his panic attacks and now, now when he was looking at him. This devil who had always believed he had everything under control and would never get into a situation like this. His greed to get Mick back into his hands and to complete what he had started had brought him to this, had caused him be careless and to walk blindly right into their trap. And now, finally, the time had come that Mick could take his revenge for what this man had done to him. He could tear him apart; let him die slowly in the cruelest way he could think of… oh, yes… That was what he needed to help himself heal, free him from the memories and the nightmares. The beast in Mick began to bare its teeth and to run up and down nervously inside him while he was compelled to control himself and to walk quietly behind this man who had shown him that there was indeed hell on earth. Mick could not help it, even though he had his body still under control, he began to transform. Every cell in his body began to tingle and he felt his fangs pushing out.

Gabriel, who was walking diagonally in front of him, cast an admonishing look over his shoulder at him and shook his head almost imperceptibly, sending a mental wave of calmness over to him that Mick took gratefully. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply and tried, as he lifted his eyelids again, to focus on something else. He could not follow his need for revenge, couldn't allow himself to get carried away by this dangerous mixture of hatred, anxiety, tension and fear that was spreading further and further inside him. He had to make sure that his mind had the upper hand. His eyes focused on the sword that was attached with a holster to Gabriel's back. Gabriel had put it on after their first success in this mission. He probably had also worn it under his coat back in Mexico. It was inconspicuous and held the sword tightly to his body where it would barely hinder any other movements he made. He only had to reach briefly over his shoulder to have the sword instantly in his hand.

Mick looked at the sword more closely. He had previously thought it to be a samurai sword but it was not long enough for that. It looked more like a self-made mix of different types of swords and appeared to be very light and extremely sharp. The swords they had both used during the training in Greece had looked a little different and although they had been very similar to this one, they hadn't had this strange symbol, which certainly must mean something, where the hilt blended into the blade.

Mick looked over at the other vampires. The swords Lance, Grigori and Thomas had detached during the brief battle from their hiding place on the undersides of the stretchers and now carried looked very similar to this one and the hilts were decorated with the same ornament. It was an ornamented, wide, rather Celtic-looking cross that spanned over a circle dividing it into four arrays. Inside each one was a strange symbol and in the middle of the cross was a light gemstone. Something about this ornament was strangely familiar to Mick, but he could not think what it was as he was still too tense and had to focus on too many other things at once. His sensitive senses were opened wide and perceived every movement around him perfectly clearly. Like everyone else on his team he knew that they had to expect an attack at any time even though Ritchcroft had cleared the way for them. Gabriel had forced him to transmit to all the units stationed here to lay down their arms and to evacuate all the corridors through which their small group now moved. They were not allowed to enter them until he gave them another command. Apparently the men had taken their commander seriously because so far no other soldiers had appeared and it was surprisingly quiet in the lab. Mick knew that this peaceful impression was deceptive. When he tried, he could hear every now and then excited voices and fast steps from the other corridors that told him that the troops that were stationed here were only waiting for a mistake, a sign from their commander to attack and deep inside he knew they would not get out of here without at least one further fight - regardless of whether their plan worked or not.

"What… what exactly are you planning to do with us… Gabriel?" Ritchcroft now dared to ask and threw a slightly nervous glance at the old vampire past Malik. He had been surprisingly quiet so far, had looked pale and very shocked and Mick was sure that this time his behavior was not a performance. That told him that the subliminally palpable anger which seemed to pulse through the man's body was anger at his own stupidity and the greed that had made him so careless. Nevertheless, when he tried hard, Mick could feel that there was not enough fear inside this man, as if he still had an ace up his sleeve somewhere and was just waiting for the right moment to play it.

"Do you really think that I will tell you that?" Gabriel asked amused and Ritchcroft tried to return his smile but it was a little cramped and not really an honest smile.

"No, but… if you plan on taking us along and trying to get information from us…" The look in Gabriel's direction won something strangely cautionary. "There are a few things that you had better remember before you do this. Certain agreements…"

These words caused Mick's eyebrows to involuntarily wander towards each other and an uncomfortable feeling spread in his stomach. Agreements? Was he talking about the contracts? The Legion itself wasn't adhering to them any longer.

"I don't tend to forget such important things," Gabriel replied now with an even falser smile. "But I think we both know _who_ hasn't adhered to the agreements and that our action is only a result of this misdemeanor. And concerning _your_ person – what is the real reason for your attempt to remember the old agreements? I don't know if your position within the Legion is a sufficient reason to deal with you differently than with any other soldier who raises his weapon against us."

Ritchcroft gasped for air indignantly. "It's not just about my position, but rather…"

Gabriel cut him off with a quick gesture and Malik pushed him roughly to the side to make it possible for the old Vampire to get a better look into the corridor they had just reached. They could now go into two different directions.

"Where do we need to go now?" the Assassin asked and increased the pressure of the hand that held Ritchcroft's arm so much that his face twisted painfully.

"For the control center we have to go right," he answered constrained. "And the detention cells are located in the other direction."

Gabriel glanced down the hallway and Mick did as well, fighting against the next wave of unease that attacked him. But even in this part of the station no soldier was visible. They were still keeping to their instructions and remaining in position and not daring to initiate a direct confrontation.

"Well," the old vampire said and looked at Malik. "Now we'll go separate ways. Search the control center. We will take care of Peterson and Cynthia. Then we'll join you again."

Malik nodded slightly and his small group immediately set into motion hurrying to meet their goal. Lance also pushed his prisoner, who once again cast a hateful glance at Mick before he gave himself up to his fate, roughly forward. The vampire in Mick growled menacingly and bared his teeth and Mick had to stop for a moment to collect himself, pushing back the surge of terrible memories that threatened to overcome him. His heart was no longer beating steadily and he had started to sweat. Sure signs that his trauma was again making an impact. 'Not yet… not yet… First we must find Frank and get out of here. Frank… It's about Frank!'

Mick started off again, rapidly catching up with the others. Gabriel had not waited for him but the slightly worried look that he gave Mick told him that the old vampire knew exactly what kind of difficulties he was having. However, he said nothing. Instead he sent another wave of calmness over to him that allowed Mick's tense shoulder muscles to relax a little and let him focus again on his surroundings. Mick noticed with horror that this was perhaps not such a good idea. Though parts of it were more modern and the station had really looked a little different than the ones that Mick had set his eyes on before, the part of the corridor they were now moving into looked incredibly similar to the cell blocks of the other laboratories. It felt almost as if Mick was moving with each step he was taking further back into the past year. His heart rate accelerated even more, his breathing became faster and shallower and the first tremor ran through his body that was stretched to the breaking point.

'You're not a prisoner… you can move and fight freely… You're not helpless… not a victim… not a victim.'

Mick concentrated with all his might on the soothing voice in his mind, trying to remain calm and to breathe evenly, to give the memories no chance to upset his mind even further. But it was so difficult… so very difficult.

'This is not the same laboratory. Look at it. In the hell you were in there weren't these strange inlets in the ceiling.'

Mick frowned. Were there automatic security doors hidden in the ceiling? No, nothing like this had been in the other laboratory and somehow Mick did not like this at all. His eyes met Gabriel's and he knew that the old vampire had also noticed this significant danger.

'We have to be really careful!' Mick this time heard Gabriel's voice in his head and Lance's worried look over to Gabriel told him that he had also heard this warning.

"Okay, where exactly is the professor now?" Lance asked immediately and grabbed his struggling hostage a little more firmly. Gallagher's cheek muscles twitched with tension and anger, but finally he nodded towards the right-hand side. "Cell 3, over there."

Mick did not hesitate but hurried toward it along with Gabriel hoping to indeed find the professor there and to be able to chase away the feelings of anxiety and fear inside him.

The cell door had no real lock but instead had a field for a number code. He knew that, had so often heard the fine clicking and beeping in the past year.

"What's the code?" Gabriel addressed Gallagher who at first needed a little more painful pressure on his shoulder to spit out the numbers.

"46-33-28-33," Gallagher uttered from between his clenched teeth and Mick quickly keyed in the numbers with trembling fingers. A shiver of the most unpleasant kind ran down his back as the lock opened with a much too familiar sound causing his stomach to cramp painfully. Gabriel now opened the door and the smell of disease and meds penetrated his nose. His heart was beating hard against his chest and cold sweat formed on his forehead. He could see the bed from his position and noticed immediately that a person was indeed lying on it. At first he was not able to get himself to enter the room as he felt at once so constricted, so locked up and threatened. His mouth had gotten totally dry and his breathing was again much too quick.

_Men in white… They came into the room pushing the cart with the things they needed in the room and talking so excitedly about the latest research results. Mick tried to move, to back away from them and prevent them from doing their experiments with him again. But the shackles were too tight. They did not give enough space to move. And the sedatives weakened him too much to destroy the bonds and to free himself from them. _

'That's not real!' Mick heard Gabriel's voice in his head and his memories deflated, releasing him from their tormenting grip. He breathed deeply in and out under the old vampire's worried gaze and responded to the interrogative rising of his eyebrows with a quick shake of his head. He could do it, _had_ to go in there to prove to himself that nothing would happen to him, that his memories could not distract him from fulfilling his mission and that he would leave this room again unscathed. Gabriel seemed to sense how important this fight was for Mick, for he waited patiently until Mick had once again taken a deep breath and then took the first step into the room. Only then did he set himself into motion following Mick and protecting his back, giving him a little more security.

Mick's intestines knotted once again and he caught his breath as he realized that the man in the hospital bed was in fact Frank, more dead than alive. He was hardly recognizable, so emaciated and pale, with sunken cheeks and deep circles under his eyes. Mick was shocked for a moment and had to cope with the sight first of all, before he could approach him. Frank looked as if in the few weeks that had passed since his abduction he had aged by years and had been infected with a disease that led inevitably to death. Beside his bed was a drip that provided him through a venous catheter with fluid, and on a small table on the other side were some boxes with pills, a vial containing a red liquid and injection paraphernalia. At least they had tried to keep him alive - which did not explain why he looked so terrible.

Mick took a deep breath again and walked with a wildly pounding heart toward his old friend, stopped by his bed and bent down to him. His fingers trembled slightly as he touched the professor's narrow shoulder and the quiet "Frank?" that slipped from his lips sounded a little raspy.

The professor's head moved minimally turning to him a little more and his chest rose and fell under a heavy breath.

"Frank?" Mick tried again and now Gabriel appeared beside him, stretched out his hand and felt the pulse of the frail looking man. His strained facial expression revealed clearly that he did not like what he felt there. The professor was in even worse condition than they had expected and was hardly able to walk. It would not be easy to get him out of here without endangering his life even more. And how would they fight if they had to carry him as well as guard their hostages? The tightness that spread in Mick's chest now also caused him to feel sick and he swallowed hard. 'Don't give up without having tried! There must still be a way to get this man out of here safely,' his mind that had more and more problems to fight against his troubled feelings told him. 'Keep your nerve! Don't panic!'

Frank's eyelids twitched a little now and then they opened very weakly. His eyes searched Mick's face, trying to realize who the person in front of him was, but he did not have his glasses on and also seemed to be otherwise too weak to perceive anything very clearly.

"We'll get you out of here, Frank," Mick let him know softly with all the optimism he still had in his voice. His eyes moved quickly through the small room looking for a solution to the problem but he could not see one, only noticed how confining this room was… so terribly confining. His eyes quickly searched Gabriel for the calming influence he needed now. The old vampire had straightened up long ago and was now tampering with the small table diagonally behind Mick.

"Mi… Mick?" Frank croaked in disbelief and Mick's head flew around to him fastening on his face and reaching out for his old friend with all his senses in order to distract himself, to prevent the panic in him from escalating even more.

'Not your cell… you're free… free… among friends… you have to take care of Frank… But Gallagher…' His eyes darted back to the door, but almost at the same moment he felt Lance accessing his mind and sending a soothing 'Everything's under control'.

Mick looked back at the professor who blinked a few times to see Mick better. His hand moved, lifted only millimeters from the mattress. Mick took it and out of a deep need pressed it gently to show not only the professor that he was really here, but also to tell himself that they were close to their goal, that they did not have to stay here for much longer and would soon be out of the basement again. No longer imprisoned.

"Mick…" The hint of a smile appeared on the professor's chapped, dry lips and he took a deep, shaky breath.

"Yes," he replied in a husky voice. "We've come to get you out of here, Frank."

The smile on Frank's lips became a little clearer, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come, making room for an expression of deep concern. He moved his head a little, shaking it.

"This… this is too dangerous… it's not worth it."

"You got me out of the lab," Mick responded quietly and his need to simply lift the weakened man out of bed and take him along grew with every second that passed. "We won't let you down!"

The professor's lips moved, but it took a moment until he had enough strength to actually produce something. "I… I… can't… I've no strength left…" The professor closed his tired eyes, but instantly opened them again. "You… you have to leave quickly… Mick. Be… before… they notice… that you're here."

Mick gritted his teeth and fought with all his might against the underlying meaning of those words. Basically, the professor told him that they had come too late, that they would not be able to save him. His eyes searched Gabriel's, who had also stopped because of Frank's words and gave off a deeply thoughtful impression. There was doubt, unease, indecision - emotions that Mick was not used to feeling inside Gabriel and that worried him. But he also felt that the old vampire knew a solution to their problem, that he knew how to save Frank. But for some reason he hesitated.

"We're not going to leave without you," Mick said firmly, but looked at Gabriel. The old vampire hesitated for another moment, then nodded and turned back to the table holding the meds while Mick turned to Frank. "We came to free you and we will do that now."

Again, a slight shake of the head and now there was a little desperation as well in the professor's nearly lifeless eyes. "I… I can't do this anymore… I'm dying."

Mick's intestines twisted painfully and now he was shaking his head emphatically though he knew that the professor was right because he heard how slow and irregular his heart was beating and how hard it was for him to breathe. He indeed did not have much time. Gabriel now had to act quickly - and it seemed as though that was his intention.

"Mick." The old vampire touched his shoulder. Mick straightened up and furrowed his brows in confusion when he realized that Gabriel had prepared a syringe. "I had really hoped to be able to avoid this, but…" He took a deep breath and nodded encouragingly to him then. "Roll up your sleeve."

Mick looked at Gabriel perplexed. "What?"

"If you really want to save Frank, do what I tell you to do."

Mick didn't understand at all and yet he gave in to the old vampire's urging and pushed up his sleeve, frowning. He did not even wince when the needle sank into his skin, pierced his vein and his blood was drawn into the syringe. He was freed quickly but tore his eyes open in horror because Gabriel now broke the connection from the venous catheter in Frank's arm and attached the freshly-filled syringe there.

Mick gasped and could not believe what he was seeing there. "No!" he uttered shocked and tried to grab Gabriel's arm, but was pushed back unusually roughly as Gabriel pressed the blood into the catheter.

"What are you doing!" Mick exclaimed upset and he again stepped toward the two although he could no longer prevent what was happening before his eyes. "Are you trying to kill him?"

"No, this will save his life," Gabriel replied calmer than he actually was inside and put the syringe away. "That's the only thing we can do. And you need to stay calm, Mick!"

Anger seethed in Mick, mingling with the disbelief that had seized him, and he took another menacing step toward Gabriel. "He… he doesn't even have the strength left to transform! And my blood is totally unpredictable!"

"Not in relation to Frank," Gabriel responded still far too calm and again felt for the professor's pulse. "And he won't turn. You really should start reading Frank's notes. Then you would understand more of what's happening here."

Mick was not only stunned - but for a moment he did not even know what he should _feel_. Unfortunately, this state did not last long and the feelings came back with a vehemence that took Mick's breath away, knotted together his intestines and squeezed his heart. 'What's happening here? What the hell is happening here?' the thought pounded in his head and deep inside another thought was stirring that in some way he had been cheated, had been betrayed.

Peterson, who had closed his eyes, exhausted, opened them again and looked wearily up at Gabriel. "This… this won't help."

"Yes, it will," the vampire replied and began under Mick's unbelieving eyes to carefully remove the catheter from the professor's arm. "Mick supplied himself yesterday with enough blocking agents to bring the V-hormones and blocking substances in his blood into a balanced state."

"Then… then the cure was enough?" Frank asked in surprise as Mick just stood by while his mind wrestled with the things that opened up before him mercilessly, barely able anymore to fight the terrible feelings accompanying them.

"Well, I think that Mick has unwittingly found another way to help and supply himself with the things he needs," Gabriel replied softly, and a cold claw grabbed Mick's heart and squeezed it painfully. Beth… He meant Beth's blood.

Frank's eyes became nearly as wide as Mick's. "That… that means Beth's blood alone is enough to… to keep the vampire hormones in check?"

The claw grasped more firmly and yet Mick's heart rate accelerated further. What the hell were these two driving at? And why was Frank now indeed giving a more alert impression? Why did his heart and his breathing stabilize more and more? What was going on?

"It looks like it," was Gabriel's short answer. He now grabbed the professor's forearm, slid his own arm beneath him and helped him to carefully sit up. Mick stepped away from them, ran his hands over his face and tried to free himself from that feeling of being betrayed and deceived. This could not be… shouldn't have happened… It was his own fault that he knew nothing of these crazy things. He should have read the professor's book, should have informed himself about it all.

"Does… does that also mean that _your_ blood alone can help him in case his human side wins too much the upper hand?" the professor asked bravely though it was noticeable that the movements and the upright posture troubled him considerably. He was shaking noticeably with the effort, and squinted his eyes a few times, but then his questioning gaze roamed back to Gabriel and Mick held his breath.

"Probably," was the vampire's answer and Mick could not believe what he was hearing. "But so far we've never gotten into such a situation."

"I _knew_ it!" Frank said and life started to glimmer in his tired eyes again.

"How wonderful!" burst out of Mick with an almost hysterical laugh and his wounded soul cried out in anger and disappointment. "And even better that I've been informed so wonderfully about all this!"

Gabriel looked at him seriously. "We had and still have no real time for this, Mick, that's all. And I didn't want to touch on an issue I was not really sure about myself. I only know the speculations in Frank's notebook and I think we can clear this all up a lot better now that we can talk with Frank in person."

The professor nodded in agreement, but even his apologetic glance could not appease Mick or prevent the distrust in him from becoming rampant, causing this hollow, uneasy feeling inside him, causing his fears and tension to increase. There was so much that he did not understand, so much that apparently had been kept from him. His already unstable world, the idea he had held of himself and of the people around him cracked and began to crumble. Coraline, Gabriel, Lance and now even Frank… No one seemed to be really honest. They had all kept secrets, lied and concealed important things about him. He could not really trust anyone. Even Frank had lied and had not told him that he had done experiments on himself with Mick's blood! He had to have done this because Gabriel said that Mick's blood was not dangerous for him. His body somehow had to be accustomed to it as it even helped him recover. Why the hell was he recovering? The professor won with every second that passed more strength, a healthier complexion, a more alert look. Nevertheless, he still needed Gabriel's help to get up and gazed with a deeply unsettling look in Mick's direction. Gabriel apparently did not want to interrupt his plans and just carried on, although he had to feel exactly what was going on inside Mick. But he had no regard for him… just carried on… like all of them … they had carried on… against his will.

"I will explain everything to you… I promise," the professor stammered and Mick avoided his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest so as to not give in to his deep need to grab at least one of the two men and to throw him across the room. He clenched his teeth, trying to calm the snarling vampire in him somehow. His human side could not really handle the new information either but struggled with a chaos of feelings that were hardly bearable and inwardly threw him completely off track.

"You mustn't think that I lied to you, Mick," Frank went on with a trembling voice, as Gabriel was moving with him toward the door, carrying most of his weight and Mick felt forced again to look at him. The professor's eyes were full of sincere remorse, but it did not touch Mick; it was too late, the damage had been done and everything between them was broken… broken, destroyed by the lies, the secrets standing between them.

"I didn't tell you anything about my own tests because I knew they would upset you too much," Frank continued to fight for Mick's confidence. "But everything else I've told you is true… and I've given Beth the book because I wanted you to read everything. I was hoping you would do it…"

"Be quiet!" Mick growled dully and could do nothing to stop it as the vampire in him took control and ousted the human who was pressing for answers to his questions. Instead he abandoned himself to his anger and contempt for this new traitor. "I don't want to hear it!"

He noted that Gabriel tensed up and with a worried look pushed Frank through the door toward Lance and Gallagher and by doing so planted himself as a protective shield in front of the professor. He was still too closely connected with Mick not to notice how strong Mick's need was to pounce on the professor and to get all the information he needed by force.

"Everything's a lie!" Mick heard himself say in a strange, cold voice as his chest rose and fell with the rapid breaths he was taking. "EVERYTHING!" His gaze rushed across the room because he felt suddenly so alone and so distressed that he could barely breathe.

"Mick, we'll tell you everything you need to know - but not right now," Gabriel said firmly and looked him straight in the eyes trying to get through to him and once more convey to him the peace he needed to calm down, to be able to escape the emerging psychotic fit. But this time Mick blocked it off, the vampire escaped Gabriel's grasp, and sent an angry 'Don't you dare do that!'

"You _have_ to calm down," Gabriel still tried, now on an ultrasonic frequency so that the humans present didn't notice what was happening. "No one here's a traitor! And Frank's feelings for you were never feigned. You can feel this! Don't let your trauma take control, Mick! We cannot afford this now. You _have _to get this back under control!"

"I don't _have_ to do _any_thing!" Mick gasped back and at once felt so strange. He moved slowly up to the old vampire, tense and ready to attack if that was necessary. He wouldn't let anyone fool him again… not _any_one. He was his own master… not a victim… not a victim… alone, but not a victim… alone… so alone.

"Mick - concentrate on your human side," Gabriel tried to get through to him but also tensed his body, ready to also physically take him on if it was necessary. "Think of our training. Remember, what you have to do when you lose control."

Lies, all just lies. All just traitors. They all wanted his blood. Everyone just wanted to manipulate him and then strap him down again… there on the bed… do their experiments with him. But he would prevent it, he would never allow it to happen again…even if he had to kill them, kill them all.

"Mick?" Was this uncertainty in Gabriel's eyes, or even fright? It was only briefly there, then the old vampire's face became all cold and hard, his eyes bored into Mick's. "You won't do this. You must stop now!"

"Never!" Mick shook his head as he struggled against the energetic pressure he felt at once in his head and chest. It was hard for him but he moved toward Gabriel, bared his fangs and let out a low menacing growl. He would take Frank and then disappear with him. That was a good plan… a good plan… and then he would learn the truth about everything and would kill all those who had done this to him, who knew the things that he did not know, who did not want to tell him the truth… Even if he had to die, he would learn the truth. That was all that mattered, all that was important.

Mick stopped right in front of Gabriel, stared at him and told him with every fiber of his body that he would not be able to stop him. No one could. No one! Fight… fight… not give up… to death… death… Not a victim anymore… Mick winced slightly as from somewhere else another energy scratched very weakly at his mind, as if something or someone was looking for him, was groping for him without knowing exactly how to do it. He blinked, trying to get rid of the tingling to fully focus on what he wanted to do but he could not, because a part of him recognized the energy, immediately called after it, reached out for it almost desperately.

Knowledge visibly lit up in Gabriel's eyes, followed by a wave of relief and a mental, inviting "Lance!" that even Mick could hear and the next minute this energy shot from outside deeply into his mind and caused him to gasp for air, stunned. Beth! Beth was here. Now he felt it very clearly, the connection to her mind that was rapidly conveyed to him with the help of the two other vampires and only seconds later the first images passed his mind's eye. Seth, Talbot, Carl… a strange and unsympathetic looking policeman, the interior of an OB-van, flashing monitors. Concern… deep concern. She was worried about him, had felt that something was wrong, let him know that she was with him, that she believed in him, that he was only surrounded by friends and they all urgently had to get out of there. Beth… _She _was all that mattered, all that was important. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply in and out. There was so much energy at once that supported him, reinforcing the connection to Beth, helping him to remember who he really was, who was on his side and what his mission was. No enemies. Here with him there were no enemies except for Gallagher. Only friends who had perhaps not shared all their secrets with him, but still_ were_ friends, were fighting with him for the same goal. He was _not_ alone, didn't need to fight against everything and everyone.

When Mick opened his eyes again, the vampire had withdrawn, the human was back and completely bewildered by his loss of control and was breathing heavily and haltingly, while his heart was pounding hard in his chest.

Gabriel also took a deep breath and finally dared to relax. He did not seem to be angry, instead focused immediately on what was important now.

"Lance," he said, turning slightly to the equally troubled looking vampire behind him, "take Gallagher, get Cynthia and then come back here."

Lance reacted immediately, pushed Gallagher roughly forward and disappeared quickly from Mick's view. Mick still could not cope with what had just happened to him. What had gotten into him? How could he lose control and endanger the whole mission?

Gabriel grabbed his shoulders resolutely, forcing him to look back into his eyes. "This can happen," he said gently. "And it's not your fault but mine. I should have considered that this would strain you too much and should have better prepared you for this. I'm really sorry. We just have to ensure now that it doesn't happen again, okay?"

Mick nodded hesitantly and looked at the still very pale and very concerned looking Frank, who had to support himself against the wall next to Gabriel to be able to stand upright, but was unable to bring himself to say anything.

"I want you to keep up contact with Beth," Gabriel said now, and Mick looked at him again. "Lance and I are going to support her and you as much as possible, okay?"

Mick nodded again and in fact felt that Beth was still connected to him and somehow it really calmed him. At the same time he began to feel some worry take shape in his mind. Where exactly was she? It was impossible that she had remained in the house with Logan. Instead she had to have somehow come closer to the laboratory. Talbot! He had seen Talbot! That meant she was with his team.

"She is in the midst of a police unit," Gabriel reassured him and in doing so told him that he had seen these images as well. "Nothing will happen to her there. And you need her."

Yes, that was true - he needed her in order to not lose touch with reality down here in the lab under all this stress, to avoid letting this stressful situation once again bring his manic side out of him. This could not happen even once, no matter how great his fears were or how confusing his feelings were. And he was in no way allowed to doubt his friends and to isolate himself in this situation and expose himself to his trauma. Although he had vowed not to do it again: he _had_ to use Beth – just this one more time.

It was not long before Lance came back with Gallagher followed by a very worn-out looking Cynthia. Gabriel's requesting gaze was enough to remind her what her real mission had been. She reached into her hair and detached the barrette from it even before she had reached the old vampire and handed it to him under Gallagher's astonished gaze. Mick could almost feel the man's anger at himself grow as Gabriel approached the first available camera in his vicinity with rapid steps and affixed the little device that had been hidden in the barrette to it.

"Let's hope it works," Gabriel muttered, grabbed Frank's arm and pointed with a nod in the direction from which they had come.

Mick once again tried to breathe deeply and to bring more peace into his still quite upset and shaky insides as their little entourage set into motion again. He focused more on Beth and his connection to the other vampires, trying to gain strength and confidence from the thought that he was not alone and soon felt an even stronger access to the vampires who were further away. Somewhere Thomas sent out the feeling that everything had worked out well and they would now open the doors for the other teams, and another fear began to evaporate. The reinforcements came. The more people they had inside, the more likely it became that they could indeed leave the lab without suffering greater losses, unless something still went wrong. But why shouldn't everything work out for once? Why shouldn't a plan fully succeed for once?

'Keep your senses open and your mind alert,' was the next quiet order from Gabriel's direction and a small shiver ran down Mick's back, because there was suddenly such a tingling within him that he could not completely assign to anything but it calmed him immensely. And just seconds later, he knew what it was: Gabriel contacted the other's fast approaching energies, energies that Mick was very familiar with: Josef and Coraline. They now advanced quickly toward them with their teams, were approaching fast and Mick now started to cling with all his might to the idea that all would go well, that it would not be long until they were outside the building with Peterson _and_ their important hostages. Outside, out of this nightmare, the narrowness and these hard, restrictive walls around them. He would again breathe fresh air, see open spaces in front of him and move freely… and he would see Beth, could take her in his arms and let her soothing closeness comfort him. Only she could make sure that the dangerous emotional chaos within him, these terrible memories disappeared completely. Yes, he had to get out here, had to get to her as soon as possible and without further delay.

But there was yet again such a strange feeling crawling up in him, a vague idea, like a preliminary tremor that only announced the approaching disaster; a slight nervousness, a discomfort that came from one of the other vampires who were not with them. And then it happened.

'What are you doing?' Mick heard Thomas horrified voice in his mind the next moment, and once more energy shot through him, this time a warning, an alarm signal. But it came too late. Only seconds later, something happened in Mick's immediate surroundings. A clicking and humming that made Mick wince violently was heard from above them and then steel doors shot out of the ceiling not far away from them in front and behind them, jailing them all in the passage of the corridor in which they were. There it was the ace Ritchcroft had held unnoticed in his hand, the trap none of them had wanted to walk into. And the panic was back.


	49. Connections

_Sorry I have to make this short, because it's quite late in Berlin and I actually need to go to bed. I just thought that I will for sure not have enough time to post the next chapter tomorrow, so I do it now. Hugs and kisses for your comments again and I wish you all a wonderful Christmas! Yours, Jenna_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**C****onnections**

* * *

"_The closer you stand together, the easier you can brave a storm."_

_Karl Miziolek_

* * *

I could feel them behind the door, could hear their quick steps, the excited shouts, even the loading of their weapons. But I also felt something else: uncertainty, confusion and hesitancy.

"Ten to twelve men," I heard Max say beside me and looked at him, noticed that he had closed his eyes to concentrate on what was happening behind the steel door we stood in front of. "Weapons similar to the others."

I glanced back over my shoulder in the hallway that was paved with the six dead bodies of our reception committee. They had had machine guns with normal silver ammunition, but hadn't inflicted serious damage, even though they had opened fire as soon as the elevator doors were opened. Enrique, Guillermo and William had taken a few grazing shots, but the bulletproof vests we wore had saved us from serious injury and with a solid unit like ours, six human soldiers was no real obstacle. Unfortunately, the door to the main entrance of the station, as expected, had immediately closed as we reached it and we now stood there in front of it and could do nothing but wait. There were only two possibilities left to gain access to the laboratory: Either the soldiers gathering on the other side decided to take us on and opened the door or Gabriel's team actually succeeded, as planned, in gaining access to the control center of the station.

"Do you think they'll open the door again?" Guillermo addressed Max and like many times before wiped the blood from his cheek that ran continuously, from the bullet that had grazed his temple, down into the collar of his dark shirt. Damn silver bullets - it was really a disgusting sight. But it would soon stop at some point.

Max raised his eyelids again, not looking at him, but inspected the door and the control panel connected to it. "I don't think so. It feels as though they're waiting for a command from someone."

I focused a little more and quickly got the same feeling. There was such a palpable tension, such an expectant hesitation… but then even more steps were heard. It was slowly becoming apparent that more and more of our enemies were gathering there and that thought wasn't comforting at all. Apparently Max felt the same, because his fingers now slid impatiently over the control panel where a code was needed, while his cheek muscles twitched treacherously.

"What we need is an engineer or computer specialist," said William, scratching thoughtfully at his temple with the barrel of his gun. "Why didn't Kurt come with us?"

Max was still caressing the console, pecking around a bit on the keyboard and then finally looked up. "Gabriel assigned him to Elizabeth's team and we have Logan. Besides, I don't think this would be that easy to decode – not even for Kurt or Logan."

He was probably right, but I too had been wondering why Gabriel split up such a good team as Max'. And there was something else I was even more curious about. "Do you know what the plan was for the other laboratory and who else was on that team?" I asked straight out and couldn't prevent my steady heart beat from upping its pace. I had a certain presumption that made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, from what I heard, Elizabeth, Tony and this Alejandro lead the mission and it was anything but a diversion."

My eyebrows wandered towards each other and I tried with all my might to suppress my burgeoning concern for Simone. She was on Alejandro's team right now and I didn't like the fact that she too must have been involved in the combat there. "What do you mean?" I immediately probed.

Max paused a moment, because there were voices approaching and someone barked a sharp "Get away from there! We don't have approval yet!", then he turned to me again.

"The orders were to storm the station ruthlessly and with a vengeance, to take no prisoners. Like here, they were to gain access to the control center and send a false emergency call to this station and then later set fire to the lab."

I breathed deeply in and out. 'Stay calm,' I told myself inwardly. 'Nothing has happened to her. Surely Alejandro would have kept an eye on her and would not have assigned her to the fighting.

"How is it that you're so well informed about all this?" I asked to cover my still-growing concerns. 'Think of something else!' was the clear command of my mind.

"Because I planned these operations with Gabriel and Malik even before our big meeting," Max replied lightly, and I shook my head in disbelief. This was indeed information that instantly diverted my focus.

"Gabriel seems to trust you immensely," I noted and Max shrugged his shoulders, in such a way that made it very clear that to trust him actually went without saying.

"I've got pretty good references," he added to his gesture with a self-confidence that was just amazing. "And a top notch team. I think he familiarized himself with my recent missions and found that my experiences as a mercenary would come in quite handy in our fight against the Legion."

"That would also mean he's excluded you as a traitor," I remarked wisely.

Max wrinkled his forehead in mocked confusion, and then raised an eyebrow. "Honestly – does this look like the face of a traitor?"

I had to smile because I was fully aware that Max hadn't meant for his remark to be taken seriously. But I could hardly imagine Max as a traitor, not with his history concerning the Legion. Still, I cocked my head a bit and looked at him critically.

"I don't know. I have no comparison at hand," I countered and Max lips twisted into a wide grin.

"Here… take Guillermo. He's at least betrayed his country," William grinned and pushed the Mexican towards me, who immediately cast an angry glance at him.

"I didn't realize naturalization was a crime," he growled angrily and Enrique nodded agreeing.

"If that's the case then you can definitely put me right there next to him," Enrique added indignantly. "Or Kurt. He even betrayed an entire continent."

"He's from Europe?" I asked curiously, and was then aware that I too could be accused of betrayal to my continent. How fast this could happen…

Max nodded, but looked somewhat distracted at the door. Something was happening behind it and after a few tense seconds of eavesdropping, it was clear the troops were withdrawing. I looked back at Max who seemed to be just as surprised as I was. Who was giving such strange instructions within the Legion? Or had Gabriel actually succeeded in gaining control of the whole station? If this were true, I was ready to build an altar to him for this action.

A pleasant tingling wandered through my temples and I reacted immediately, opened my senses to the one who was trying to contact me. It was strange, although I hadn't previously had such strong mental powers and had never practiced this kind of communication before, I immediately knew what I had to do. A little voice in my subconscious was giving me the necessary instructions. My body relaxed and I tried to breathe as calmly and steady as possible. It wasn't long before I was able to assign the probing energy to Gabriel. Basically, what he was sending me was a sequence of pictures that my mind instantly formed into instructions. Malik and a few others had entered the control center and would be opening the door for us at any moment. We should be ready for anything and use all our force against the attacking troops. The more soldiers we could subdue in the battle the better. And I should try to intensify this contact with Malik to better synchronize with him.

At first I was a bit overwhelmed, because I was really very inexperienced in these matters, but the old vampires who were somewhere in the laboratory made it easy for me. As soon as Gabriel had retreated a little from my mind, I immediately felt Malik's energy, felt him mentally reach out to me to help me connect to him. I closed my eyes because the whole thing strained me more and more, but gritted my teeth and focused. Again, there were pictures, not the instructing kind this time, but real pictures showing me what was going on there in the control center. I saw Thomas, Grigori, John and… Ritchcroft and a room full of monitors, control panels and other technological paraphernalia - a true paradise for guys like Logan and Seth - a horror for me. On the ground, lying side by side were four lifeless bodies, probably the team that had originally worked there. Thomas was settling into a chair in front of one of the main computers and Malik pushed Ritchcroft towards him, told him to type in the sequence of numbers that would provide us access to all devices and files. Ritchcroft hesitated a moment, but then bent over the keyboard with his cheek muscles twitching with tension and in fact typed in the code.

'We're in!' Thomas sent out mentally and I knew he was mainly wanting to inform Gabriel. But strangely, the old vampire was barely noticeable to me right now. I only felt his energy at the outer edge of my consciousness and something else… restlessness, anxiety, tension… unbridled rage and despair, but it wasn't coming from Gabriel but from someone else. Something was happening within Gabriel's team and it was making me extremely nervous that I wasn't able to get closer on my own to these feelings to see what was happening there.

'I'm opening the door now,' and with Thomas' additional distraction, I opened my eyes, and stared at the door above which a hum and then a mechanical click was heard. Only half a second later the door opened, revealing a brightly painted wall in the distance. Max and the rest of his team were able to switch within seconds from a relatively relaxed state to combat readiness and had instantly raised their weapons. For Guillermo and I this was a little more difficult however, and that was the only reason we were the last ones to step out into the hall, finally raising weapons as well. The long corridor extending to the right and left was suspiciously empty. Not one soldier had stayed behind should it be necessary to try and stop us and I didn't like the look of it at all. There was something shady about it. As we moved forward, I tried to feel for Malik and Gabriel again, found with delight that the connection to the two had not completely broken off. As long as they maintained it, the connection was still open to me - even though Gabriel's energy seemed to be frighteningly far away because he was still having to deal with serious problems. A hollow feeling inside told me this was somehow all related to Mick. He wasn't doing well at all… My heartbeat quickened at the thought and I moved a little faster, catching up with Max, who together with William formed the vanguard, securing each junction and doorway leading into the hall.

I almost winced when all at once from a different direction another energy overwhelmed me, not vampire, but human… Beth… I stopped abruptly, couldn't believe she was so close to the laboratory. Of course she had not stayed with Logan! You just couldn't entrust the boy with anything except a lifeless machine!

I was even more surprised when Gabriel reached, clearly obvious even for me, mentally for Beth, establishing a connection between Mick and her and it was only now that I felt how unstable, how critical Mick's condition really was. I hardly recognized him. This hatred, this anger, this madness… and yet he immediately responded to Beth, acknowledged her, held on to her and indeed came back to his senses.

"Josef?" Max had stopped and stepped towards me with slight concern in his eyes, and touched my shoulder. "Are you all right?"

I nodded silently. Yes, slowly peace and order was returning to Gabriel's team and I too now tried to send, with my pitiful resources, the same calmness to Mick, to show him I was with him as well, that he wasn't alone in this fight, didn't need to fight against everything and everyone. And I felt him continue to stabilize. I breathed deeply in and out. "Yes… It's…"

I was taken aback. Horror, worry… this time from Malik's team. 'What are you doing there?' I heard a voice, closed my eyes and saw just in time as Thomas, with eyes wide, took a step towards Ritchcroft and knocked something out of his hand. A small device crashed against the nearest wall and fell to the floor, shattering into several pieces. Malik grabbed Ritchcroft by the neck and now slammed him against the wall and my eyes widened. Not because I didn't want to witness what the Assassin was going to do to him, but because now, all around me, strange mechanical noises could be heard and I suspected the worst. Max spun around, sprinted off, but whatever he had planned to do, he wasn't fast enough. Before and not far behind us, two steel doors rushed down from the ceiling to the ground, locking us in the section of the hall where we had been standing and I caught my breath while my insides knotted painfully. Trapped - we were trapped! It didn't help that Max threw himself against the door and burst out in loud swearing. We wouldn't be getting out here so soon again.

'What happened?' at once, Gabriel's voice resounded in my head and I felt Malik catch the question and the energetic connection to the old vampire increased allowing him better participation in what was happening there in the control center. It was really mind boggling, what these two ancient vampires could achieve mentally - but if I wasn't mistaken, they were both being supported by other strong energies.

'What did you do?' I heard Malik now hiss in the back of my mind and I forced myself, with my heart racing, to again close my eyes and focus on the all-important conversation going on in the control center. If something were to happen around me, my team would warn me in time.

'You… you won't be getting out of here anymore!' Ritchcroft croaked under the pressure of Malik's strong fingers and still managing to achieve a smug smile. 'None of you will be leaving now!'

A muffled roar slipped from Malik's lips and for a moment he lost control and slung his hostage away with all his might, so that the man crashed hard into the nearest wall, then bounced off and fell to the ground. Malik pursued him, and as he did he picked up the pieces of the broken device that Ritchcroft had used to lock us in, and then grabbed the groaning man by his neck to set him rudely on his feet again. He bent threateningly towards him, holding the pieces close to Ritchcroft's face.

'Reverse this!' he hissed angrily and I felt Gabriel reach out to him, trying to calm him down from a distance.

'That… that's impossible,' Ritchcroft gasped. 'It can only be used once.'

'And what exactly is it doing?'

'It… it transfers the technical authority for this station to a control center outside this building. And it's only from there that you can undo it.'

I felt sick, but at the same time had to marvel at the ingenuity of this emergency installation. Although Ritchcroft had risked his own life, his actions had at least ensured that a large number of very old and therefore very dangerous vampires were now locked in this station with a superior number of enemies and we would not be getting out of here again so soon. Even if he died, the other leaders of the Legion could calmly send in reinforcements and there would be no chance of our escaping.

I felt Malik thinking the same thing. He was having great difficulty controlling his anger and hatred. His hand automatically closed tighter around the neck of his hostage. Ritchcroft eyes widened horrified; he grabbed at his hand frantically, desperately trying to detach the strong fingers from his throat in vain.

'Enough!' echoed Gabriel's warning voice in my head and I flinched a little, watched as Malik indeed let go of Ritchcroft and felt him breathe in and out deeply. Ritchcroft sank to the floor coughing and gasping and I tore my eyes open again, because I now heard noises from outside, which did not bode well.

Max, William and Guillermo stared at the steel door in front of us, while Enrique turned around to the other door behind us. For good reason, because the fast approaching sounds of heavy boots on hard ground, the shouts and the loading of weapons were heard from two different directions. The enemy advanced again.

"What the hell is going on here?" it burst out of Guillermo upset and he sought my gaze with clear panic in his eyes.

"They now control everything from the outside," I responded tense and lifted my gun. "They'll be opening the doors any moment now and will then attack."

"What do you mean from outside?" Enrique repeated.

I nodded. "We've lost control of the technology here."

My gaze wandered over to Max and he nodded, putting on a markedly determined expression. "Then let us greet them…"

He was right - all that was left for us to do was to throw ourselves into battle and take advantage of our super-human powers, until some ingenious plan to get us all out here alive occurred to Gabriel. Perhaps he already had one formulated. Yes, I clung to that hope, as the mechanical noises above started up again, and the door in front of us began move.

* * *

It felt incredible, strange, intense, and overwhelming. As if a door had been opened inside her allowing the world around her become one with her, as if a new sense had developed inside her, a new kind of feeling and perception, somehow more liberated, lighter. Inside her head it tingled and tickled and she breathed deeply and heavily and yet she felt so complete, so satisfied… supported. And she was. There were so many energies helping her, bringing her so close to Mick that she had the feeling she was standing right next to him, walking with him through this narrow hallway. But she wasn't alone with him, had with the help of others, such strength as never before in her life and was therefore able to convey much of it to him, was able to fix the damage that the short time down in the lab had caused in him. If she stayed with him he would not run amok again, he would remain relatively calm and would be able to fight - this she knew. But she_ had_ to stay with him, had to continue to support him.

'You're not alone,' she tried to calm him further. 'You _will_ get out of the lab. Why couldn't everything work out just this once? Why shouldn't their plan succeed at least this one time?'

"Beth?" It was Seth's voice from far away again. He had tried a couple of times to gain her attention and seemed to be worried about her. Of course, her behavior had to be making a strange impression on the young vampire, but at the moment she couldn't explain what was wrong with her, why she was acting so strange. Instead, she narrowed her eyes even more and raised a hand in a deprecating way.

"Not now…" she uttered tensely. She concentrated even more, for from somewhere else unfortunately a sense of unease emerged, of horror and only a bit later she heard a muffled voice: "What are you doing there?"

Her interior cramped and her heart stopped, like Mick, who had heard a strange noise from somewhere. And when the steel door came down in front of him and the others, she gasped for air, and ripped open her eyes in horror. The images disappeared immediately and Beth stared, in shock, into Seth's surprised face, who had turned around to her in his chair and leaned forward, worried.

"Oh, God!" she uttered breathlessly, now not only struggling with her own panic but also with Mick's, which despite the loss of the visual transmission, she still could still blatantly feel … Locked up… trapped…

"What?" immediately the excited demand came, but Beth didn't look at Seth, but looked past him, staring at the monitors that until recently showed pictures from inside the station and now one after the other were taken over by parasitic images. Seth turned around abruptly.

"Oh, no… no, no, no!" he uttered shocked, hastily typing commands into the PC and then tore at his hair. "Oh, God! What's going on?"

He picked up his headset, adjusted it and then chose one of the fields on the screen of his laptop. "Logan!"

Beth heard a voice from Seth's headphones but didn't dare focus on it for fear of losing contact with Mick completely. She almost felt it herself when the vampire in Mick burst forth again, only this time he was much more focused and controlled, was even able to bring more calmness to Mick's upset interior and push back the panic. And his willingness to fight wasn't directed at his friends but to the slowly advancing enemy. This time, the warrior in him had woken up and not the psychopath and this calmed Beth down at least a bit.

"Yes, it's the same with me," Seth uttered now excited. "They all went out and… Well, just a second…"

Seth's fingers quickly flew over the keyboard and then he eagerly looked up at the monitors around him again.

'What happened?'

Beth almost winced when she perceived not only Mick's feelings now but also Gabriel's voice. She knew immediately this question wasn't directed towards her, but to one of the other old vampires, but she also felt that Gabriel was exerting himself to allow her to also hear this conversation. She closed her eyes, focused more strongly on these energies that felt like waves, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker coming to her.

'What did you do?' Beth heard a voice asking in a low tone, while from outside Seth's voice still penetrated her ear.

"Nothing's happening. I can't do anything else! I am blind and deaf… Okay… I'll try that…"

'You… you won't be getting out of here anymore! None of you will be leaving here now!"

Beth didn't know who this was, but his words frightened her, increased her pulse rate and caused her stomach to knot. The energetic tingling became very uncomfortable for a moment, because of so many frightening feelings, so much anger, aggression and anxiety washed over her and then there was a voice again.

"Reverse this!"

"That… that's impossible. It can only be used once."

"And what exactly is it doing?"

"It… it transfers the technical authority over this station to a control center that's outside this building. And it's only from there that you can undo it."

Beth ripped her eyes open in horror, gasping for air, and the connection to the other vampires decreased significantly.

"That's not working either!" she heard Seth stammer desperately and once again the young vampire tore at his tousled hair. "I can't access it again!"

"They…" Beth had to swallow hard to get rid of the lump in her throat, but Seth still heard her and turned to her. "They… somehow... they've transferred control of the technology in there over to another control center outside the building."

Seth blinked, confused, but Logan seemed to have heard her as well, for she could now hear his voice through Seth's headphones.

"Fuck! That explains all of this …"

Beth tried to breathe calmly, to get her anxiety under enough control so she have a stronger connection to the old vampires, or at least to Mick. Currently, she could only feel his constant tension and that his vampiric side still retained control, could suppress his emotions enough for him to remain alert and combat ready. Maybe, in this case, it _would_ be better if her connection to Mick wasn't so strong, so he could fully concentrate on the approaching superiority of enemies. Approaching superiority… Good God!

"Okay… this other control center can't be that far away," Logan thought aloud. "You can't control such a large facility over vast distances. That means the transmitter is probably located somewhere in the closest housing development. Seth, you have to take a small unit and drive the OB van back to the inhabited area and look for strong radio signals there. I'm sure they'll try to use the technical equipment in the station in someway to overwhelm our teams there. This means that the new control center will be sending some signals. You have to hurry because in the meantime, they'll be running our teams quite hard!"

Beth felt sick and got up a little dazed, walked over to the van door before Seth could do anything and looked out. Ben wasn't far away, standing together with this unpleasant Chief, but he immediately picked up that she wanted something from him and in a few steps was by her side.

"We… we're in trouble," it burst out of her immediately.

"In what way?" Ben asked, frowning.

Beth cast a hesitant glance at Chief Harris who was also approaching her now with a suspicious frown, followed by Carl. "The Legion has locked up our teams and controls the station from somewhere outside."

One could immediately tell how shocked Ben was with this information, but she left him no time to verbalize his feelings and just continued on. "Logan said the new control center must be located somewhere in the settlement not far from here. We just need to drive the OB van around there and look for suspicious signals, then we could…"

"Wait, wait!" the Chief intervened and a strange, slightly vexed smile played about his lips, which she didn't like at all. "This van goes nowhere!"

"But…"

Harris blocked her again, this time with a rigorous lifting of his hand. "My instructions were clear. My team was only to intervene after we were convinced that there were things going on down there that broke the law…"

"But that's _happening_ there now!" it burst out of Beth immediately. "My friends are being held against their will!"

"Says who?"

Beth took a deep breath, but then let the air escape unused because she was suddenly aware that she had no proof. Their normal technical connection to the teams had collapsed. All that was left was her own ever weakening spiritual connection to Mick and the other vampires.

"_I _say… but you're right - I can't prove it right now because the connection to our teams has been broken."

"You say the people now controlling the station from the outside are located in the inhabited area?" Ben probed tense and Beth could tell he was trying hard to find a solution to this enormous problem. She nodded quickly.

"And you think you can find out where these people are with the help of the OB van?"

Again she nodded and Ben looked at the Chief. "The way _I_ see it, this is not about committing your team before you have proof, but about borrowing this van to bring you the evidence you need for your team to intervene. This shouldn't be a problem."

Beth already knew Harris wasn't going to give in, when he just smiled provocatively at her and her intestines cramped.

"The van belongs to the team," this terrible man replied now almost lavishly and Beth would love to have jumped right into his face. "I won't be handing you anything until I'm convinced it's a criminal gang I'm dealing with here."

Ben let out an incredulous laugh. "You can't be serious!"

That was enough. Beth had no patience left. They were running out of time and she now felt something was happening down in the station, that the butchering had begun. She moved away from the door of the van, left the men, who were now fiercely arguing behind and with a wildly beating heart approached the still very desperate looking Seth.

"Your portable devices, will they alone be enough to locate the transmitting station?"

Seth thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Fine, then let's pack them up and then you come with me."

Seth didn't hesitate a moment. He knew how critical the situation was and that there was no time to sit and think about a new plan. So things were packed up in a flash and Beth walked with one of the cases to the door, got out and pushed past the somewhat confused looking lawyer.

"Where… where are you going?" she heard Harris' voice and noticed from the corner of her eye that he had taken a step after her. But Ben grabbed his arm and pulled him back, and in doing so allowed Seth to pass the three men unmolested.

"This is _my_ team," she heard him say sternly. "And _you_ are not allowed to interfere!"

Sometimes, this man was simply incredible and at some point she would pay him back, but for now Beth had no time. She was almost relieved when they reached, under the astonished faces of the other policemen, the car in which she and Seth had been approaching. Putting the suitcases in the back seat and getting into the car had felt so good, because at least _they_ were doing something, instead of helplessly sitting around, waiting for their friends down in the lab to free themselves from their unpleasant situation all on their own. And Beth was sure this was exactly what Gabriel would have wanted. He hadn't allowed her to participate in the conversation with Malik for nothing, had shown her what the problem was and that they urgently needed help from outside. Well, it might not have been her exactly that he wanted to carry this out, but she couldn't change this now. Currently there was no one else that could do anything and they should be thankful they even got away from here at all.

So she thought, at least for a moment, because just as Beth started to switch the engine on, the driver's door opened and Carl stuck his head in.

"What exactly are you doing?" he asked with deep lines of worry on his forehead.

"Carl, please!" Beth uttered desperately and put on her most imploring look. "We must find this control station! Otherwise they'll all be killed down there… and no one will even see this!"

Carl looked at her for a long, much too long moment and Beth feared he would grab her and pull her out of the car, but her old friend surprised her by nodding, then closing the door. Only a second later, the back door of the car opened and the Lieutenant climbed nimbly into the back seat still in full operational gear. Beth turned to him stunned.

"Well, do you really think I'd let you go alone to look for these people, without any protection?" he immediately answered her unspoken question and she even saw a small smile twitching around his lips. "Well, come on, let move it!"

Beth turned around, took a deep breath and started the engine. She knew Mick wouldn't like this but she had no option. Currently, they were the only ones to do anything. And she wasn't going to let anyone harm Mick again. She needed him. Now more than ever before. They _both_ needed him.


	50. Trapped

_And here is the last chapter in this year! Wish you all a happy new year and hope you have a great Sylvester-party! See you in 2011 again – to be precise in the night from Sunday to Monday. Thank you all for your support and dear comment this year. It's so great to have so enthusiastic readers here and also on the other sides and I'm quite sure that with that help I will be able to finish this story in 2011. My very best wishes, yours Jenna/Lilith_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**T****rapped**

* * *

"_If you fight you might lose, if you don't you have already lost."_

_Berthold Brecht, 1898-1956_

* * *

The vampire was back - not the wild, uncontrollable beast that could very quickly become a danger to any person; no, the cultivated vampire, with his cold determination, his alert mind and his perfectly functioning senses. Only _he_ was able to push the panic, the memories and the unrest deep inside so far back that they could no longer hinder him. Only _he_ was in a position to ensure that he prepared himself in the best possible way for the forthcoming battle, that he could permit the connection to Gabriel and Lance to knock out the enemy together - the enemy that was advancing now, audibly gathering behind the steel door.

Mick did not know exactly what Gabriel was planning, but he felt that he already knew what to do, that he had also prepared for a situation like this. The old vampire approached Peterson with determination, laid down his holster and the bullet-proof vest and took off his dark shirt to then hand it to the astonished professor.

"Lie down on the floor and press this to your face," Gabriel instructed him quickly as he put on the vest and holster again. His eyes flew over to Lance and Mick heard a low 'Knock him out!' in his head.

Lance grabbed Gallagher without any further hesitation by his neck and the next moment the man slumped down unconscious and was only held up enough so that his head did not hit the hard floor. Then Lance was free, drew his sword in a fluid motion and stepped closer to the door behind which it seemed a lot was happening. It would not be long until it was opened.

"Step to the sides," Gabriel ordered and reached for a cylinder-shaped thing attached to his belt. Mick's eyes widened when he realized what it was: a smoke grenade from which Gabriel pulled off the bracket the next moment.

"Hold your breath," was his next command, and the now strongly smoking cylinder fell with a clatter to the floor. It was not long before the floor section they were in was so extremely filled with smoke that you could barely see a hand before your eyes. And that was a good thing, because the mechanical noise in front of Mick told him that the door before them was now being opened. Mick pressed his back against the wall behind him and concentrated all his other senses on what was going on before him. He heard their rapid heartbeats, the sound of their blood flowing through their veins, their strained and rapid breathing, their footsteps and the rustling of their clothes… and he felt their tension, their determination to kill, but also their continuing uncertainty and reluctance. The dark shadows approaching them stood out against the smoke, although the first of them had already started to cough… and Mick lifted his gun aiming at one of their heads.

'Wait… Wait…' he heard Gabriel again and held back with difficulty, letting the enemy come closer, hesitantly moving into the smoke with their weapons at the ready and repeatedly hedging to all sides. But they could not really see them as they did not have the sensitive senses the vampires did and were affected more and more by their own coughing. Mick, however, saw not only_ their_ outlines getting clearer, but also Gabriel's opposite him, pressed against the wall. He felt the old vampire tensing up and did the same.

'Now!'

Mick pulled the trigger and the first soldier was immediately dragged to the ground by the impact of the bullet, while the others instantly opened fire. But they fired in the wrong direction as they did not exactly know where the attack was coming from and had no time to access this for suddenly Gabriel was among them, moving so fast that even Mick could hardly follow him with his eyes. It almost seemed as if the men he came close to collapsed just by his sheer presence, but Mick's eyes were practiced enough to at least perceive the silver flashing of his sword and recognize that the soldiers in reality were struck down by this dangerous weapon.

Mick did not have much time to observe Gabriel's masterful handling of the sword, however, because the first squad was followed immediately by another one and more bullets flew in their direction. Mick ducked, slammed his shoulder into the throat of the first man who stepped into his way and shot off another one's face. A bullet grazed his arm and another soldier spun around to him and aimed at Mick's face. Mick grabbed the barrel of the gun and pushed it upwards. Plaster trickled down on him as the bullets struck the ceiling above him. He turned pulling the soldier closer to him and buried his fangs in his throat. The man screamed gurgling and Mick let him go, letting him fall with a gaping, deadly wound. He now had a much more dangerous weapon in his hands and he immediately pointed it at the men moving in the fog. No matter what kind of ammunition the weapon was loaded with, Mick knew that the men were too close and that their bulletproof vests could not provide real protection anymore and he pulled the trigger. By this time he felt so numb inside that the cries of pain and the twitching of bodies could not touch him at all. All that mattered was to eliminate as many of the enemy as was possible and to show the Legion that even caged vampires were nowhere near easy to overcome. He would definitely not let them catch him again - never again.

Mick quickly sucked the thick air around him into his lungs, fought down the tickle in his throat, and jumped at the next opponent. And again this feeling appeared within him while he shot, kicked, stroked, and bit almost synchronously with the three other vampires who fought at his side as they massacred one man after another; this feeling that he could leave his body, leave control over his body and mind to some unfeeling fighting machine inside him - a highly effective fighting machine. He felt no pain, no fear, no worry, no compassion and had no conscience. He saw the soldiers around them not as humans but as mindless robots that had to be eliminated; their screams and raging emotions did not touch him, their personal stories and the motivations for their actions did not interest him. Enemy or friend, living or dying, to be free or imprisoned, that was all that mattered. And it was they who stood between him and that freedom. It was they who prevented him from returning to his old life so that he could again become the person he had once been. He _had_ to fight them, _had_ to kill them in order to finally be free again.

And then it was suddenly over. Mick dropped his last inanimate opponent as if he was a piece of junk and listened as silence began to approach. From somewhere hastily retreating steps were still heard and then a mechanical sound announcing that somewhere once again a door had come down. Then it was finally quiet. Only Peterson's low, somewhat tortured coughing and Mick's and the other's rapid breathing was still heard. Mick closed his eyes and breathed deeply in and out despite the thick air around them which caused him to cough as well. He raised his eyes and looked around. The smoke had dissipated to the point that he could now see the battlefield they had left behind. The lifeless bodies that were spread over this section of the corridor amounted to about twenty men. And judging by the way Gabriel looked probably most of the dead had been struck down by him. He was spattered all over with blood and had also received a couple of injuries that had begun to visibly heal. He was breathing very hard and his white-blue eyes still had a slightly absent expression. Mick concentrated on his surroundings, trying to find out if they could indeed rest for a moment and talk about what to do next, or if they had to expect another attack. As far as Mick could tell, they would not be attacked again so soon. The Legion had miscalculated and now had to develop a new plan to get the situation under control. And that was difficult when you could not consult with your commanders. Gallagher was still lying stunned on the floor not far from Mick, and Ritchcroft had not been able to free himself either from the hands of his enemies. Mick was hoping this was the case although his contact with Malik had broken off during the fight and after this effort he was too exhausted to try to rebuild it by himself. He could not feel either Josef or Beth anymore and that worried him a bit. Beth was indeed outside the laboratory, but who knew what she was doing now that she knew what was happening here, and most likely Josef had been attacked too. But he was still alive and unhurt, of this Mick was sure. He would feel it if something had happened to him. The question was only how long it would stay that way - how long they would all survive down here as long as the Legion still had control of the station.

Gabriel had now awakened from his rigid stance, stepped over to Peterson who was coughing and trying to get back on his feet and helped him up, while Lance walked over to Gallagher and quickly threw him over his shoulder.

"We… we should try to get out of here," Mick heard a voice behind him and Cynthia was approaching the old vampire who didn't look very favorably at her. "The others will certainly do that too…"

"The others will do what _I_ tell them to do," Gabriel replied severely. "We're going to catch up with the other teams and then try to get out of here _together_. That way we are strongest."

That sounded in Mick's point of view quite logical because in large numbers the vampires had always been superior to the Legion up to now. That had been their trump card in Mexico. And yet, Mick could not help the feeling that something else prevented Gabriel from immediately taking flight with them; that he really wanted to get at least in the proximity of the control center and the rooms where the commanders had their offices. He could feel it, even though Gabriel was somehow shielding a part of his thinking, of his emotions from him. And he wondered why he did this…

* * *

It was one big massacre and its outcome depended only on who could think and act more quickly. And when it came to speed, we vampires were simply unbeatable. Max had not waited for the door to open completely before us. Instead, he had simply shot at once at the feet and legs clad in heavy boots that the opening of the door had made visible to us, and we had all emulated his deeds, grasping the genius of this idea immediately. No one whose lower limbs had been shot to pieces could stay on his legs. No one could suppress such pain and still remain capable of fighting. The men of the Legion went screaming to the ground, writhing in pain and had only taken limited shots at us which did not hit us. Of course we had not neutralized all the soldiers and because we were attacked simultaneously from two sides, the bullets were soon spattering down on us, but we had at least greatly reduced the risk of being killed.

I tried to use only my weapons as long as possible for I was really not in the mood for body contact with these men, although the beast in me was already waiting full of blood lust and anticipation for the first deployment of its fangs. Very soon I had no other option but to use my hands and teeth as well to fend off this onslaught of enemies effectively. Back in the lab at the hospital we'd already had many opponents, but here it felt as if we had really poked our heads right into a hornet's nest. Reserved and cautious as the troops stationed here had behaved before - now they behaved more like a bunch of rabid and trigger-happy guerrillas. And they were not harmless I had to admit once again as the grind of a silver dagger grazed my neck and left there a burning cut before I grabbed my attacker's arm and turned it around with a crackling noise. The man's cry of pain was lost in a gurgling sound, because now I even dug my fangs into his throat, piercing his windpipe. I took a few greedy gulps of the wonderful adrenaline-enriched blood, and then threw the man into the backs of two of his comrades who had opened fire on Enrique and William. Nevertheless, some bullets hit Will in the chest and threw him to the floor. Much more of it I didn't get as from the corner of my eye I noticed that two strange looking bullets flew towards me and spun around so that they shot past me. Almost in the same motion I threw myself forward, jumping on the shooter as he aimed at me again from a few meters away. I heard him pull the trigger, changed my course a little and leaped beneath the bullet at the man. My head slammed into his chin with a crash and only seconds later we hit the floor together - only my landing was much softer than his because I landed on top of him. Bones cracked when I hit his arm against the wall next to us and the strange looking weapon slid from his fingers. Just above me two more bullets hit the plaster and another one grazed my bulletproof vest. I turned in a flash taking my astonished opponent around with me. Not a second too soon, because the next moment his body jerked under the salvo that had been meant to hit me.

The shooter had to be very close, because the wide-open eyes of the soldier with whom I was cuddling and the blood that now ran out of his mouth showed me that at least one of the bullets had penetrated his body armor and had caused considerable damage to his body. I hesitated no longer, slid my hands under the limp body of my dying 'friend' and gathered my energies.

My strength had grown immensely since I had taken in Gabriel's blood, for the dying soldier flew just seconds later with such force through the air that he not only carried the shooter, who was aiming at me again, from his feet but also the other man who was standing behind him and firing at Vincent. I jumped up so quickly that the shooter was not even able to raise his gun again as I broke his neck with a swift movement.

When I flung around to throw myself on the next opponent I realized that there were no more opponents. Vincent had taken care of his attacker and the last Legion soldier still standing collapsed as Max pulled his dagger out of his chest.

_Finally_. Finally I had time to take a deep breath and release my tension. Around us were many fallen soldiers, but not as many as had initially attacked us. This caused me to conclude that some of them had begun to retreat. This told me also that the metal door just a few meters away from us had been lowered again. Strangely the other door had not also closed.

A groan not far away from me quickly drew my attention and I noticed only now that Guillermo was kneeling beside the shot William and had just given him an injection that he had previously taken out of the opened emergency pack next to him. Max and I simultaneously set into motion and hurried over to them while Enrique and the also quite groggy looking Vincent stayed where they were, their weapons at the ready to be able to fight any new opponents.

William did not look well. He was pale and breathing heavily. Again and again a slight twitch ran through his body and his eyes were fixed on the ceiling. He smelled like a vampire so he probably had not been hit by one of the needles that had flown through the air but by silver bullets. By several, I found out when my worried gaze roamed over his shape. One of them had hit his neck and from the wound a gush of blood trickled and each beat of his weary heart caused the blood pool that had formed under him to grow larger.

Max grabbed a package of blood with determination, slid a hand under William's head and lifted it a bit to bring the life-saving liquid close to his lips.

"Will, you have to drink this now," he urged gently. "We cannot help you if you don't drink anything. The antidote is in your body, but what you need now is blood."

No reaction. William just stared blankly into space and a stale feeling inside me told me that we could no longer do anything for him. Max looked at him for a long moment, then shook his head and stood up. His cheek muscles twitched briefly as he took a deep breath but nothing more was seen in his face. His gaze wandered briefly over to me and then over to the rest of our allies. Vincent was breathing a little hard and blood was dripping from one sleeve of his shirt onto the tiled floor where it left a pattern that reminded me of the modern art of today. Max nodded briefly and then threw the blood bag over to him. Vincent immediately bit into it.

"Are you okay?" Max addressed me shortly and I just nodded, incapable of getting anything out verbally. I had received a few grazing shots that burned but otherwise I was fine and even these minimal injuries were already healing. It seemed to be the same with the others. The question was how long we could withstand such attacks down here and how many losses we had to take until we got a brilliant idea of how to get out here again. And the Legion certainly still had other tricks up their sleeves to try to wear down our strength.

They did. Something above us crackled briefly and then a whistling sound started that threatened to tear my eardrums apart and caused me to press both hands over my ears and sink to my knees. The pain was unspeakable and I cringed and cried out against it. And yet it didn't escape my impaired senses that they had come back, that the next troop was advancing behind the closed steel door. We would have no chance against them, not with this torture for our over-sensitive hearing, this was immediately clear to me. But Max managed to nonetheless pick himself up, aim his gun at the ceiling above the door and fire at it the moment the door started to move up. Sparks flew from the ceiling, it began to smoke and crack and the door went suddenly down to the floor again.

'Shoot at the speakers!' a thought that was not mine flashed through my severely impaired mind and I reacted like a robot, gritted my teeth, took my hands from my ears, picked my gun up from the floor and searched for my target. There were only a few speakers in this section of the corridor and when I fired at the first of them my friends began to stir and with pained twitching faces began to destroy the devilish devices that were inflicting such torture on us. With each destroyed device we felt better and the noise became quieter. However, the lights began to flicker and it would not take long before the power grid would collapse under this bombardment. The Legion seemed to notice this as well - and apparently did not want that to happen because the noise stopped abruptly and in sync with the others I uttered a deep sigh of relief. My ears throbbed and hummed, but the pressure and pain had finally disappeared.

Max was the one who collected himself most rapidly again. He quickly walked back to William, took his gun and the emergency kit that was still lying next to him and then walked over to us again.

"Well, we can't do this alone," he addressed me determined. "We must join the others. Can you make out where they are?"

"I can try," I replied somewhat out of breath as I closed my eyes and tried to relax as best I could. All my senses were so overwrought from the last attack on them that it was really difficult for me to build a mental connection to the others. But again it was Gabriel who met me, who told me that they too had survived the last attack reasonably well and that at least Malik was not so far away from us. The Assassin was the next one I could feel and all of a sudden I knew where to find his team.

I opened my eyes and nodded to Max.

"Okay," he turned to the others, "Josef will lead us to one of the other teams. The Legion will continue to try to attack us, so keep your senses open, hedge your bets and stay together. Together we are stronger than they are, but alone we'll have no chance. Not in this environment and not with so many opponents at once."

He was right. The Legion had always had a problem keeping the upper hand in direct combat against a group of vampires, but in the laying of traps and treacherous attacks they were true champions.

* * *

There are benefits to being a hybrid. Not only because you could take advantage in a fight of the so much stronger vampire side, but also because you could rely on your human side in a pinch. Mick would have never thought that this so much weaker side could be of such great benefit to him even once in such a violent struggle as this, but when this painful sound had resounded the vampire had automatically backed down and had left the field to the human. He had found out quickly that the tone was sent on an ultrasound frequency because all the vampires around him were prostrated, their faces twisting with pain, while Peterson only blinked at them confused and upset. Mick's eyes flew hurriedly to the next steel door they had just moved towards cautiously and he drew on his vampiric senses without turning back, just as he had been taught.

They had come. He heard their quick steps, the commands they whispered, and he immediately realized that he had no chance to fight alone against this big squad. He had to free the others from this horrible sound and make them fit for action again. His eyes flickered over the walls and the ceiling, and finally discovered something that looked like a speaker inset into the ceiling. Mick did not hesitate a second longer but sent a mental 'Shoot at the speakers' to the others and immediately opened fire on this cursed device. Sparks flew from the ceiling and the speaker sighed out its soul with a crackling and a small trail of smoke. He immediately turned to the next one. From the corner of his eye he saw that Gabriel, Lance and Cynthia had joined him, but he saw also something else: the steel door was rising.

Mick dropped his gun toward the now visible lower bodies of the soldiers' and just fired without aiming, quickly nearing the door. Gabriel was still a little faster than he was. He shot like a dark shadow past him with his sword drawn, slid beneath the not yet completely open door and threw himself into the middle of the heavily armed group of soldiers. A tremendous energy pulse shot through Mick and he also dashed off, jumped at the nearest opponent and broke his neck with a quick twist. Somewhere next to him appeared the barrel of a gun, but it flew almost in the same moment into the air because Lance was suddenly at Micks side and with a well-aimed kick broke the soldier's arm before smashing his nose with his palm.

Another burst of energy captured Mick causing his scalp to tingle and suddenly he felt as if his spirit could open even further, could access strange and yet familiar senses in his proximity. And it indeed seemed to be true, because suddenly he could also see and feel what Lance perceived, that the soldier at an angle from the old vampire aimed a gun at him. Mick raised his arm… not really his own but Lance's, struck the soldier's weapon into the soldier's face, grabbed his head and twisted it with a sickening crack.

'On the left!' Gabriel's voice barked in Mick's head and he saw another man aiming at him. Mick moved back slightly and the bullet missed him by only an inch, whizzing past the retreating Lance and instead hitting a fellow in the back of the head. However, the soldier could not even pull the trigger one more time, because all at once Lance's sword was in Mick's hand and was sent through the air gliding smoothly through the man's throat. Blood splattered at Mick as the man went gasping to the ground, but he did not care about him as he threw the sword back to Lance and jumped at one of the few other opponents who were still left. The man flailed around, trying to fend him off in a panic, but he had no chance. No one had a chance against a creature like him, against such forces, such energies… His teeth dug deeply into the man's throat as they both went down, and Mick was drinking as much of his blood as he could. It felt so good. This all helped him so much all of a sudden. He slowly felt as if he was in a frenzy, so invincible, so incredibly strong… all these energies. However, they also caused another feeling to come over him, this vague idea that made him break away from his victim and turn around; an instinct that told him that something was happening behind his back. And he was right. Gallagher had come around, was back on his feet and was using their distraction to stumble over to the door not far from him. And then there was this noise, this humming and this mechanical clicking…

Mick jumped up and dashed off. He was fast, but the door was moving even faster. It shot up and made it possible for Gallagher to escape into the next corridor section. Mick knew that the people who now controlled the lab from the outside would close the door again behind this devil; he let go, releasing the beast that had been lurking all this time, longing all this time to hunt Gallagher down, to finally get him in its hands. The energy boost that now shot through his body was even more violent than all the others, causing him to shoot toward the lowering door at a speed even he would have never thought could be possible for him to move at, and thus making it possible to slip through under the closing door. Someone had followed him and thrown himself under the door trying to prevent it from closing completely. But that held no interest for Mick. All that mattered was this man before him who stumbled towards the next door, the hatred and the overwhelming desire to kill which was burning in him, giving him such immense strength. He would not escape... ever. Mick took two quick steps, jumped and flew directly into the back of his so hated enemy. The impact was severe and immediately carried the man off his feet and crashing to the ground. Gallagher's chin hit the floor hard and Mick could hear the cracking of ribs before a grief-stricken groan escaped the man. But it was not enough… not enough to make up for this year full of suffering. The past year had moved within his reach again, had shaken awake his memories and upset the beast even more.

A hateful grumble erupted from Mick's throat. He grabbed the man's head hitting it once, twice with full force on the floor before he buried his fangs in his neck, tearing a deep, bleeding wound in his flesh. Gallagher was too dazed to scream. He gasped for breath trying to turn around, to defend himself against the attack and Mick let it happen, waited until this monster turned his throat to him, bared it for a moment. Mick's head shot forward, digging his fangs mercilessly deep into Gallagher's neck… only to then withdraw again and bite once again… and again… and again… to tear him apart was what he wanted… finally get rid of his hatred, show this man what it meant to suffer and die slowly. Mick's rage was not being reduced by this but becoming even stronger, more uncontrolled… kill… mangle… until nothing was left of him… of him and the memories.

"Mick!" The voice sounded distant and yet dangerously close. And there was a warning within it, a braking tone that he did not like at all. It wanted to prevent him from completing his plan, wanted to help his enemy.

Mick pulled away from the neck of his victim, not because reason had come to him, but to hiss at Gabriel, to demonstrate to him with bared teeth his willingness to fight. But instead of talking to him further, the old vampire acted - too quickly for Mick to be able to defend himself and too quickly to register at all what he was doing. Mick felt only the effect, a severe, narcotic pain in his temple and that he was thrown away from Gallagher and went to the ground next to him. He remained there motionless. He could no longer move because a buzzing, painful paralysis had taken possession of his body. Instead, he just stared at Gallagher who was gasping for air next to him, his eyes wide open while blood gushed from his mouth and from the big wounds in his neck. He would die in a few minutes, it would be over and the world would be free of this devil. But there was Gabriel, who bent over the seriously injured man with a frightening determination in his eyes, holding his wrist over the man's open mouth, from which dark blood was now dripping.

No! No! He was not allowed to do this! He could not turn him! Good God! Not this man! Mick gasped, mobilizing all his remaining strength but a slight lifting of his head was all he could manage. He could not do anything… not anything.

"We_ need_ him!" This was Gabriel's voice who now urgently looked at him, a hint of reproach and disappointment in his gaze. "We need his information, Mick!"

The beast screamed and raged inside Mick and did not want to listen to the old vampire, although his subconscious had started long ago calling out that Gabriel was right, that it was not the old vampire who was not sticking to the plan, who had lost control. But even his wild, and excessively strong side was unable to free his body from this stunned state. Or perhaps it was_ just_ the vampire side that suffered from the blow on the nerve point in his temple. Maybe Mick, the human, would be better able to free himself from it. Mick tried to breathe more calmly and relax as he focused on the troubled vampire inside him, tried to push him back and convince him that he was no longer needed. But it was not that easy for he had to watch Gabriel now hastily get dressings from his emergency kit and start to apply a pressure bandage to Gallagher's still heavily bleeding neck wounds.

Lance appeared at Gabriel's side, breathing heavily. His shoulder was hanging down a little and seemed to have been broken and this told Mick that he had been the one who had tried to stop the heavy steel door. Gabriel, who was still bandaging Gallagher's wounds, nodded towards his bag.

"We need the Dobutamine," he said tensely and Lance fell on his knees beside him, rummaged around in the bag and hastily pulled out a previously prepared syringe. He took off the cap and injected the drug into Gallagher's arm. Dobutamine… it was used to increase the strength of the heart, if Mick remembered correctly. With a man as badly injured as Gallagher this was quite a risky venture. But Gabriel probably hoped to speed up the transformation in this way. That was his only chance to save Gallagher.

Mick closed his eyes. He did not want to watch this anymore, did not want to have to look at what he had done, nor did he want to see how the vampires were trying to save this man who had abused and tortured him in the most brutal way last year. He could not bear this anymore, urgently had to get out of here… had to get out of this nightmare if he did not want to lose his mind.

"God… are you all right?" The voice was familiar and in some way pleasant even though Mick was still terribly angry with the professor. But it immediately appealed to his human, rational side, bringing him to his senses as it always had.

Mick breathed deeply again, then opened his eyes and looked into Frank's worried, pale face as he kneeled beside him and bent over him.

"Yes," he returned wearily and felt the vampire in him now finally pulling back, grumpy and dissatisfied, but at least he did pull back. It was amazing, but Mick now felt a little more alert and freer and was able to lift his head and move his arms. Peterson quickly came to help him, supporting him and getting him slowly into a sitting position. Franks attention was at once drawn to Gallagher and the other two vampires.

"It's better if you sit him against a wall to take the load off his heart," he advised Gabriel. "And inject him with adrenaline."

Gabriel nodded tensely, grabbed Gallagher and pulled him over to the wall to seat him there. Lance followed him while pulling up the next syringe and Mick came to his feet with Frank's help, staggering slightly.

"I'm all right," he said a bit roughly and pushed Frank's hands away although he was still trying to support him. "Gallagher is the one who needs your help."

It was hard to voice, but it was true. The man had gotten very glassy-eyed, his gaze was directed into the distance and he was breathing deeply and heavily, while his heart was performing piecework. Mick could hear that and he could also feel how Gallagher's battered organism was struggling with the transformation, how strained his whole body was. It was very doubtful that Gallagher would survive this. And there it was, slowly starting to stir despite his persistent hatred and his deep wish that this sadist might finally die - his guilty conscience peeked out from the depths of his consciousness. He had not kept his promise but had once again lost control. One could not tell yet what consequences this would have for all of them but judging by Gabriel's tension and his extreme effort to keep the man alive Gallagher's survival was of immense importance - for whatever reason.

Mick closed his eyes once more trying to push back his contradictory and confusing emotions far enough that he could concentrate again on the things that were important. He could not change what he had done, could not roll it back, but he could at least use all his remaining energies to hedge their bets and do his best to get them all out of this delicate situation as quickly as possible. The Legion would certainly not wait long with their next attack, so they had to collect themselves and make new plans soon.

Mick raised his eyelids again, let his gaze slide down the hall and stopped short. His eyes flew over to Gabriel and the others and then back down the hall. Where was Cynthia?

* * *

The station was a bit of a maze with its nested corridors, dead ends and more doors that closed or opened abruptly in front of us. The fact that we hadn't come across any more troops of the Legion so far was frightening as we felt that they were still here, preparing somewhere for a nasty ambush to which they wanted to lure us. I knew where we had to go to find the others, but a few times the direct path towards them had been cut off and after a while I really wondered if we had any chance at all of reaching them as long as the Legion retained technical control over this station. Max had started to shoot out each camera we had passed and even though I understood that he did this only to take away the Legion's view of us, I had a bad feeling about it. If we somehow managed to gain control over the technology of the station, we would lack the ability to give the police team out there an insight into what was happening down here, and thus request their help. Max apparently didn't believe anymore that we would succeed, and deep inside I had to admit that I had long since given up my hopes on it as well.

What worried me additionally was the whang that we'd heard for a while now from the direction toward which we were moving. It almost sounded like small explosions which were approaching us slowly, and I wondered what new abomination the Legion was bringing for us now. Now I felt _it_, this other, and for me very familiar, energy that was running, groping ahead of its carrier. I stopped abruptly. Coraline. Now I felt her very strongly, her relief as she recognized me, her call that we should hurry, should quickly come to her and her team and I set into motion again and without thinking further, hurried off.

The others were a little confused for a moment, but instantly followed me without comment, their weapons at the ready. The closer we came to the Cleaners' team the more sharply I felt the distress they were in. Images pressed upon me. Shooting, screaming, and fighting Legionnaires who proceeded against Coraline's team with radical vehemence. And soon we could also _hear_ the fray behind the closed steel door towards which we moved at a tremendous pace.

'We are here!' I sent to Coraline. 'But we cannot get through to you!'

Again an energy boost hit me, this time in the form of a warning coming with images and suddenly I knew what the whang in the background had been. I stopped suddenly, grabbed Max who was ready to storm past me by the arm and pulled him back.

"Down!" I called out and let myself fall to the ground. The others followed me immediately. Not a second too soon. Behind the door, a loud hissing was heard, then the screams of several people and then another crash, this time ten times louder than before. The steel door flew with an explosion out of the wall and over our heads, breaking off a little masonry that hailed down on us, and then crashed to the tiled floor, causing irreparable damage there. The tremendous heat of the explosion took my breath away for a moment and I put my arms protectively around my head, waiting motionlessly until the heat subsided again. Then there was silence and I ventured to lift my head cautiously. Before me in the next hallway section were, as expected, not only Patricia and the rest of her team, but also a significant number of soldiers who were so paralyzed with shock about the destroyed door that for a moment it seemed as if they had been frozen.

But unfortunately this moment of shock did not last long, for the soldiers of the Legion recovered quite quickly and lunged again not only at Coraline's team, but also at us. Bullets rained down on us. One painfully grazed my arm, another my thigh when I flung around and quickly got to my feet. But Max had not hesitated long, ramming his hard skull against the chin of one of the soldiers who were aiming at us, then jumping off and with a turn kicking into another man's face. I did not take more time to admire his fighting skills. I didn't even have the time because I had to dodge the next salvo of bullets from a different direction. The Legion was only shooting wildly around by now, not even taking care of their comrades. Maybe they could not act any differently because a group of ten vampires was a superior force with whom usually no one dared to mess. Now that we had succeeded in uniting our two teams the soldiers had no choice other than to fight to the last man - or retreat. And if I was not mistaken, the men were doing exactly that, were moving backwards to the next still intact door while maintaining constant fire on us.

It was really hard to escape the bullets. Although I was moving and trying to avoid the bullets, again and again one or another grazed me or even hit my bulletproof vest and made me stumble against the wall or stagger backwards. It was no different for the others while they tried just as I did to fire back, duck the bullets or take shelter behind a Legionnaire while fighting. I was almost relieved when the steel door glided open behind the soldiers and the men quickly disappeared behind it and left us and their dying comrades behind. Max instantly shot out the cameras in this section of the corridor and only the strained breathing and the occasional, quiet moans of a dying soldier was heard. I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath into my lungs, trying to relax at least somewhat, to allow my body and my senses a little rest.

"That… that was really close," I heard a familiar voice say beside me and when I turned I looked into Coraline's pale, blood splattered face. She looked pretty worn out. "This time they came simultaneously from two sides, and here there is no possibility to take cover. Most of the rooms we passed are locked."

I nodded a little absently, because my astonished gaze now roamed over the members of the Cleaners' team and I realized that these women were more than heavily armed. Each of them carried several machine guns and ammunition belts on their bodies. I was quite sure that they had not left our shelter with _this_ riot gear and was that thing that Patricia was holding in her hands actually a…

"A Panzerfaust 3!" burst out of Max with an enthusiastic laugh as _his_ astonished gaze had also wandered over the Cleaner and he immediately stepped up to her to inspect the weapon more closely. Well, it had been the word _bazooka_ that had been on my tongue, but at least I knew now where the constant crashes had come from. Patricia had simply bombed the way free for her team through the laboratory.

"Were you in the weapons store?" I turned to Coraline and she nodded quickly.

"We've stocked up a little with ammunition and other things and then set off to find you and get you out of here. It seems as if the Legion didn't like this idea. We've been constantly attacked and have already lost Bernie and Karen." Coraline's anxious gaze wandered over to a brunette vampire who was leaning back against the wall, her hands pressed to her side and her eyes closed with exhaustion. "And Hannah has also been shot. We were able to remove the bullet and inject her with the serum, but she's still not really well."

"I think now that we're together, we'll do better," I replied tensely. "They will be more cautious and wary of subjecting more troops to an open battle with us as long as no reinforcements are coming."

"But they will come, Josef," Coraline pointed out with audible concern in her voice. "They will send such a superiority of troops that we will simply have to capitulate, if we don't want to die."

"That's the reason why we need to get out of here as quickly as possible," I replied and now stepped up to Patricia. "How many shells do you still have for that thing?"

Patricia took a quick look in the bag that was standing at her feet. "Six," was the sad news that made me immediately ponder. I was not sure whether that was enough to pick up Malik and his team and then also join Gabriel and Mick, but we could not let one of the teams down.

"Have you already contacted Gabriel?" Coraline asked behind me. I looked at her thoughtfully and then nodded.

"And… did he give you any instructions?"

Again I had to nod. "We're to try to get through to Malik."

Coraline did not seem to really like my answer and I knew why. She was worried about Mick just as I was and could barely stand not knowing how he was and not having permission to immediately look for him.

"Then we'll do that," Max said in a firm voice and Patricia nodded agreeing. The two were really a perfect couple… so dutiful and combat-ready.

I hesitated for a moment - not because I was not of the same opinion, but because I was distracted again by an energetic tingling on the edge of my consciousness, a tingling that quickly became stronger and more urgent. I closed my eyes and concentrated, feeling that Coraline did the same next to me and then the first pictures appeared before my eyes. Images of battle and terror: Legionnaires, who opened fire on us, fought against us. And then there was this feeling of disappointment, anger and despair, and I found myself in Malik's body, moving backwards into the open room behind me. I shot wildly about, while the weight of another vampire weighed heavily on my shoulder. Grigori helped me, gave me coverage and inside the room I cautiously let Thomas glide to the floor, tore of his bulletproof vest and opened his shirt and looked worriedly at the bullet wound in his chest. This did not look good for my old friend who was breathing so hard and strained. My eyes flew through the room over the other figures; John and Grigori at the door were firing repeatedly at the Legionnaires, and… no one else. _No one else_! Ritchcroft was no longer with them. I ripped my eyes open in horror, took a deep, gasping breath. How could that have happen?

'Josef, we need you!' I heard Malik's urgent voice in my head. 'There are even more soldiers coming!'

I shook inwardly, trying to get rid of the shock of Ritchcroft's escape and to think more clearly. Malik was right. They needed us and we had no time to lose if we were going to prevent this from getting even worse. Thomas was injured and had to be provided care urgently, and who knew how long the others would last without our help.

I nodded to Patricia and she heaved the Panzerfaust onto her shoulder again to then rush ahead of us through the hallway to the next closed door. The Legion would still wonder. We would not give up that easily. And once we were all together again, they would get the shock of their lives!


	51. Backing

_A happy new year again and thank you so much for your reviews and all your dear wishes. Here's the first new chapter this year. It's not that long but I think it still exciting – at least I hope so. I'll try to get the next chapter ready until Saturday. Have a great week, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**B****acking**

* * *

"_For it is as it is: And so help me to fulfill my part."_

_From Tibet_

* * *

Sometimes the suburbs can give off a strange aura as you drive through them. Especially when the houses were aligned like the ones in the subdivision Beth, Seth and Carl had just gonethrough. Flat roofed, elongated wooden houses, sand-colored paint, middle-class idyll. Creepy. Of course, it might have also been the motivation that had brought them here that made Beth feel anything but comfortable in this area, but wasn't it also true that in these outwardly so orderly and tailored looking neighborhoods, the worst crimes happened?

Beth breathed deeply through her nose and had to inwardly shake her head at herself. She was already upset enough, why did she additionally have to dwell on what other bad things had already happened in such areas? She took one of her hands that had become sweaty, off the wheel and rubbed it on her jeans. Like so many times before, her stomach made an unpleasant roll, because the moment her mind let go of one frightening topic, it quickly wrapped itself around another even worse: That Mick and her other friends were being attacked by the Legion down in the laboratory and wouldn't be able to hold out against their superior forces forever. And because she had lost her connection to Mick completely now, it made things even worse.

"And? Have you picked up anything yet?" she addressed Seth, who was sitting next to her in the passenger seat, staring tense at the screen of his opened laptop, asking him for the umpteenth time now the same question. To her disappointment he shook his head again and held the strange-looking device in his hand in a different direction.

"So far, just the normal radio waves you get everywhere… or… wait a minute!"

Beth's foot instantly slipped from the accelerator and the car slowed down while the pounding of her heart increased immensely. "What?"

"This could be it…" Seth now looked much more excited and Beth felt that even Carl, who had been sitting behind her, bent forward a little to get a look at the screen.

"Slow down," Seth instructed her and Beth did as she was told, and tried to get a grip on her excitement and, above all, her pulse again.

"Is there any possibility to turn right up ahead?"

She nodded quickly, and switched on the blinker, then turned onto a small side street where the houses were a bit larger and more distinguished and the gardens greener and more manicured. The people who lived in this area were certainly not poor. If the Legion had indeed hidden its emergency station here, they had really come up with something. For certainly no one would suspect that one of these elegant homes was not really inhabited, and would therefore make the perfect cover.

"This… this looks good," Seth uttered excited and Beth's heart managed to beat even faster. "Keep going… slower…" He looked up and finally lifted his hand. "Stop!"

The young vampire stared wide-eyed at the roof of a house to their left, which not only had a satellite dish, but also a lot of other somewhat strange-looking antennas.

"If this isn't our friends from the Legion, smack my ass and call me Sally!" it slipped impressed from Seth's lips and Beth had to agree with him. There were no other roofs in the area covered by so many strange antennas and in this respect their disguise had been less than perfect.

"Could be an amateur radio operator," Beth heard Carl say behind her.

Seth's eyebrows moved toward each other and he leaned over his laptop and typed in something. "Then he seems to be very interested in the radio from the lab, since he has all his antennas directed on the factory…"

Beth nodded silently, and paralyzed with a wildly beating heart, opened her car door. But she didn't get far, as Carl grabbed her arm and held her.

"What are you doing?" he uttered incensed.

"We… we need to get in there so we can make sure Mick and the others are able to get out of the lab," she replied in a shaky voice and knew only too well how irrational her behavior was.

"But not just like that, not without a plan!" Carl replied almost angrily. "And _you _certainly won't be going in there! You're not even wearing a bullet-proof vest!"

Beth looked down at her body and then closed her eyes briefly. Her fears for Mick had become so huge that she could no longer think straight. This uncertainty about what was happening to him and the others down there in the lab was taking a toll on her nerves. Of course Carl was right. But they had already lost so much time and with every minute that passed, something bad could happen in the lab.

"Can you find out whether they have surveillance cameras installed?" Carl turned to Seth.

"Not with the equipment I have here. But I could tell if we pass by the house and use my senses…"

Carl thought for a moment. "That'll take too much time…" He scratched his temple. "It's likely they hadn't considered anyone would find out about this station and go looking for it. I think this organization is pretty arrogant and therefore hasn't covered their bases the way they should. This station was probably meant for emergencies only, wouldn't you say?" He looked at Beth and again she could only nod.

"And that probably means the station won't be that well-staffed. How many people do you usually put into an emergency station? One, maybe two, a maximum of three…"

Seth nodded agreeing. "Certainly not more. They may add reinforcements later, but the station has just been activated."

"Then it shouldn't be too hard to overcome them," Beth finally brought out a few words. "Seth is a vampire and you're armed…"

Carl looked a little surprised at Seth, but quickly blinked and looked at her again. "We still have to be careful. If they spot us too early, they could do something to keep us from accessing the technology."

"Then we'll need to lure them away from the controls somehow," Beth suggested rapidly, her mind finally working again, rapidly developing a plan in front of her mind's eye. "I… I'll just ring the doorbell and pretend I'm visiting one of the neighbors and tell them I need something… sugar or something like that. Then you can sneak up from behind and enter the house."

Carl took a deep breath and the angry wrinkle between his eyebrows told her he had an objection concerning her plan, but had paused, hadn't continued with what he wanted to say. Plans such as this were incredibly straightforward, and were actually used all the time in movies or detective series, and because of that, it might actually work; maybe in real life they wouldn't expect to be fooled in such a simple way. Certainly the men, assigned to this house would not have had any idea their enemies were already looking for them, because in their minds, everyone in the laboratory had already been cut off from the outside world, so they wouldn't have been able to inform anyone of the existence of this small station. They were safe - in _their_ view. They wouldn't be expecting an ambush… they couldn't be allowed to…

Seth seemed to share her opinion, because after a moment of thoughtful silence, he nodded to her. "It's a pretty good plan," he finally brought out also verbally and Carl released his breath again unused. It was clear there were no other options available at the moment and they were simply running out of time.

"But first I'll pass by the house and look for cameras. When I get to the right side of the house I'll disappear into the bushes," Seth went on and turned to the still rather grim-looking lieutenant. "And then you can take the left side."

Carl shook his head. "No, I'm staying close to Beth."

"But…" Beth began.

"No 'but'!" Carl cut her off immediately. "If they suspect anything, someone needs to be close enough to you to intervene in time, Beth. I'll try to sneak up to the garage and take cover there. I'll be close enough to the front door to come to your aid in case there's an emergency."

Beth looked at her old friend for a long time. Then she nodded. She realized they simply had no more time to discuss it further.

Seth quickly snapped his laptop closed and handed it to Carl so he could get out of the car.

"Keep your fingers crossed," he whispered to them and then set off.

Beth not only crossed her fingers, she closed her eyes and prayed, prayed there were no cameras in the house, that they would indeed overwhelm the men in there and would be able to take control of the laboratory again. She mostly prayed that Mick and the others had survived the recent attacks safely and had not long since been captured by the Legion.

"Actually, the people who work in these emergency stations aren't usually experienced soldiers," Carl thought aloud and in doing so, gave her a little more hope. "They're probably just sitting around to pass the time as long as the station isn't activated. And I'm sure the Legion's has its more skilled people handling other things right now rather than…"

Carl broke off, because Seth had just reached the house and passed it. His mousy appearance had the advantage that he was usually hardly noticed. The chances that no one had noticed him were therefore pretty good. Once Seth had moved out of sight from the windows, he turned to them and held up a thumb. Then he was gone, blending into the shrubs like a shadow in the unfenced landscape of the lot.

An entire mountain range fell from Beth's heart and she closed her eyes once more and took a deep breath. No cameras. Now it was all up to her and her acting skills.

"Okay, I'll be close by," she heard Carl say, then nodded to him as she opened the door and got out. Her heart was pounding once again up into her throat and her legs felt a little wobbly when she closed the door quietly behind her and crossed the street heading for the house. But with each step she took she gained a little more strength.

'You can do this… you can do this!' she encouraged herself again and again. 'You're just a nice young woman from the neighborhood who needs help. They won't suspect a thing. They will definitely not suspect a thing…'

She turned onto the walkway of the house, tiled with red flagstone, headed directly for the entrance and registered out of the corner of her eye Carl running crouched, out of sight of the windows between the bushes and trees, towards the garage. She was safe. He would protect her if anything went wrong. Still, her heart was pounding wildly, as she stopped directly in front of the door and stood under the little awning of the house. She eyed herself up briefly and quickly opened the top button of her blouse, so one had a much better view of her cleavage, then raised her hand and knocked. Once. Twice. For a while nothing happened and Beth started to raise her fist in the air again when she heard shuffling steps, heard someone approaching the door from the inside. The person stopped in front of the door for a moment, seemed to be peering through the peephole, then she heard the rattle of a chain lock and only seconds later the door was opened a gap.

Beth looked into the face of a bearded, slightly rounded man about thirty, who looked, with raised eyebrows and visible distrust at her. She put on her brightest smile.

"Hi," she brought out with an incredibly girlish voice. "I come from over there and I'm in a bit of a jam. I have visitors coming soon and wanted to make them a delicious apple pie but I'm almost out of sugar. Do you happen to have some I could borrow?" She fluttered her eyelashes innocently and the man's gaze wandered conspicuously to her cleavage. "I would certainly show you my gratitude…"

When he raised his eyes again, a lewd smile was on his lips. "Would you?"

She giggled silly, inwardly rejoicing that he'd fell for her number so wonderfully. "Well, with a nice big piece of apple pie, of course," she returned.

"Ernie, what's going on out there?" Another voice came from the back room and Beth's pulse automatically accelerated. So there were at least two men operating the station here.

Ernie turned slightly opening the door a little further, enough for Beth to see at least into a rather empty hall. Further back, in another room were several boxes stacked next to a sofa. It looked suspiciously like an uninhabited house. They had been right!

"Do we have somewhere sugar?" Ernie called back, instead of answering his companion's question.

"Huh?" Something rolled over the wooden floor, then steps were heard and a tall, slim guy came from one of the other rooms, and look at them intently.

Beth's smile became even brighter and she waved at him foolishly. "Hi! I just need a little sugar for my pie…"

The man moved closer, but instead of returning her smile, just looked at her skeptically. "And who exactly are you?"

It was now becoming dangerous. They had had no time to look at the names on the doorbells of the other houses around them and if she said the wrong thing now and this guy knew the names of neighbors here, they would indeed have a problem. Seth had to hurry.

"Patricia Harper," she answered, smiling bravely. "I'm visiting with friends who've been living here since the weekend and this afternoon a few more friends will be arriving…"

"And who is it exactly that you're visiting here?" The man was now close enough for her to be able to tell he didn't really believe her. And Beth saw something else that made it extremely difficult for her to keep up her role: at his side hung a weapon, on which he now put his hand.

"The… the Millers," she replied, fervently hoping that somewhere in this area there was a family with this name.

"Where do they live?"

Ernie gave a feeble sigh. "My God Dean, is that so important? It's just someone from the neighborhood…"

"And I just need some sugar," Beth brought out with a somewhat cramped laugh.

"And _I_ just want to know where our sugar is going," Dean said with a fake smile and Beth felt his suspicions were growing rather than diminishing. "But… why don't you come in first? We can exchange much better that way." He nodded to Ernie and with a shrug his comrade stepped aside, clearing the way into the house for her.

What now? What should she do? She couldn't just go in there defenseless and deliver herself to these men, but if she didn't they would know something was wrong. It wasn't her however that made that decision, but the sound of shattering glass at the rear of the living room. The two men in front of her flung around. She couldn't see more, because she was suddenly grabbed from behind and snatched away from the door. Carl rushed passed her into the house and only seconds later, the first subdued shots were heard. Normally Beth would have immediately followed Carl to see what was happening or to help, but there was suddenly this new, unfamiliar instinct in her, that forced her to press herself against the wall beside the door and wait.

It rumbled and crashed about in the house and then, after only a few minutes, it was silent again. Beth's pulse was pounding uncomfortably in her chest and she felt terribly shaky on her legs, as she cautiously approached the door again. She jerked when a tall, dark figure appeared directly in front of her, and pressed her hand to her racing heart, taking a deep breath. Carl. An uninjured, still very tense-looking Carl. He looked around briefly and then pulled her quickly into the house, closing the door behind both of them.

Ernie lay struck down on the ground and wasn't moving anymore while Dean leaned, in a sitting position against the wall, pressing his hand to a heavily bleeding gunshot wound in his shoulder. Seth was standing in front of him, pointing a gun at his head. But you could tell he wasn't comfortable in his role of threatening the enemy. Not far from him, to Beth's surprise, another figure lay motionless. So there had been three men here. They had been really lucky to have been able to overcome the three so quickly.

"Come with me," Carl called to her, walked up to Dean, grabbed his arm and pulled the somewhat weakened man to his feet. "Go in there," he said to Beth, and nodded toward the open door to the right side of the hall where Dean had come from before.

Beth entered the room hesitantly and was quite amazed. 'Control center,' for the technical installation here, was indeed the right word. Monitors upon monitors, flashing lights, control panels… One of the monitors caught Beth's eye and she quickly stepped closer and held her breath. Mick. There he was, moving along with the others carefully through a corridor. Unhurt, as far as she could tell, because the image was pretty small. They all seemed to have survived without serious injuries – except for the man Lance was carrying over his shoulder. Was that Gallagher? What had happened to him?

"Wow!" It was Seth's impressed voice behind Beth, but she couldn't turn to him, couldn't seem to avert her gaze from Mick. But she didn't need to, because Seth now pushed past her and in doing so brought himself into her view. He settled into one of the chairs at the desk, rolled over to one of the PCs and let his fingers fly over the keyboard.

Carl, with his prisoner, also stepped beside her to take a closer look at the monitors. "And can you, without our new friend's help, get into the system?" He pushed Dean a little closer and the man bit his lower lip in pain and closed his eyes. His circulation also seemed to be suffering from a loss of blood, for he staggered like a stalk of grass in the wind.

"Yupp!" was Seth's wonderful response. "They didn't have time to log out. Our attack really surprised them. Here we go…"

Mick had just stopped at a door and turned to Gabriel. They seemed to be thinking about how they could open the door, because their eyes repeatedly scanned the ceiling above the door.

"And… open Sesame!" Seth grinned, pressed a button and the door in the lab rose. Mick and Lance flinched violently, ducked and raised their weapons, but when no fighting forces appeared, they relaxed somewhat, giving a rather confused impression.

"We need to let them know somehow that we've regained control of the station," Carl suggested. "Above all, to _this_ team!" He was pointing at another monitor on which many more people were moving. Josef! There was Josef… and Max… and Coraline. But just at that moment, Max pointed his weapon at the camera and the once clear picture instantly turned to static.

"Okay… but how?" Seth asked. "There's no one left in the old control center anymore, so I can't radio anyone." He pointed to another monitor and the equipment in that room led Beth to believe it must have been the former control room. It was deserted and some of the equipment seemed to have been destroyed because sparks flew off them repeatedly.

"How about Morse code," Carl suggested after a brief reflection. "We can use the lights."

A wide smile lit up Seth's face. "Brilliant!"

"I hope at least this Gabriel will understand it," Carl added and Beth nodded agreeing. It was hard to imagine something Gabriel _couldn't_ master. But her eyes were already on Mick again. The light in the section of corridor through which he and the others moved began to flicker and they all stopped again, looking confused at the ceiling.

"Come on… come on," Seth muttered tense and in fact it _was_ Gabriel, who moved closer to one of the cameras in the corridor, a small smile on his lips. He raised his hand and closed his thumb and forefinger into a circle, and even Beth could tell that he had understood. It was only when he lifted a finger in the air, describing a circle, that she didn't know exactly what he meant. But someone else seemed to know…

"They're going to try to meet up with the others," Carl translated, "and…"

Gabriel then pointed his finger at them, raised one hand to the height of his eyebrows as if blocking his eyes from sunlight, then moved his hand the same way to his ear and finally pressed it flat against his other wrist.

"… we're to watch out for hostile troops."

"Wow!" Seth uttered impressed. "How do you know these signs?"

"I once trained with a special police team," Carl replied concentrated. "But that's not important. We need to see if we can open the exits for our teams."

Seth nodded quickly and immediately went back to work, missing the quiet, snide laugh that slipped from their prisoner. Beth and Carl, however, looked at the man suspiciously.

"What?" the lieutenant asked and grabbed Dean's arm even firmer, causing him to once again grimace in pain.

"You can't open the exits from here," he brought out hard-pressed.

Unease spread through Beth. She could tell immediately the man was not lying. "But Ritchcroft said the whole laboratory was controlled from here," she still contradicted.

Dean looked at her with disdain and even managed to smile sardonically now. "Did he really say that?"

She swallowed, but tried not to let him see how much his question had stirred her up inside. Getting control of the external doors was the most important thing at the moment. That was the reason they'd come here: to give Mick and the others a way to get out of the lab - before the Legion's reinforcements arrived.

"What the hell do you mean?" Carl growled and pulled the man close to him, boring his eyes menacingly into his prisoner's.

"Well, Ritchcroft didn't lie," Dean said unimpressed. "You _can_ control the laboratory from here – everything except the exits."

"You're lying!" Carl hissed angrily, but now Seth came forward again from the background.

"No… he's not," he voiced what Beth had feared the most. "I… I can't activate the mechanism on the doors from here. I don't have any access to it."

Beth's stomach knotted painfully and her eyes flew back to the monitors looking for Mick. There he was, following Gabriel through the corridors with the expectation that they had everything back under control and they would soon be able to escape this dark cellar.

"Okay… _how_? How do you open the doors?" Carl brought out angrily and grabbed Dean by both his arms, who immediately let out a dreadful moan.

"You… you won't get anything out of me!" the man uttered pressed, but his voice shook suspiciously. Beth looked at him briefly. Although he had previously carried a weapon, he didn't appear to be a typical soldier of the Legion. His fight with Seth and Carl had also been too quick. If she wasn't mistaken, this man was probably a technical specialist like Logan and Seth and therefore hadn't been in that many life-threatening situations before. Maybe with a certain kind of pressure he would give in faster than a hardened soldier would.

"Okay," she said, and straightened her shoulders, inwardly praying her little trick would work. "Seth…"

The young vampire looked at her quizzically, and raised his eyebrows.

"We have no further use for our prisoner. Bon appetit!"

Seth furrowed his brows slightly confused, but was quick enough to understand within half a second what she wanted from him and stood up.

"Oh… uh… wonderful," he gave back a little amateurish, but his subsequent transformation was so impressive that even Carl gasped and backed away from him. Dean, however, became deathly pale, scuttled backward against the nearest wall and held an arm protectively in front of his neck. It was certain the man had never seen a vampire in person before and the sharp fangs Seth now exposed with a small smile looked really creepy.

"Man, I'm hungry after all this exertion," Seth added as he reached out a hand towards him.

"Wait!" Dean shouted in panic, and his voice almost cracked. "I'll talk… I'll talk!"

Seth stopped and dropped his shoulders. Dean probably saw this as a sign of disappointment, Beth, however, immediately recognized it as Seth's deep relief at not having to proceed with this action._ If_ there was ever a vampire that could be described as peaceful and sensitive, it was Seth.

"Down at the main entrance to the laboratory, there is a panel to input a general code," Dean now brought out quickly. "Once you type it in all the doors in the station will open. It's so reinforcements can still get into the lab in case of an emergency."

"Okay, what's the code?" Beth probed immediately.

"No… no idea - _really_! The code for that station is only known by the commander of the lab and the superior leader of the region."

"Gallagher?" Beth asked with her heart beating like mad, and as Dean nodded, she felt sick. Her eyes flew over to the monitors, quickly found the team she was looking for. Gallagher was still hanging lifeless over Lance's shoulder. They certainly wouldn't be getting any information from him any time soon. And Gabriel wouldn't know about the code. They could hardly show him by Morse code what they needed.

Beth's thoughts tumbled. At the moment, they couldn't contact him through the station's radio, not without unintentionally informing all the soldiers there about their plans as well. But there was another way…

"We need to get close to the laboratory again," she voiced her thought immediately and Carl and Seth looked at her puzzled. "Only then we can reach Gabriel and the others to tell them what we need from Gallagher. And one of us is going to need to enter the station anyway to type the code in on-site."

Carl was still looking at her a little confused, while Seth slowly seemed to comprehend what she was talking about. "You mean you want to give Mick a chance to reach you again mentally?"

She nodded. On her way here she had told the two men that Mick was able to make a mental connection with her, through which they could communicate with each other, and had been careful to portray herself as merely a passive recipient. She had not forgotten Gabriel words that no one was allowed to learn about her new skills.

"And he can then tell Gabriel," Seth thought further aloud and looked at Carl. "This could work."

"Yes, but do you seriously believe Gallagher is going to give them the code," Carl asked skeptically.

"It's better than doing nothing," Beth replied, and looked at her old friend intently. "Once reinforcements arrive no one will be able to do anything for our teams!"

Carl ran a hand through his hair, breathing deeply through his nose and nodded. "Okay, then we'll go back and do what we can." He searched Seth's gaze. "Can you fend for yourself once we lock up our friend here somewhere."

Seth nodded quickly. "Just get me my laptop so I can stay in touch with Logan. I'll see what I can do to help support our teams in their fight against the forces of the Legion."

"Just be sure you get to safety in time, if reinforcements from the Legion also show up here," Beth urged and Seth gave her a little smile with his next nod.

"And _you_ stay _outside_ the factory," the young vampire gave back seriously. "Carl can enter the code without your help."

Beth hastened to nod. She would not unnecessary place herself in danger – definitely not.

"Come on then!" Carl said and you could tell he didn't really like this new mission as he pushed Dean somewhat roughly out of the room. Beth couldn't blame him. Although they now had a new plan, and could in fact do something to help their friends, it wasn't a guarantee that this plan would be successful and for everyone involved in this mission it slowly but surely became a tight squeeze. It would surely not be much longer before the first reinforcements of the Legion arrived. And the police force still didn't have the proof they wanted to intervene. But perhaps they would get one now.


	52. Turbulences

_It's time for the next chapter again! And here it is! Thank you all so, so much for your feedback and for fueling my motivation to go on writing this story. The muse is very active at the moment because of the great feedback I get and the dear words you wrote to me. So here are some fat hugs for you. I know you all want to know when and if Mick and co are finally getting out of the station, but I can't tell you this. Just read on. I'll try to be back with the next chapter at Thursday. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Cleo28_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**T****urbulences **

* * *

"_Everything, even the tiniest thing will manifest; everything, even the most hidden thing, sooner or later - it will become known." _

_Confucius _

* * *

I stared in disbelief at the ceiling, at the florescent lights there, that flashed rhythmically on and off, giving the already creepy atmosphere down here in these narrow corridors an additional surreal effect. At first I thought it was a malfunction or another attempt by the Legion to hinder our sensitive senses somehow. But I quickly realized I was mistaken, that behind this annoying flickering a repetitive code was hidden, a code I could quickly decipher because of my great life experiences. And yet I looked a little confused over to Max, who, like everyone else, had stopped to stare at the ceiling. He met my gaze and a small smile crept across his lips. Almost simultaneously I felt Gabriel's energy. Basically telling me exactly what Patricia was now voicing: "We're now in control of the station!" - But he also added that I should make sure Max stopped shooting out the cameras. Then contact with him was broken.

The relief that overtook me was so great I even uttered a low, delighted chuckle. Whoever had managed to find and overtake the remote station – would have my undying gratitude. Our chances of escaping this station relatively unscathed grew immensely with this new advantage.

"Then I suggest we meet up with the others as soon as possible and get the hell out of here!" Enrique said and I agreed with him not only with a brief nod, but also by continuing on my way to Malik's team. We were close enough to them now that we could clearly hear the gunfire they were still under. As far as I could tell, it was only a heavy iron door that now separated us from our friends.

My eyes darted across the ceiling again, searching for the next camera and I quickly raised a hand, signaling those who had taken control of the laboratory that they should wait before opening the door until we were ready to attack. Like the others, I loaded my weapon quickly, positioned myself in front of the door and focused my mind on what was going on behind it. Gunfire, rushing steps, short commands… the smell of fresh blood, human and vampire… It was difficult to identify exactly where the soldiers of the Legion were. Some were close, others farther away from the door. I tried to relax by closing my eyes and allowing my energy to wander into the area of my sensory perception that was capable of contacting the other old vampires, and felt for Malik. There he was, tense, and agitated. He had just injected a drug into Thomas' carotid artery… Thomas who looked absently at the ceiling, so pale and whose chest rose and fell remarkably quickly under heavy breaths. He fought with all his might against a seemingly superior enemy: death. Only this was a battle _he_ alone had to fight and it was really questionable right now, who would win. My guts clenched. Malik had opened Thomas' vest and shirt and the heavily bleeding wound revealed that he had already removed the bullet that had penetrated the vest and his body. But unfortunately it seemed to be one of these dangerous silver bullets that greatly impeded the healing of the wound. And who knew how much liquid silver had already poisoned his blood.

I gritted my teeth and straightened my shoulders. Thomas was a good friend and it felt terrible to see him suffer so and not be able to help him. But one thing we could ensure was that he and the others weren't further assaulted by the Legion.

'How many are there?' I asked Malik mentally.

'I think about six,' came the immediate answer. 'Some have hunkered down around the next corner and I think there are more somewhere in the hallway close to the room where we are now.'

'Why are they so unrelenting?' I had to ask because this was quite apparent. So far, the enemy had always attacked and then quickly retreated to prevent too many casualties and to regroup again.

'I think they want to prevent us from getting too close to the other offices.'

I bit back my next questions, even though they were burning so strongly on my tongue. For now, what was more important was to get our friends out of this precarious situation. I looked over to Max, who was now holding two automatic weapons in his hands and he nodded encouragingly to me. My gaze wandered to the camera above us and I gave the signal to open the door. It briefly hummed above us and the door in front slid with a faint hissing up into the ceiling.

A soldier who had been perched directly in front of the door almost fell into our arms and the next minute he lay with a twisted neck at our feet, while Max and I shot in unison at the two comrades that were closest to him. Their bodies jerked uncontrollably under the impinging bullets before they collapsed and no longer moved. But I had no time to enjoy their quick death, because there were now bullets raining down on us from a different direction. Two slammed into my chest with full force and caused me to stumble backwards against a wall. I couldn't breathe for a moment and the roaring pain in my chest made my fast beating heart hesitate a bit, but I immediately knew the bullets had not penetrated my vest, and had not injured me seriously.

Max, Coraline and Patricia headed for the shooters, but even they weren't fast enough to get to the men. Max was also knocked down by a shot to the chest and Patricia stumbled aside when a bullet struck her in the arm. Only Coraline succeeded in throwing herself with bared fangs on one of the three men. I jumped to my feet and sprinted off just as one of them flung around and aimed his gun directly at her head. I knew immediately however that I would be too late, that I couldn't prevent the shot from reaching it's target and that Coraline would hit the ground the very next moment with a deadly shot to the head. But that didn't happen. From out of the dark hallway behind the soldiers a shadow threw itself on the shooter, buried its teeth in his vulnerable neck and dragged the man backwards to the ground. The soldier next to him reacted quickly and fired at the blonde woman, who tore at his screaming comrade's throat, but Coraline hadn't remained idle, from below she rammed a long dagger into the attacker's throat and dragged him to the ground.

I had now reached the soldiers, but all that was left to do was finish off a soldier who was still stirring. Then it was over - not just here with me but in the rest of the corridor I realized when I briefly turned around. Guillermo was helping Max to his feet, while one of the cleaners had gone to her knees next to Patricia to see to her wound. Vincent was feeding on one of the dying soldiers around him and Enrique had started to pick up the weapons that were scattered about the dead men to prevent any of the soldiers from reaching for them in his death throes.

A low moan and Coraline's horrified gasp prompted me to turn around to her again. The dark-haired beauty was sinking to her knees next to the person who had just saved her life, took her hand and touched her shoulder with deep concern in her eyes. I stepped even closer and wasn't surprised to discover it was Cynthia's face I was looking into, twitching with pain. She had slipped away from Gabriel's team in all the hustle and bustle of their last fight to search for Coraline and to fight at her side. And that decision had now cost her dearly. She had not worn a protective vest and I watched as Coraline removed a strange-looking projectile from her chest. I was sure it was the exact same thing I had been hit with back in the laboratory beneath the hospital, and the spasms and cramps, which now shook Cynthia, told me that she was already in a state of transformation.

"Josef!" Coraline's imploring eyes flew up at me. "We must help her! Do something!"

I blinked at her slightly overwhelmed. "I… There's nothing I can do! There is no antidote for this. You know that. She either survives or she doesn't."

Bitter disappointment was shown in Coraline's beautiful eyes, before she averted her gaze again and turned to her best friend. So much for never forgiving Cynthia for her betrayal of Mick… Nevertheless I still felt sorry for the two somehow. Never before had it been clearer to me how much the two actually loved each other. Cynthia had risked her life to come to Coraline's aid, and Coraline held her friend's hand, and even though the situation around us was anything but relaxed and harmless, she stayed with her and sat close by her side. We had indeed eliminated the group that caused Malik's team so much trouble, but that didn't mean that soon there wouldn't be more troops turning up.

The Assassin now came out of one of the rooms, and waved to me. I immediately set in motion, hurried over to him and followed him into the room. What had happened to Cynthia wasn't pressing to me right now. There were far more important things to take care of, far more important people we had to help somehow. Thomas was still lying on the ground, had his eyes closed, breathing heavily. But he was still alive and his heart was beating more regularly and more powerful. Maybe he would still survive the whole thing.

"What hit him?" I turned to Malik, the concern in my voice clearly audible.

"One of these melting silver bullets at close range," was the expected response. "I've cut it out already, but I don't think he should be moved too much at least for a few more minutes. Can you get Max and his team?"

I nodded and got up without saying a word. It only took a few brief words, and we were all in agreement that the injured should be brought into the room first, it was probably one of the doctors' offices, and then together we'd plan how to proceed.

Max himself had not been seriously injured, so it was only Patricia and Cynthia, who needed medical attention and rest, but with every passing minute Cynthia looked worse. Coraline stayed by her side. She had become very quiet and pale, was still holding her hand and gently stroked her friend's face when the cramps became worse. Apparently it wasn't enough to be from Gabriel's bloodline in order to fight this toxic mixture. She seemed to have a fever and over and over again uttered a few meaningless words in French.

"Gabriel and the others will be joining us here soon," Malik said to me quietly, once we had everything prepared, so that the room offered plenty of opportunities to defend ourselves effectively in case of a new attack. "By then we should have everything we need taken care of and can then make our way out of here together with them."

I wanted to nod, but couldn't, because a part of his words was a little unclear to me. "What exactly _is_ there left to do?" I asked, frowning, and I could see that Max was just as interested in the answer to this question, as well. Apparently there were other goals within the mission he hadn't been informed of either.

"We need to get into Gallagher's office and look around for something," Malik answered somewhat evasively. "And since Ritchcroft's escape, we're under even more pressure. He'll stop at nothing to get reinforcements down here as quickly as possible to prevent our escape."

"How was it that he was able to escape from you, anyway?" Max voiced the question that was also already on my tongue.

Malik gave him a dark look. But I wasn't sure if his look was expressing anger over the question or whether he was just angry with himself. "We were directly attacked in the control room and unfortunately there was a secret door through which the man escaped us. But he didn't flee in the same direction in which we ran. That means for the moment he's not able to get to the offices to destroy the most important documents left there before we arrive. We urgently need to take advantage of this opportunity. Therefore I suggest Josef and the rest of my team come with me, whilst you…," he now looked directly at Max, "and the others hold the line here until Gabriel arrives or until we return."

One could tell Max didn't really care for this suggestion, but after a while of grim staring at each other he nodded slowly. "Okay. But hurry," he said and turned away just to give instructions to his own team.

I wasn't even asked for approval. Instead, Malik whispered a short "Go ahead!" to me and gave the rest of his team a sign, and set in motion immediately. So I had no other choice but to grab a loaded gun and once again to acquiesce to the reviled role of heroic fighter.

* * *

The miracle they needed had happened. Someone from outside had managed to regain control of the technology here in the station. And yet Mick didn't feel as good as he should have at that thought, because his gut feeling told him that Beth was somehow enmeshed in this whole thing, that she had played a significant part in them gaining a clear advantage and perhaps even allowing them to get out of the laboratory relatively safe and sound. He didn't even need close contact with her to feel this - their old everlasting connection was enough. The fact was that Beth was much too far away to reach her mentally and it wasn't easy to remain calm anyway, to not become nervous and panicked again. That he didn't know exactly what she was doing out there, made him even more anxious and his need to escape from the building increase even more. So it didn't really help that he now tightly clung to Lance's sword, which the elder vampire had passed to him because he was busy carrying Gallagher over his shoulder through the hallways as carefully as possible.

Mick wasn't sure whether this really made all that much sense. They had already had to stop twice to inject the man with adrenaline and another drug to keep his circulation going and help his heart function. His wounds were in fact closing because the transformation had begun, but it was still extremely doubtful whether Gallagher would survive in his critical state. There was always a high risk in subjecting seriously injured people to the stress and effort of a transformation. Very few actually survived such a thing.

Mick gritted his teeth and tried at least to avoid looking at the man on Lance's shoulder as he followed him. It was difficult to cope with these contradictory feelings within him. One part of him wished with all his might that Gallagher would die, while another hoped the transformation was successful so they could get the information that Gabriel needed so badly. After a moment of uncertainty, it was then clear to Mick that this really was the only reason why Gabriel wanted to keep the man alive. With every glance, and every gesture in dealing with Gallagher there had only been contempt and hostility in the old vampire for Gallagher and Mick was now certain Gabriel would not allow him to remain alive as a vampire. He would keep his promise and leave Gallagher to him when the time came and it was only that thought that made it possible for Mick to pull himself together, to allow, without a word, the other two vampires to do everything possible to keep Gallagher alive. He could not participate in these rescue efforts, though. But no one demanded this of him.

Mick winced a little when Lance uttered an excited "Gil!" diagonally behind him, which made Gabriel turn around and immediately rush over to him. Mick wasn't surprised that Lance set Gallagher rapidly on the ground. He immediately heard what the problem was. Gallagher's heart had stopped beating. Deep shock made Mick approach the others, while at the same time the tortured human side jumped with joy. This is what madness must feel like…

Gabriel ripped Gallagher's vest and shirt open, pulled a syringe out of the pocket of his own vest, which they had already prepared the last time and without hesitation rammed the quite long needle into the man's heart, immediately injecting the drug that would start his heart beating again. Mick turned away when the old vampire bent over his archenemy and began cardiac massage. He couldn't watch, even knowing what Gabriel purposed with this life-saving measures. Mick tried again to focus on his surrounding environment, to assess if more troops were lying in wait somewhere for them. He tried to keep his senses alert for potential dangers, but his eyes got caught by Frank, who looked at him again with this mix of shame and remorse that Mick currently couldn't deal with. At least the professor hadn't eagerly assisted in the resuscitation of Gallagher. In this regard he had truly held back.

Mick furrowed his eyebrows somewhat angry, as Frank actually dared to step closer to him. The bitterness he felt towards the professor hadn't left him and Frank, who seemed to feel this, probably wanted to use the time, in which they had nothing to do because of Gallagher's condition, to make peace between them.

"I would like to explain something to you, Mick," he said softly, with a somewhat uncertain glance at Gabriel. "Because I can't bear it that there is a misunderstanding between us. So… would you listen to me, please?"

Mick gritted his teeth, lowered his gaze and nodded. Every human being deserved a chance to explain their behavior, and it couldn't hurt.

Frank took a deep breath. "I… I've done tests on myself with your blood. That's true. But not because I wanted to, but because I had to. And in the beginning I didn't inject your blood voluntarily. Gallagher did this, when I refused to do more of these experiments on you for the Legion. He knew things about me that I myself hadn't even known."

Mick's eyebrows wandered up a little. "Which would be?"

Another uncertain look in Gabriel's direction, but the old vampire, along with Lance, was too busy caring for Gallagher.

"The fact that I too belong to one of the rare blood groups that make transformation into a vampire impossible," Frank said softly.

"You're a Sangsujet?" Mick asked back in disbelief.

The question seemed to confuse Frank. He blinked a few times. "A what?"

For a moment Mick looked at the professor silently. Frank had never been a particularly good liar, so it was possible he really didn't know what this name meant. All the more interesting was to learn exactly what the professor knew, because it would then let Mick know what the Legion knew about the Sangsujets.

"What exactly did they tell you about these rare blood groups," Mick asked back simply.

Frank took stock of himself for a moment, before answering. "Well, I learned quite early on that some people who possess a rare blood type are descendants of the Nigong and thus have probably inherited cells which can produce blocking agents. Only I didn't know that I belong to them. Gallagher told me this."

"And how did _he_ know all of that?"

Frank shrugged his shoulders a little hesitantly. "I'm not sure. But I believe there's a secret list somewhere, on which the names of some of these descendants of the Nigong are listed. During my time at the Legion I worked with so many different blood samples, all bearing the blocking substances… Somehow they must have gotten to them …"

"Wait!" Mick raised his hand, shook his head, because a shocking idea was trying to form in his mind. "Does that mean Gallagher and his team not only hunted vampires, but humans with this rare blood type also?"

Frank nodded hesitantly. "That would be my guess."

Mick's eyes wandered full of hatred towards the lifeless figure lying on the ground that poor Lance was now breathing air into. If there was another list of these special people, it was almost a miracle that Gallagher hadn't already tried to kidnap Beth. Just the thought enraged Mick and simultaneously scared the hell out of him.

"I don't think Beth is on their list," Frank whispered to him, seeming to guess his thoughts, and Mick turned to him again, now breathing slightly more violent, because his need to keep Gabriel and Lance from bringing Gallagher back to life had suddenly become so strong that he could barely restrain himself.

"Otherwise they would have taken her blood a long time ago," Frank went on reassuringly. "Also most of the blood I experimented with was blood type AB negative. I think the Legion followed these people to start with and only later on extended their search to other blood types - for whatever reason."

Mick's eyebrows wandered towards each other. That was indeed strange. "Does that mean you have the blood type AB negative?"

Frank nodded. "Although my parents had always told me I was A positive. It was Gallagher that set me straight."

"Does that also mean the Legion knows that a particular blood type is one of the ingredients of the cure?"

"Yes," was the frightening answer. "And about this lily that's not supposed to exist anymore." He looked all around him briefly, even though he knew pretty sure that no one else was here, only their team. "But I'm the only one here who now knows the third ingredient." He looked over at Gabriel and Mick understood. For the first time since dealing with this issue, he finally understood _all_ these closely related connections, understood why his body reacted so extremely to Beth's blood, why he felt so attracted to Gabriel, felt so connected to him.

"It was _his_ blood that was given to me during the tests, wasn't it?" Mick voiced the thought he was now holding in his mind for quite a while and he did not even need Frank's nod to know that he was right. "How did you get his blood."

"No idea," the professor had to admit now. "Gallagher gave it to me, but back then I didn't know whose it was. He just told me it was from the oldest vampire that existed here in this world and that it was thousands of years old. And when it became clear in Mexico, that Gabriel _is_ the oldest vampire…"

Mick nodded understandingly. "And what was that remark about Beth and Gabriel's blood and that you'd known it?"

A small smile appeared on Frank's lips. "You yourself have improved even more, Mick," he went on softly, and couldn't help it when his eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "You now seem to be producing many of the substances from the cure on your own, and only need from time to time a little help from Beth's or Gabriel's blood – that's what I'd always hoped to achieve. It means that you're slowly but surely reaching a state in which your life is no longer in danger…"

Mick looked down, focused on breathing more calmly again, bringing his inner turmoil under control. Of course, this wasn't necessarily bad news, but was still difficult to process. And it didn't stop the many questions in his head that pushed for an answer.

"And what exactly is going on with _you_?" he tried steering the talk in a different direction. "You said Gallagher injected you with my blood in order to blackmail you… What exactly does my blood do to you?"

Frank once again gave a rather depressed impression, and looked to the ground. "It… it makes me dependent on your blood, because it activates my blocking substances and… my body can't bring them back under control on its own."

Mick pulled up his eyebrows and an unpleasant feeling spread through his stomach. "What does that mean exactly? That you'll become sick if you don't inject yourself with my blood?"

Frank nodded. "My immune system goes haywire and attacks my body and in the end it would…"

"… kill you," Mick finished his sentence and he felt very sick. "And that's triggered immediately whenever the carrier of the blocking substances comes in contact with vampire blood?"

"Yes," was the shocking answer, and Mick closed his eyes, didn't want to believe what he was hearing. Beth. Beth had taken in Hendrik's blood, so she too was infected. He cleared his throat, had to get rid of the lump that had formed there. "Why… why _my_ blood? Why can't anyone else's blood help?"

"Because my body had become attuned to it," Frank said. "Other blood isn't as good as the one you've been infected with. It rather disturbs the procedures and can make things even worse…"

Mick shook his head, and closed his eyes again as the pressure in his chest grew. Hendrik was dead. There was no way for Beth to get his blood anymore. No one could help her if her immune system actually began to fight against itself. All the qualms and fluctuations in her body temperature… had they been the first signs of a serious disease?

"Mick, everything's all right now," he heard Frank say and a hand was laid gently on his upper arm. "I'm feeling better and will stay this way for a while."

"That's not the point," Mick gave back sharply and shook his hand off, turning back to the others who had in fact performed a miracle in getting Gallagher's heart beating again, getting him to breathe on his own again. And the transformation progressed. But that didn't distress Mick anymore. The concern for Beth overshadowed everything now, even displaced his hatred of Gallagher, who Lance now laid gently back on his shoulder - a sure sign that the two old vampires actually wanted to move on again.

"This is exactly why I didn't want you talking about this now!" Gabriel surprised Mick, as he turned to him with anger clearly in his eyes. "You draw the wrong conclusions from these things and can't concentrate on what lies before you. And these things can't be clarified in such a short amount of time!"

Mick didn't know what surprised him more: that Gabriel had overheard their conversation, or that he was so angry about it.

"But since I can't change this now, I'll clarify two things. First: Hendrik's blood was not the first blood Beth came in contact with Mick, it was yours, and second: as a result of that, her life is currently not in any danger. Yours _is_ however, if you don't start concentrating on the here and now instead of constantly thinking of things that could be clarified later and that you'd understand much better if you were under less stress."

Mick stared at the old vampire for a few rapid heartbeats with only his mouth open and didn't know exactly what to say to that. Then again, Gabriel didn't appeared to be interested in a further response from him, for he once again turned from him and headed along with Lance for the next door, which rose immediately.

Mick's reaction was more automatic than that of his own will as he followed the two vampires, because his mind first had to process what he had just heard. _He_ himself had infected Beth with vampire blood? _When_? _Where_? And this wasn't going lead to negative consequences for her? Something wasn't right about this whole story…

'Concentrate on the important statements!' his mind told him and he tried to listen to it. Beth's life was not threatened, and even though she eventually felt bad, she just needed to take Mick's blood in order to recover. Everything was only half as bad as it seemed at first glance. Nevertheless it was all still so strange. Mick was sure that he had once again only heard half the story. That urgently had to stop soon…

* * *

"What do you think - how many are there?" Grigori looked over at Malik, who had closed his eyes, focusing with all his senses on the danger that lurked around the next corner.

I'd been able to identify ten different heart beats, but I wasn't sure if there were others farther away that I couldn't hear. In any case, this meant that each of us had to fight about two and a half opponents - quite feasible. So far we had made our way relatively undisturbed, but I immediately sensed there were several soldiers in the area near the commander offices, waiting to prevent us from invading them and taking the information that we should in no way get a hold of. The only question was how well they'd prepared for us and what direction we needed to take to start this fight.

"Ten in the immediate vicinity," Malik finally responded to the Russian friend in our group. "Six a little further away."

To me that didn't change much. Sixteen soldiers, was still a larger amount of enemies and they could be on us quite fast. And if they also carried these more dangerous weapons, this whole action would become pretty tricky.

"Is it really _that_ important to get into Gallagher's office?" I couldn't resist asking and Malik looked at me almost indignantly.

"If it weren't, we wouldn't be here," he replied grimly and I raised my hands in a conciliatory gesture. Apparently Malik's nerves weren't in the best shape at the moment either.

"Well…," said the Assassin determined and looked at our other two companions with his cheek muscles twitching with tension. "You know the procedure. Make your mind free and open your senses. We are one. One body, one heart, one soul…"

There it was again this strange tingling sensation and my body started to relax all by itself, seemed to adjust completely to the energetic vibrations around it. And indeed it seemed to me as if my consciousness was expanding, merging with the others and at once perceiving far more than I ever had before. It felt strange, and at the same time… awesome!

"Josef, just try to tag along with us as much as possible and not resist our requests. Then you'll be all right."

I nodded and just barely prevented my lips from twisting into a blissful smile. I suddenly felt so relaxed. Any fear, any reluctance to fight was gone from my body. I felt… invincible… immortal. Just like during the battle in Mexico at Mick's side, only now the feeling was way more intense.

I watched Malik lift his hand in the direction of the camera which was fastened at an angle towards us on the wall. He made a gesture and I knew immediately what he wanted. The person in the new control station apparently understood as well, because all of a sudden the lights went out. A new burst of energy shot through my limbs, immediately I went in a crouch position with the others and shot around the corner towards the surprised soldiers, who were for a few rapid heartbeats, blindsided. We needed no arrangement to know which of us would launch himself on which opponent and everything happened at a tremendous speed. Only a fraction of a second later my opponent's neck was cracked under my fingers and in almost the same motion I threw his limp body against another soldier who in a panic started firing indiscriminately. I ducked under Malik's sword that had just beheaded the man next to me and used my drive to kick another soldier in his face with such force that his skull broke audibly. And although I really wasn't in the position to see, through the eyes of the others I still saw that the other group of soldiers, who unfortunately were also equipped with night vision equipment, were turning the corner and aiming at us. Simultaneously we jumped apart and the bullets fired, struck the two remaining soldiers of the first group and they fell to the ground while we were within a few steps of the shooters. Another bullet grazed my shoulder, but it no longer bothered me, for only a split second later I dug my teeth into the artery of one of the soldiers and drank his hot delicious blood, while the other vampires around me quickly took care of his teammates. I was almost a little disappointed when the fun was over and I was forced to drop my little appetizer.

"Quick!" was Malik's next command, and without any hesitance I immediately followed him with the others to one of the doors found in this part of the corridor.

'Gallagher' was written on a small gold plate on the door. Malik nodded back towards the cameras and sure enough from somewhere a low hum and then a click was heard and the door opened.

The office we entered looked quite normal: a desk with a computer and some file cabinets, very plain, except for an ugly painting of modern art on one of the walls.

"Gather up everything that looks like storage media and important files," Malik instructed, "but mostly we're looking for an old book. The top cover has a circular icon that looks like a tree between whose roots a gem is hidden."

I raised my eyebrows a little surprised, but no one took the time to respond to my impressive facial expression. Instead, everybody immediately started to search the office. Cabinets doors were flung open, drawers were broken, unimportant things swept from the table and shelves, while I just stood there and thought about where_ I_ would keep my most valuable things. My eyes were caught by the painting and only a second later I moved toward it. Many times the obvious in reality was dismissed, because everyone believed that no one would be stupid enough to resort to them. But wasn't this the _exact_ reason someone would use this cliché? And quite honestly – did Gallagher really give the impression he was the type to care about modern art?

I grabbed the image and lifted it from the wall and voilà: there it was, the safe. No ordinary safe, as I discovered to my regret. It seemed that here also we would need to enter a numbered code again.

"That's impossible!" I heard Malik's voice behind me and in only a few steps the Assassin was standing next to me. "How did you know?"

"Instinct", I returned. "But it doesn't help any. We still won't be able to get it open without Gallagher."

"Do you think the book's in there?" John asked at my other side and Malik nodded quickly.

"I would bet on it!"

"Is it really so valuable?" now also Grigori asked behind me.

"It would at least be a heavy blow to the Legion, if we took it," Malik replied somewhat evasively. His eyes flew across the room. "Continue to search for other important documents. I'll take care of this problem here."

I hesitated a moment. Something was strange about the whole thing and I didn't like that once again such secret-mongering was arising. It wasn't good for our community and cooperation. And if I wasn't mistaken, Gabriel had probably planned from the start to recover this book - when he first found out that it was here.

I reluctantly began opening one of the many file cabinets in my proximity and appeared to search, but wasn't really focused on it, but rather tried to join the flow of Malik's energy and find out what he was exchanging with Gabriel.

'There's a safe in Gallagher's office,' was his first thought in the direction of the old vampire. 'I think it's in there. But the safe can only be opened with a number code that probably only Gallagher and Ritchcroft know.'

It took a while, before a reaction came. 'Gallagher is still unconscious and his condition remains critical… But I think I can try to get hold of his mind. You need to collect the information at once.'

'I will.'

I was now become interesting. In my head it began to tingle and prickle and I paused in my work, closed my eyes and fully concentrated on what was happening between the two ancient vampires and Gallagher. I could not feel Gallagher myself and also the images Gabriel called up to activate the man's mind seemed very far away, but I could at least see their outlines. An old book with a golden emblem… the hands of the man who took this book, handing it over further. I saw a face, an old man who was completely unknown to me… so much worry and sadness in his eyes… Other hands opened the safe that I had just found, and put the book inside. The door was closed again, a number was entered and confirmed… And Gabriel started pulling back from Gallagher's mind. I winced slightly, and in doing so a number of other images were triggered: Gallagher's last fight, Mick's vampire face, moving towards him and quickly changing into the features of another vampire, drawing back with a cold smile… a little boy, who pressed himself into the dark corner of a cold, gray room, his arms and legs covered with the bites of vampires…

I gasped for air and the next moment stared into Malik's face looking slightly annoyed. "If I needed your mental support, I would have told you," he muttered to me, but then turned away from me, to attend to the safe. I could no longer continue to pretend I was looking for useful information. This thing with the book interested me too much and I could barely restrain my curiosity. So I simply closed the file cabinet and stepped up behind the Assassin without taking any heed of Malik's anger as he typed in the code. It hummed briefly, and then the safe opened with a soft click. Malik reached into one of the side pockets of his pants and pulled out a bag. He turned to me, handed me the bag with the brief instruction "Hold this!" and then reached with both hands into the safe. Ever so carefully he removed them bringing a heavy, old book to light - the same book I had just seen in the images that Gabriel had sent us, with the same ornate emblem on the cover: a tree whose branches and roots were merging in a circle into each other, with no end and no beginning, in the middle a light blue gemstone. But there was no time to examine it, because Malik instantly let it, now also under the gazes of the other vampires, slide into the bag and then took the bag out of my hands. His eyes wandered over the faces of the others. He could hardly miss that Grigori and John were also more than surprised about this book and his secret arrangement with Gabriel, yet he dared to look at them, frowning. "Did you collect all the important items?"

John nodded slowly and then picked up a well-filled dark bag. The next moment he stopped in his movement. He must have heard what was also not lost on the rest of us: the trampling of boots and the loading of weapons. Apparently, our enemy didn't want us helping ourselves here in this office and they threw themselves into the fight again. I couldn't help it - I rolled my eyes and groaned annoyed. Somehow, this heroic-fighter-act apparently didn't want to come to an end today.

* * *

And again there it was, this feeling that something was going on behind his back, that there was something that concerned him, his life, his future, but Gabriel didn't want to let him in on it right now - for whatever reason. It was Malik this time who had contacted Gabriel and Mick had immediately joined in, had opened up his mind to find out what else was going on there outside. The report about the safe had surprised Mick and it had left a queasy feeling in his stomach, because it had confirmed Mick's own suspicions that Gabriel had been looking for something else in this laboratory. And now Lance laid Gallagher down in front of his feet and Gabriel knelt down beside him. He put his hands to the temples of the unconscious man and closed his eyes. The tingling came quickly, wandered from Mick's head down his spine and then up again and Mick closed his eyes as well, tried to focus, even though a big part of him was struggling against invading the head of the man he hated so abysmally. He felt that Gabriel was looking for certain memories, evoked in Gallagher the image of a book with a round entwined emblem to awaken other associations. It worked. Gallagher's subconscious took over the image and added his memories: an old, sickly-looking man, Ritchcroft, an office… the old man gave Gallagher the book and he put it in the safe, closed it and typed in a number code, which lit up clearly in Mick's mind… and then all at once there were other pictures, images from the last fight, pictures of Mick, the beast, that quickly turned into another monster, another vampire with a strange, sadistic smile on his lips. And then there was this fear, this helplessness that Mick knew all too well… a boy huddling scared against the cold wall of his prison, trembling, riddled with bite wounds…

Mick tore open his eyes with horror and took a step backwards. He wasn't sure who owned this memory, but if it came from Gallagher…

Mick shook his head inwardly. He no longer had the strength or the will to continue thinking about it. Other things were more important… like this book.

"What _is_ this book for?" Mick simply voiced the thought that occupied him most strongly, and Gabriel, who had just given Gallagher another adrenaline injection, stood up without giving Mick an answer. One could tell that Mick's question presented quite a dilemma for him and he was thinking long and hard how much he could tell him, but Mick gave him no time for this. He let out a mirthless chuckle.

"Let me guess: Now's not the right time to explain this to me, but you'll _definitely_ do it later."

Gabriel continued looking at him seriously, completely unimpressed with the irony and slight aggressiveness in Mick's voice. So Mick was more than surprised when the old vampire took a deep breath and indeed answered him. "This book holds all the old knowledge of the Legion. It delves into the origins of the Legion and provides a deep insight into this. And some of their highest and still living members are listed in it. For this reason alone it's not only of immense value to the Legion, but also to us. Both estranged parties of the Legion need it and fight over it. For this reason, it is always hidden in various places. But as chance would have it, it happened to be here today."

Gabriel's honesty in a situation like this made Mick speechless for a moment. But he caught himself pretty quickly. "And… how did you know about this?" He probed a little breathlessly, while in his head hundreds of new questions were forming.

"As I've told you before, I have spies within the Legion and one of them gave me a hint that one of the most important backers of the Legion had showed up with a package here a few days ago, and I knew instantly that it had to be the book," Gabriel admitted.

"Is this the true reason you had to enter this lab so urgently?" Mick asked tense and could do nothing about it that his distrust of Gabriel grew in spite of his honesty.

"No," Gabriel replied calmly. "I've only learned about today. But it made the mission all the more important…" His eyes suddenly flew up to the ceiling, because the light had again started to flicker. Once again the Morse code. A warning. Someone was in trouble and as Mick focused a little more, stuck again to Gabriel's energy, he felt that it was Malik. Malik and Josef! They were under heavy attack and needed urgent reinforcements.

Lance was the first one to move again, hoisted the unconscious Gallagher over his shoulder and then hurried off along with Gabriel. Mick wordlessly grabbed Frank's arm and pulled the surprised man with him in a speed much faster than human could normally manage. Each door before them opened as if by magic and soon they could hear the gunfire their friends were under. It sounded as if the troops down here in the station had once again mobilized all their forces to prevent them from taking this precious book. And Mick was sure that somewhere in the background Ritchcroft was giving the commands. Perhaps they would have another chance to get hold of this man. Ritchcroft…

Mick didn't know exactly what got into him. Maybe it was the constant secrecy of the old vampire, maybe this feeling that Gabriel was still keeping things to himself concerning this man and he didn't want to have to wait until Gabriel told him, what it was that was behind all this – he just didn't know exactly. But the moment he felt Gabriel concentrating his complete attention on what was happening and mentally exchanging with Malik, Mick reached out for the old vampire, sent a picture of Ritchcroft and the thought 'first meeting' into Gabriel's mind and tried to grab the associations that were triggered: A bathroom… Gabriel, who was washing his blood-smeared hands clean, and his mirror image. He had blond hair and an equally blond beard and green eyes. Noises on the staircase. Gabriel hurrying through a darkened room, a bedroom. In the bed lay someone of whom the smell of fresh blood emanated… an older man? He wasn't dead, seemed to be recovering from some severe injuries to his forearms that had been freshly bandaged… Gabriel tore the front door open. On the stairs hurried steps by several people were heard, the loading of weapons. The old vampire did not hesitate, just ran up the stairs…

'Stop it!' Mick felt a burst of energy in his direction, but he gritted his teeth and clung even more to the memories, simply reached out for the energies of the other older vampires to hold on to Gabriel's memories and at the same time continued to quickly approach the fray. And Gabriel was too occupied with too many other things all at once to really fight effectively against his access.

A roof terrace. Gabriel moved on to the ledge, but stopped when a loud voice demanded this of him. Ritchcroft. Not much younger than now, in a dark suit, and several other armed men in civilian clothes, aiming at Gabriel. Gabriel threw something to Ritchcroft… an amulet. Ritchcrofts features derailed. But he also looked outraged, said something and threw the amulet back. Mick could not recognize it clearly, just saw that it was circular and golden. And then the next violent burst of energy came. This time it was too strong, caused the connection with Gabriel to break down completely, leaving behind only the anger the old vampire had over the intrusion into his mind. And yet, Mick felt no shame, for this little information was enough to know that he had been right in his presumptions. There was so much more behind all the things going on around them and Gabriel should know by now that Mick would no longer allow him to constantly put him off, that in a pinch he would find his own way to get to the knowledge he needed to survive the war against the Legion and turn it into a direction from which they could perhaps come out as the winners.

At least Gabriel seemed to have enough understanding for Mick's action that he no longer elaborated on it, but once again concentrated entirely on what now lay directly before them: soldiers who fired in all directions, not perceiving the enemy approaching them from behind. And Mick emulated Gabriel's deeds, braced his energies, concentrated and dropped all other stressful thoughts. Not only because he knew this was necessary to survive the battle but also because his need to get this fight over with as quickly as possible and get out of the station was now much stronger than before. Because once this was all over, he would see to it that Gabriel finally put all his cards on the table. It was really about time and somehow he knew that the old vampire wouldn't deny him the answers to his questions this time because he thought the very same.


	53. Loopholes

_Hi there! I'm back with the new chapter. I don't have much time for I also want to post the next German chapter today. But I wanted to let you know how much I loved your reviews and how much they motivated me again. Kisses and hugs to you! I'll try to post the next chapter in five to six days again. That means it will be around next Tuesday. Wish you a great weekend and hope to hear soon from you again, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Francis_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**L****oopholes**

* * *

"_The one who helps others should not forget himself; the one who lifts up others should not fall."_

_Gregory I the Great (c. 540-604)_

* * *

"How do you do that?"

Beth winced slightly when Carl addressed her, because she had been immersed in her own troubled thoughts during their trip to the factory. She hadn't actually even been aware of the man next to her at all as he had uttered no sound whatsoever for a while. They both knew how delicate the situation that they were still involved in was. Everything was so uncertain and the terrible fear that the backup troops of the Legion would appear in the laboratory grew with every second that passed. But her concerns were not helpful but were only distracting her; therefore Beth tried to pull herself together, looked at Carl briefly with a questioning glance and then focused back on the road.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Well…" Carl cleared his throat awkwardly. "To… to remain so calm when they… you know… the fangs and all that…"

Beth raised her eyebrows, her lips forming a silent 'Oh'. Then she shrugged. "No idea. I… I've somehow become used to it. And I know they would never hurt me. They're only fighting for their lives."

The initial discomfort in Carl's eyes made way for a certain curiosity. "You and Mick, you… you're a couple now, aren't you?"

Beth nodded tentatively. Somehow she didn't like the direction this conversation was taking just now, as she could already guess what question would follow.

"Did he… ever… bite you?"

Beth threw her old friend a look that told him clearly that he had gone too far and he lifted his hands with a small, coy smile.

"Okay, I'll stop. Basically, this is none of my concern. It's just… this all is still so new to me and to be present when one of them transforms…" He didn't continue, but puffed up his cheeks a little and let the air out unused.

"… takes some getting used to," Beth finished the sentence for him and smirked. It was strange to have someone at her side who now knew about the secret of the vampires and had to struggle with the same problems as she had at the beginning but somehow it felt good.

"There's one thing you still have to tell me," said Carl and Beth could see that he wasn't particularly comfortable with the topic. "This… this… mind-reading stuff - how does it work?"

"I don't know exactly," Beth had to admit and she did not need to lie. "And it's not really mind reading. Mick or Gabriel somehow sends messages to me… in the form of images that tell me what is happening down in the lab, and somehow they can also perceive what _I_'m doing, what _I_ feel…"

Carl looked at her thoughtfully, and then nodded understandingly. "That means basically that you can't control it and we need one of them to notice that you're back in their proximity and to contact you."

Now it was Beth's turn to nod hesitantly. That was true at least in part and somehow it did not sound so good to her - more like a plan that could go entirely wrong.

"How close do we have to get to the lab?" was Carl's next anxious question.

She shrugged her shoulders a little perplexed. "I have no idea," she had to admit. "But basically it doesn't really matter as we are currently the only ones who have to enter the code from the outside. Or do you think Chief Harris will now finally become helpful?" She was serious with her question because somehow she couldn't give up hope that the police team would soon get active. They needed these people urgently as Beth was sure that only the appearance of regular police units would prevent the additional troops of the Legion that would soon appear from entering the building. When they saw the police on their premises, they would certainly turn around quite quickly, or hold back at least for a while.

Carl, however, had already uttered a contemptuous laugh. "Chief Harris is a pompous village policeman, one of those who believes they need to rebel against any intervention by city police and prosecutors. He's just happy that he has power in his hands and is calling the shots. He thinks we are seeing ghosts and just showing off with this action. If it was his decision he would have never sent_ anyone_ to the factory. He hinted at this very clearly…"

"Do you think he belongs to the Legion?" Beth asked, voicing the frightening thought that at once fell upon her and shuddered a little in anticipation of the answer.

Carl furrowed his brows a bit and thought about her question for a moment, then shook his head. "I think he shows off too much for that. The Legion members I've met so far always acted quite inconspicuously. That's what makes them so dangerous. Chief Harris is just a small-time loser who wants to play the big boss for once. And we can only count on him if the evidence of the criminal activities in the lab becomes obvious or if it's clearly visible that danger is at hand."

"And that means that we'll have to enter the factory," Beth continued with discomfort and her heart began to beat faster. They were now passing the entrance that led to Ben and the others as they continued heading for the dark roof of the factory.

"Not _we_," Carl corrected her strictly. "_I_ will go inside. You only need to see to it that you get the code as quickly as possible."

Beth nodded quickly. Her need to enter the building was greatly diminished due to her recent action at the hospital and her new role as an expectant mother, and she was very grateful to Carl that he wanted to take on this somewhat dangerous job alone. He had made sure that she had put on one of the bulletproof vests that they had found in the control station, but from the very beginning he had said that she as a civilian should stay out of all dangerous actions.

"Okay, let's once again go over the plan," he said now in a tense voice, casting a quick look at the now fairly rapidly approaching roof of the factory. "You somehow get the code while I enter the factory that… as you said… has been cleared?"

"Yes, Gabriel said during the briefing that Josef and Max with their team have to safely lock up all the workers and guards in the factory."

"Great. Then I'll just assume that they have succeeded." He was slowly breathing through his nose as he sorted his thoughts. "I'll take the elevator that goes down to the store room and then type in the code directly at that door."

Beth nodded and a queasy feeling spread through her stomach as she set the blinker and followed the sign at the roadside that pointed the way to the factory.

"Once I've done that, all exits will open and your teams can get out of the factory."

Beth nodded again. That at least was the plan, but there was something that disturbed her. They were already close to the factory and yet she could not really feel Mick, even though she had already tried to relax and to sense him. Somewhere on the edge of her consciousness she perceived him but she couldn't reach him or draw his attention to herself. Something was different from last time; something was missing… it felt almost as if an important energy source was no longer there, as if the supporting force that had made all these mental connections possible was missing.

Beth's guts clenched. Could it be that something had happened to Gabriel? Could it be that it was_ his_ energy that was missing? She became nauseous. The thought was so bad that she just wasn't able to finish it. There couldn't be a worse disaster at the moment. Without Gabriel all would be lost.

"Is something wrong?" Carl asked now with concern in his voice.

She shook her head quickly, trying to breathe calmly and to concentrate on what they had planned. They would go through with the plan now, no matter what had happened down in the station. At least Mick was still alive and was fighting side by side with her other friends - that was all that mattered. They had to get him out there and if they had to move closer to reach him, that's what she would do.

The factory which they now approached directly actually looked quite friendly. It was brightly painted and above the door was a huge sign which represented a wide grinning cartoon donkey in a pantsuit. One could hardly imagine that under the building a military installation was hidden with a laboratory in which experiments on humans were performed, or that an uphill battle raged there which certainly had already cost some people's lives.

Beth stopped right outside the front door of the factory and switched off the engine with a wildly beating heart. Carl had already drawn his weapon as a precaution and was staring at the door with a strained expression.

"So? Do you already have contact?" he asked tensely, not even looking at her. However, he could no longer hide how uncomfortable he felt with their emergency plan.

"No… I… I'll have to try to get myself to relax more," she replied softly, leaned back a little in her seat and closed her eyes. She tried to breathe deeply and calmly but her inner excitement made it really hard for her to concentrate. It was working against her attempt to gain more peace inside her and to call mentally to the others. She still could feel Mick, but even directly in front of the factory she could not make herself felt to him. He was too focused on something else and simply didn't notice her no matter how insistently she called for him. And she still couldn't perceive Gabriel. Good God, she hoped nothing bad had happened to him. Hopefully, he was taking only a small mental breather because he had spent himself too much and would soon be fully operational again.

"Well?" It was Carl's voice again that forced her to lift her lids and sadly shake her head.

"They haven't noticed me," she explained. "Maybe… I'm still too far away."

Carl looked at her thoughtfully and with deep concern. "We don't have time to give this a try."

She nodded depressed and knew he was thinking the same thing as her.

"Maybe it will help if I go inside with you," she suggested timidly and watched as Carl's cheek muscles twitched when he started to fight down his own reluctance to let her go with him. The decision was not easy for him, but finally he nodded.

"But you stay behind me and do exactly what I tell you to do," he added sternly and his brown eyes sparkled a little threateningly. Again she nodded silently, and that seemed to be enough for him. He took a deep breath, cocked his weapon and left the car.

Beth did the same, but her legs were probably a lot softer and shakier than his and as she followed him with a wildly beating heart she prayed that Max and his team had indeed locked away the factory workers and security guards and that they wouldn't be stopped already at this point.

The entrance door to the factory looked closed, but just as Carl and Beth stopped there at a loss, there was a mechanical clicking sound and the door opened as if by an invisible hand. Although Carl had to know just as Beth did that this 'invisible hand' probably had been Seth's, he gave a sign to Beth to stay behind him before he stepped cautiously inside, raising his weapon.

Through the large windows that were inset higher up into the walls plenty of daylight fell into the hall making everything there clearly visible. Except for that, the factory seemed to be empty and there was nothing unusual to discover. Heavy machinery, conveyor belts, tables at which normally people would be working, material boxes, tools. A continuous bumping sound in the background was the only thing that seemed a bit strange. It came from the direction of the office, not far away from them, as Beth was able to determine when she followed Carl, who was hedging his bets, deeper into the factory. Beth looked a little more closely. If she was right, there was a door that was continuously beating against the heavy machine that someone had pushed in front of the entrance door and the windows of the room. Now she also heard the excited voices of the men and women who were imprisoned there and were trying to find a way to get out of the room. So far they seemed not to have been very successful, and as far as Beth could tell, they would stay for a while in this awkward situation. All the better for their own plan.

Carl stopped now a bit undecided in the middle of the hall and looked around, frowning. "Okay… do you see an elevator or a door that could lead to somewhere else?" he turned to her.

Beth looked around briefly. She had seen a few of the building's blue prints, and if the offices were on their left…

"Over there!" She pointed to a corner in which a pair of forklifts stood and hurried there at once, forgetting that Carl had wanted to go first. He quickly caught up to her and held her arm firmly, giving her an admonishing look and then went ahead to the elevator door.

Carl briefly studied the panel next to the door, then shrugged his shoulders and simply pressed the button with the down arrow. Immediately the typical mechanical noise of an elevator was audible and Carl looked at Beth with another shrug.

"Seems to be a normal elevator."

The door of this 'normal elevator' opened just a few seconds later in front of them and they both entered giving each other a small encouraging smile because they both knew quite well that now the dangerous part of their plan was beginning. With a jerk the elevator began to move and Beth's heart began to beat a lot faster again, she felt her hands become all sweaty and her legs starting to get weaker.

'Stay calm,' she told herself. 'Don't panic. Currently no one can get in or out which means that no one can lie in wait for you anywhere. All you need to do is to reach Gabriel or Mick, get the code and enter it. And then you can disappear again very quickly and let the others get out of there by themselves!'

"Well? Do you feel anything now?" Carl ripped her out of her inner monologue and Beth blinked at him confused. Ah, yes, the mental connection…

"Not yet," she replied a little embarrassed, trying now to breathe deeply and relax, to open her senses again.

Unfortunately, the elevator stopped again with a jerk and put her off her stride. Carl stepped quickly out of the elevator with his gun raised and secured the areas to the right and left. In his eyes fright was briefly shown when they roamed across something on the floor. Nevertheless he nodded encouragingly towards her and she stepped into the hall.

For a moment Beth's breath caught. To her left six bodies were lying on the floor and the smell of blood was strong, although only beneath three of them larger pools of blood had been formed. Even though Beth had so often already been involved in death-feuds, had seen so many people die, and had even killed one herself, she would probably never be able to suppress that first shock when she came across one or more dead bodies.

"I guess that over there is the entrance to the station," Carl said and nodded to the steel door that had neither handle nor knob, only a panel on its left side.

Beth glanced in the other direction and was sure that Carl was right, because at the other end of the hall there was only one open wooden door leading into a storage room. She nodded to him and Carl apprehensively moved toward the steel door. Beth tried to concentrate better, to sense Mick or Gabriel, even though she expected to again be disappointed. She felt Mick a little stronger than before but he still had not noticed her and she could still not see what he saw or felt, only that he was very upset, even though the struggle in which he probably had been involved before seemed to be over.

She stopped next to Carl who now looked at the panel and then gave her a questioning look. She shook her head a little sadly, but stopped in the middle of the movement and gasped for breath, surprised. There it was suddenly, the energy that had enabled her before to get mental access to Mick and the other vampires. And there were pictures all at once, such surprising images. A dark room, Malik who carried the still injured Thomas past her. Coraline who sat crouched on the floor, bent over another person… Cynthia… and stroked her pale, twitching face.

"Coraline… we need to go," Beth said with Gabriel's voice to her, but Coraline shook her head, and could not prevent a quiet sob from escaping her lips.

"She's dying. I feel it…"

Again only a shake of the head was the answer and then someone whispered. Words in another language slipped very weakly from Cynthia's lips. French words. Beth thought she heard the names Sinclair-Jones and Nicolas, then Cynthia's voice broke and she fell silent. She had stopped breathing, and very slowly the life drained out of her still open eyes.

"No! No!" Coraline cried out as she grabbed her friend and shook her. "Don't do that! Don't do that to me!" A deep, desperate sob shook Coraline's tender body and she pressed her friend to herself, holding onto her and moving back and forth with her, writhing with inner pain and sorrow.

Gabriel approached her, crouched down beside her and gently put his arm around her trembling shoulders. "Let her go," he whispered to her and began to detach Coraline's fingers gently from the clothes of her dead friend. "Her time of suffering is over…" Coraline sobbed aloud, and let Cynthia's body go, letting Gabriel lay her girlfriend cautiously on the ground and pull her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest, sobbing and crying, and let Gabriel stand up with her still in his arms.

There was a tingling in Beth's temple and a second later Lance appeared alongside Gabriel. His gaze fell on the dead Cynthia and he understood immediately. At Gabriel's nod he laid an arm around Coraline's shoulder and stabilized her with the other one while Gabriel shoved them both out of the room. And then somehow Beth felt Gabriel turn toward her and quickly query her memories in order to get a better picture of their situation. She felt herself swaying slightly, but gave him further access to her mind.

'Very tricky,' Gabriel noted and Beth felt that the latest news didn't make him happy. 'I almost suspected something like that…'

Gabriel moved quickly with Lance and Coraline, who was slowly calming down, through the hall towards a larger group of vampires who had gathered not far away from them. Josef! There was Josef! And Mick! Her Mick! And both seemed to be more or less unscathed. An overwhelming wave of relief swept over Beth and she felt that Josef and Mick now also mentally perceived her. Both responded quite similarly: first with joy and then with anguish because they sensed immediately how close Beth was.

'Where are you?' That was Mick's question in her mind followed closely by Josef's outraged 'Tell me that you're _not_ in the factory!'

Beth did not respond to them but concentrated more on Gabriel, who was now kneeling beside the still unconscious Gallagher and with closed eyes was pressing both hands to his temples. The world around Beth went black and the tingling in her head grew. Distorted images flitted past her mind's eye: the faces of people she didn't know, faces of vampires that frightened her, and then she saw hands, hands typing in a code, a sequence of numbers that were viciously burned into her memory. Beth did not hesitate for long, narrowed her eyes and began to speak the sequence out loud and only when someone touched her arm did she dare to open her eyes again. Carl was standing right in front of her. His fingers still hovered above the keyboard on the panel, but his gaze was fixed on the steel door in front of them. Something rumbled before them and suddenly the door slid open, revealing a brightly painted wall.

"Unbelievable!" Carl said with admiration and shook his head with a small smile while Beth gave a relieved laugh. Free! They had opened the way to freedom for their teams. All they had to do now was to come towards them or to leave the building via the other exits. And it seemed that's what they were doing, because from somewhere out of the hallway the first rapid steps were heard – steps of a group of people.

"Beth…" She didn't like the tension in Carl's voice and looked at him confused. His gaze was fixed on the wall in front of them and he raised his weapon moving slowly backwards. "Go back to the elevator – now!"

Beth did not hesitate. She flung herself around and ran, constantly turning around to look back at the door. Carl followed, now moving backwards much faster, still aiming his gun at the entrance of the station. What were the odds that armed troops of the Legion were approaching them instead of their own teams?

Very high it seemed, for two soldiers appeared in the entrance at the very moment when Beth frantically pushed the button of the elevator. And they fired a little sooner than Carl. The sound of the door opening was overpowered by the sound of the shots. A bullet flew, hissing over Beth and then she was thrown back suddenly, crashed into the open elevator door and stumbled into the interior of the elevator where she sank down with her back against the wall next to the panel. But that wasn't all. A burning, roaring, unbearable pain shot through her arm and she gasped for air for a moment as she sank down the wall moaning while her body threatened to collapse under the rapid onset of loud whistling and roaring in her ears. Everything around her seemed to become a little darker, and only at the very edge of her perception did she realize that Carl had stumbled backwards into the elevator and then fell to the floor.

'The door! Shut the door!' it rang in her head and a burst of new energy insured that she had the strength to sit up a bit and hit the button with the large G. She heard rapid footsteps in the hall and saw the shadow of a figure through the closing door, but the soldier was not fast enough and could not prevent them from escaping. The door closed completely and only seconds later the elevator began to move. Beth slumped against the wall, closed her eyes and tried to breathe deeply and calmly, struggling against the throbbing pain in her arm, the ringing in her ears, the dizziness and nausea. It took a little time before she had the strength to lift her eyelids and take a look at her arm. The shirt was torn and there was a hole in her arm from which dark blood spurted out and trickled into the fabric of her sleeve coloring it red. The nausea was growing along with the ringing in her ears. But there was again this tingling in her head and suddenly she knew who was there with her, who kept trying to send her his own energy: Mick.

'I'll come and get you!' she heard him now and felt how worried he was. 'But you and Carl, you have to get out of the elevator as soon as it stops upstairs!'

Carl! Beth's eyes flew over to the motionless form of her old friend and she gathered her strength, gritted her teeth, came to her knees and slid over to him. He lay on his side, breathing heavily and seemed to have lost consciousness. Beth quickly understood why. A bullet had hit him in the thigh and another had left a deep hole in his Kevlar vest. Beth prayed that the bullet hadn't gone through because the bullet hole was in the vicinity of his heart. She touched him hesitantly on the shoulder.

"Carl?" Her voice croaked a little. The elevator stopped with a slight jerk and she had to close her eyes briefly as the throbbing in her arm immediately became stronger. A low moan in front of her caused her to raise her eyelids quickly again. Carl moved and even opened his eyes languidly.

"Thank God!" she uttered relieved and heard the door behind her open. She gritted her teeth and grabbed Carl's arm trying to pull him into a sitting position. But that was easier said than done. Her friend had very little strength left and was quite heavy and her own strength was barely enough to get on her own feet. She looked around frantically, looking out into the factory, into freedom, and now heard something else. Police sirens! Her heart took a joyful leap. The special unit had finally taken action, come to rescue them. Beth summoned all her strength and pulled on Carl's arm anew, bringing him finally to a sitting position. But all of a sudden the door to the elevator began to close.

"No! No, no, no!" Beth exclaimed shocked and let Carl go again, moving in spite of the severe pain in her arm over to the panel of the elevator and pressed the button. But the door had long since closed and didn't open again. Instead, the elevator now set back in motion with a jerk - downwards. Beth stared with a wildly beating heart and wide eyes at the brightly shining button with the large printed B, which meant basement. She knew immediately that none of her friends could have pushed the button from down there. Too little time had passed for that and although Mick tried to hide it from her, she also felt_ his_ horror, _his_ panic. He knew just as she did that there was no escape for them once the elevator reached the bottom and the door opened. She and Carl were injured and did not even have a weapon. Carl had probably lost it in the hallway before.

Beth let herself fall against the wall trembling and suppressed the desperate sob that wanted to come from her throat and clung with all her might to the only hope she still had: perhaps the soldiers would not shoot immediately if they noticed that they were wounded and unarmed. Maybe they would only inter them and Mick and the others would be able to free them later. She just did not want to die… did not want to die.

The elevator jerked again and Beth gasped as the door began to open… and closed again. Beth exhaled her held breath, staring in confusion at the door and could barely believe it when the elevator started to move again, for some strange reason it moved upwards.

The embedded speakers in the panel that were just for emergencies crackled, and then there was a faint, but deeply concerned voice: "Beth?"

A faint, disbelieving sob slipped from Beths lips and she immediately burst into tears - tears of relief, for she had recognized the voice instantly.

"Can you hear me?" Seth then asked and she nodded quickly, letting her blurry gaze slide towards the ceiling of the lift. And there in a corner was a little camera that she had not noticed previously.

"In the panel there is a small button somewhere. You can press it to talk to me but it's just fine for me if you just nod or shake your head…" A small sigh was heard. "I'm so sorry that it took so long to hack into the system of the elevator. But I'm just not Logan and he was really no help to me with his impatience…"

She managed a faint smile, but furrowed her brows somewhat confused because the elevator went past the ground floor and further up.

"I will take you to the roof to the helicopter. Gabriel, Mick and a few others will get into another lift in their area and then come to you. They can then take care of you. But that could take a few minutes. Can you hang on that long?"

Beth looked at her still heavily bleeding arm and nodded wearily. Her arm did not hurt quite as much as it did before. Instead, she had the feeling that it had become completely numb, unresponsive to the commands of her body. And her cardiovascular system wasn't reacting well to the injury and was still producing this uncomfortable humming and buzzing in her head.

"What about Carl? Do you think he can manage to get up enough that you can help him out of the elevator?"

Beth's eyes wandered over to her friend who was lying on his side and looking at her with a slightly glazed expression. He breathed heavily and irregularly and somehow she knew that the bullet had penetrated the vest and had injured him seriously. Her guts cramped up and made it even more difficult for her to stay calm and continue to breathe evenly. They urgently needed a doctor!

She closed her eyes and tried to collect her thoughts, automatically searching for Mick… She needed him now so that she wouldn't become hysterical … had to feel somehow that he was with her, that he would really come to her … she needed his strength to do what she had to do. There he was, and he reached out for her immediately. He would soon be with her. Not long anymore and the help she and Carl now needed would be there. Peterson was with them! And this thought gave Beth new strength and made it possible for her to open her eyes again, to sit up and slide over to Carl with clenched teeth. He did not look good, was too pale, too weak.

"Carl… we have to get out of here soon," she said quietly, gently touching his face and as if to emphasize her words the elevator stopped again and the door opened.

"Go…" her old friend breathed in a low voice. "I can't… do this…"

Beth looked to the exit and then up to the camera. Tears shot into her eyes, although it also occurred to her that it might in fact be better if he didn't move for now. Perhaps Seth would be able to stop the lift for a while…

"Okay, then… then just leave him in the elevator, Beth, and get out there," said Seth. "The police force has finally arrived down there and I'll send him down to them. Talbot can take care of him. And before you ask: I sent them the records showing that someone shot at you two. That was enough."

Beth tried to concentrate, tossed a last anxious glance at Carl, and then nodded. Seth was right. Her friend was probably in better hands with Ben and perhaps the lawyer had immediately called an ambulance that could drive him to the nearest hospital. She took a deep breath, gritted her teeth and then tried to get to her feet. It was a hard battle, because her legs were as soft as pudding, she was dizzy and she could only use one arm to support herself against the wall, but after a couple of terribly painful and exhausting minutes she stood at last and staggered through the open door of the elevator into the bright light of day. She didn't get far, however, for the buzzing in her ears turned again into an unpleasant whistling sound, and her legs were too weak to carry her any longer. She staggered against the nearest wall, slipped down it, breathing heavily and fell on her uninjured side. Then everything went black around her…


	54. Retreat

_Not much time again. Fat hugs for my dear comment writers. Will be back within six days, around Monday. Have a great week and weekend, yours Jenna_

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_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

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**R****etreat**

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"_What looks like playing with fire, is always the play of fire with us."_

_Georg Skrypzak_

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Sometimes time seems to stand still. Where everything around you seems to move in slow motion while your mind tries to understand that what's taking place right before your eyes is really happening, and nothing or no one can prevent it.

I had already sensed Gabriel and the others, as they were not yet in sight, and knew that it would finally turn the tide for the Legion. The assault on us had become so extreme that we had withdrawn as far as possible into Gallagher's office and still we had to repeatedly dodge bullets that flew through the open door or the not-so-thick walls of the room at us. In between, someone had fired a smoke grenade and the thick smoke made it difficult for everyone to breathe and to see our enemies approaching. And yet, there was no feeling of fear within me. This energetic connection with the three old vampires beside me made this possible. Besides their confidence, their tremendous strength and wisdom, I too was able to feel that same strength… that invincibility… felt so immortal, that currently nothing frightened me. And the moment I felt Gabriel and the rest of our friends quickly approaching, a small, sardonic smile crept onto my lips. It was about time our 'friends' of the Legion learned what it meant to mess with the oldest vampires in the world.

Malik, the others and I, without predetermination, rose as if one man and moved in a crouch, dodging bullets, towards the open door of the office. The warning calls from outside and the weakening fire, told me Gabriel and the rest of his team had now become 'perceptible' to our enemies as well, and without hesitation I pushed out of the door right behind Malik. Despite the bullets I repeatedly had to avoid, I quickly found that it wasn't just Gabriel's team that had pitted themselves against the soldiers that had previously overwhelmed us, but also Max and the other uninjured members of his team that had rushed to our aid and together they quickly pushed back the enemy… or perhaps 'eliminated' was a better word?

What really made me pause, stunned for a moment, was that the man fighting next to Gabriel with a sword, so incredibly in sync with him against the enemy, wasn't in fact one of the older vampires, but Mick. I wasn't sure, when had he learned to do _that_ and why had he mastered it so skillfully? Bewildered, my mouth fell open for a moment

A strong energetic tingling caused my body to shudder all over and I staggered a little to one side as Malik and Grigori, now with drawn swords also, suddenly threw themselves into the battle with movements that could barely be seen by the naked eye, reducing the number of soldiers rapidly. Four men against about twenty heavily armed elite soldiers, and yet it was apparent _who_ had the upper hand, who would win this fight. I myself had all the time in the world to sit back and observe this spectacle, because it was our enemies who were now too occupied to take care of the rest of us vampires. And a spectacle it was indeed… it almost resembled a dance… a dance of death, which drew the losers into a deadly maelstrom and left a bloody battlefield behind.

And then it came; the moment fate suddenly cheated us. In a junction leading to another floor, a soldier suddenly appeared with a unique sniper's rifle and when Ritchcroft emerged from behind him, seemed to whisper something to him, and clearly directed his gaze at Mick, I knew there was new devilry in progress against my best friend. And Mick, in his lust for blood, was too distracted to realize any of it. I lost no time pondering what I should do, but immediately set myself in motion, gathered all my remaining energy and rushed at Mick to push him out of the line of fire. But even as I ran I knew I wouldn't be fast enough, that Mick had absolutely no room to dodge the projectile. I mentally sent a warning 'Mick!' and my friend, who had just dropped of one of his now dead opponents, looked alarmed in my direction. That was all he could do.

The strange projectile found its target: a neck in which the cannula bored mercilessly deep, rapidly releasing its content. But it wasn't Mick, who grabbed at the syringe to remove it while staggering to the side, but Gabriel, who had appeared in front of Mick from out of nowhere just at the right moment. He gasped for breath a few times, then with a strange introverted look on his face, collapsed in front of our horrified eyes - and along with him the whole mental connection between the ancient vampires broke down. From somewhere I heard a desperate "NOOO!" and Lance, who had previously been shooting at soldiers from the periphery, defending himself and our only hostage, dropped Gallagher for now and started to fight his way through to the old vampire with such ruthlessness and brutality, that the remaining soldiers now finally beat a hasty retreat. I knew immediately, however, that the shooter had taken down the wrong man, and was certain that once again he would take aim at Mick and that was the only reason I was able to prevent the horror of Gabriel's downfall from paralyzing me. Instead, I quickly changed course, rushed towards Ritchcroft and the shooter. I wasn't alone. Mick was suddenly at my side and my immense power was back again, I immediately felt the flow of energy I needed to jump in sync with Mick in a great leap over a couple of other terrified soldiers towards the shooter and Ritchcroft. The soldier pulled his gun up and fired, but I knew with certainty he wouldn't hit any of us from this angle. Ritchcroft, on the other hand, had turned around quickly and rushed into the hallway, naked panic showing in his wide-open eyes.

I collided with the soldier with such force it had carried him off his feet, meanwhile knocking his gun from his hand and breaking his neck before we had even hit the ground with a crash. From the corner of my eye I noticed that Mick had pursued Ritchcroft. It surprised me a bit when the next security door opened for Ritchcroft as he stretched his hand out towards it, but I also knew he wasn't going to be fast enough to disappear behind it. In a blink of an eye Mick had jumped onto his back and dragged him to the ground. There was an audible bang, as the man's head made hard contact with the floor and for a moment I thought Mick would immediately ram his fangs into Ritchcroft's neck from behind. But he stopped, knelt for a long moment on the back of the now motionless man with his eyes closed, his hands clutching at his victim's shirt like a wild animal, and breathed deeply and heavily. The twitching of his cheek muscles betrayed how hard the battle raging inside him was. I could feel his unbridled hatred, his lust for blood and anger and I understood these feelings all too well. Nevertheless he managed to reign in his emotions and slowly straighten, looking at me. His eyes were still almost white, but there was no trace of a threat in them, more like a silent demand, which quickly had me walk towards him.

"Can… can you take him?" my friend brought out, still very tense and I quickly nodded and obliged, as I felt how hard it was for Mick to keep himself in check.

It was no surprise he hadn't waited until I loaded the unconscious man over my shoulder, but had immediately set out for the others. I wanted to follow him, but a small device lying on the ground caught my eye. It must have fallen out of Ritchcroft's hand and I bent down to pick it up. It looked like a small remote control with a keypad for entering codes. This was probably what he had used to open the doors, although our guys had long since been in control of the station. It could very well be useful to us. I quickly shoved it into one of the many pockets in my pants and then walked, with my new cargo, back to the corridor we had just come from.

It was quiet there, the sounds of fighting gone, just the low murmur of my shocked friends. The soldiers had retreated which made it possible, with except of a few guards, for all the other vampires to gather around Gabriel - Gabriel, who was still lying motionless on the ground. Lance and Frank, who were already kneeling next to him, were now joined by Mick.

"What caused this?" my friend asked with audible concern in his voice.

"It smells like a mixture of liquid silver and blood," said Lance, who had prepared a syringe with the antidote for the silver bullets and injected it directly into Gabriel's neck. I pushed my way through the others, who looked at the man over my shoulder with a hatred that was becoming really dangerous, and was able to take a look at the eldest vampire for myself. He looked dead, wasn't breathing anymore, nor could I hear his heartbeat. Yet somehow I felt he wasn't really dead. But maybe that was only my pitiful hope to which I clung to so desperately. At least I wasn't alone in this hope.

"I think it's the same kind of drug they previously injected you with to sedate you, Mick," Frank said, as he too was now drawing up a syringe. "Only they've made it even more powerful." He went to inject Gabriel, but a hand shot towards him before he was able to and roughly grabbed his wrist.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you!" Patricia hissed and felt that some of the other vampires were consumed with the same distrust she was. It had been humans, who had experimented on vampires here and in the other laboratories; it had been humans that had struck Gabriel down…

"Let go of him, Patricia!" Mick looked at the Cleaner threateningly. "He's just trying to help. That syringe comes from _our _emergency bags! This is _our_ cure!"

Patricia hesitated and sought the gaze of the next eldest. Unfortunately, that was Lance, but Black-eye staggered me.

"Do as he told you!" he growled and glared at her as threatening as Mick had. "_Now_! Frank is the only doctor we currently have. And he's on our side. When will you get that through your head?"

The Cleaner let go a little confused, even stepped back a bit and Frank could finally inject Gabriel with the cure. But Gabriel still didn't move and slowly I began to fear the worst. It wasn't just me - as I could see from the growing tension among our friends.

"Okay…" Mick closed his eyes briefly, as he tried to focus. "It may just mean this cure is simply too weak…" He searched Frank's gaze. "Let's assume I know where it was obtained… and this… 'source' is dangerous for any other vampire, because its effects have not really been explored and are perhaps too intense… Would it harm Gabriel in this state, if he were to come into direct contact with it or might it be the way to save him?"

It was a complete mystery to me, why Frank would know the answer to Mick's question, as his words had been terribly vague, but something was going on between Mick and Frank, an exchange of information no one else seemed to understood and the professor's eyes widened and sparkled when understanding dawned on him.

"Yes! Of course! It could work… but we need…" His gaze wandered to Mick's arm and the bloody scratch a bullet must have left there. "Was that caused by a silver bullet?"

Mick looked at the wound then nodded briefly, while the rest of us looked on, still not understanding what was going on.

"Lance, I need an empty syringe and a needle," Mick said as he turned to Black-eye and the old vampire, despite his confusion, responded immediately and gave Mick the things he had asked for. I couldn't believe it when just seconds later Mick rammed the needle into the wound that had not completely healed yet, and filled the syringe with his own blood as his cheek muscles twitched and then injected it into Gabriel - where he had previously been hit by the projectile of the Legion.

"What now?" Max asked beside me and his face was one big question mark.

Mick's eyes rested for a moment on Gabriel's pale face, he then rose and took a deep breath. "There's nothing more we can do for him right now." His gaze wandered over the faces of everyone else. "But we can't just stay here and wait. We should stick to our original plan: to get out of here. Is everyone here who's still alive from the other teams?"

"Coraline and a few others have been hiding with the wounded in a room in one of the other corridors," Max explained.

"Well, then someone needs to fetch them," Mick said, looking over to Gallagher, who lay not far from us on the ground just as motionless as Gabriel. "We also need someone to carry Gallagher and someone for Gabriel, if he doesn't wake up soon."

Max nodded, and immediately walked over to Gallagher to fetch him, while Malik stepped closer - probably to indicate he'd take care of Gabriel. Lance didn't seem to like it, because he gave him a dark look.

"Are we going to stay together?" Guillermo inquired and somehow I couldn't escape the feeling that the others suddenly saw Mick as their new leader.

"We should. And we need to make sure that when we leave, the strongest and fastest of us take the front and back," Mick responded. "They aren't going to just let us walk out of here that easily with our… _yield_."

A low groan made us stop and my heart took a leap of joy when I saw where it had come from. Gabriel was moving again. His chest rose and fell in a deep breath and just seconds later he opened his eyes dully.

"Deo gratias!" Lance let out a deep sigh of relief and immediately slipped an arm under Gabriel, gently helping him to sit up. The old vampire had great difficulty keeping his eyes open, and still gave a frighteningly weak impression, but I also felt that with every second that passed, he was regaining more and more strength. But he didn't seem to want to wait for its return. The way he dug his fingers into Malik and Lance's supporting arms on his right and left side had a distinct encouraging nature, and the two understood immediately and with persistent concern in their eyes brought him to his feet. This guy gave the term 'bounce-back' a whole new meaning. I couldn't help it: This fighting spirit and doggedness sparked a deep sense of admiration in me.

Gabriel's eyes roamed briefly over Mick, who had also stepped closer, worried - probably to assure himself that he was fine - and then slid over the faces of the others until they were stopped at me and my luggage. A pleased light glowed in the bright blue of his eyes, but he still lacked the strength to smile. Only one corner of his mouth twitched a little.

"We… should go as soon as possible," the old vampire uttered with some effort and gave Malik and Lance to understand that they could let go of him now. They both did, albeit very reluctantly, but it seemed as if Gabriel had his body indeed under control again, because he was able to stand upright without any help. "But do me a favor and listen to what Mick tells you for now. I… need a little more time to regain my strength." His gaze wandered to Malik, while my brows lifted in wonder. "_We_ will gather the wounded together with Lance…" He then nodded at Black-eye who obeyed him again like a good little sheep and took a few steps in the direction of the corridor, from which we had previously come.

"We'll be right back." Gabriel said and the rest of us now had no other option but to nod and watch as the three vampires disappeared into the hallway. The old vampire moved amazingly smooth again and I could only shake my head. I had never experienced anything so peculiar in all my life. My best friend's blood truly seemed to be a miracle cure and deep down a tempting idea began to stir in me.

"And what is it you want us to do exactly?" Patricia immediately addressed Mick.

He looked around briefly. "Collect all the useful weapons and try to get in contact with our guys in the control station."

A gentle tingling sensation in my skull caused me to rub at my temples in confusion. This was either an echo of the mental connection that had broken down with Gabriel's collapse, and so far had not been re-established, or the old vampire was already trying again to create this flow of energy between his 'children', but was still too weak. Whatever it was, it was too elusive to really activate anything inside me.

I looked over to Mick who had just stepped closer to one of the cameras and had begun to make it clear to the people in the control room by way of hand signals that we wanted to make our way out and that they should try to keep all possible enemies at bay. Either he didn't feel the tingling or he was just too stressed to respond to it.

"Good gracious - that was really close." I heard a different, very familiar voice next to me and I looked into Frank's gaunt and tired face.

"I never would've thought that I'd say this one day," I replied with a small smile. "But I'm not unhappy to see you alive again…"

"_Not unhappy_?" Frank repeated with a smile and I felt he knew very well what I had actually intended to say. But there was no way he was going to get me to say this out loud.

"You didn't really expect me to be delighted, did you?" I replied with an arrogantly raised eyebrow.

"Oh, no - absolutely not!" Frank raised his hands with a little laugh. "That would completely alter my impression of you and only confuse me."

I nodded understandingly. "And we certainly don't want that to happen." I grabbed Ritchcroft and sat him down a bit roughly on the floor in front of me. Even the shoulder of a vampire could become a bit sore from such a weight after a while. "But speaking of confusion: What's this thing with Mick's blood all about?"

Frank gave a slightly surprised impression for a moment, but quickly recovered, however, and took a deep breath. "I can't really say for sure," he said, and felt he was being honest and not just trying to evade my question. "I think Mick's body has really developed in the right direction." There it was again, this enthusiastic gleam in Frank's eyes that revealed the dedicated scientists within him, and always caused this queasy feeling in my stomach. "What I mean is, in the direction in which_ I_ have always researched…"

"And what direction would that be?" I asked, although I had long since foreseen the answer to that question.

"Healing, Josef!" Frank beamed. "Healing of some of the worst kind of diseases that exist in this world. Mick's modified genes are incredibly strong and versatile and the same goes for his immune system, for all antibodies and immune mechanisms he contains. And apparently the first cures with his blood can already be developed - at least for vampires… I think August has been doing some research on this in my absence…"

"He has." Mick stepped up to us with a slightly cold gaze. "He started working on it immediately after we arrived in Europe and I think he's still working with it - this time to find a cure for this new drug against us."

"You… you agreed to that?" it burst out of me baffled.

"He implored me to allow him to conduct research with my blood - some people _do_ this." The side look he gave Frank confused me somewhat. "And I gave him my permission. It was necessary to find a cure for this insidious silver ammunition and he promised me that no harm would come to others."

"And this cure works?" Frank asked enthusiastically.

"Only with vampires."

"Surely for humans these bullets aren't that dangerous," I added.

"You're wrong," Mick said back warningly. "They don't melt as fast in the body of a human, but a human can still die from too much silver in his blood. Black Crystal is proof of that."

He was right. But I hadn't remembered that until now. A few humans had died as a result of the high concentration of silver in the drug.

"Quite apart from that, any kind of bullet is dangerous for a human," Mick added silently and looked down at Ritchcroft. It was obvious by the tone of his voice that he would especially like Ritchcroft much better with a bullet in his head. The same was true for Gallagher, who was now hanging limply over Max's shoulder - still unconscious. Something about the man confused me and my eyebrows quite automatically moved towards each other. But I still couldn't place this feeling.

"He turned him."

My head flew around to Mick and my eyes widened in horror. "He did _what_?"

"It was necessary." That didn't sound very convincing coming from his mouth. "I almost killed him, and Gabriel said we needed access to his knowledge."

"Such a pity," Max remarked dryly and the disregard with which he let Gallagher slip to the floor next to Ritchcroft, spoke volumes. From what I knew, Max has had a score to settle with the Legion since 1918, and it seemed they still weren't even.

"I don't think he plans on keeping him alive forever," Max tried to console my friend now. "Your time with him will still come."

Mick frowned and was about to reply, but Patricia now approached us as well. "We've collected all useful weapons and distributed them relatively even. Shouldn't we move to rejoin Gabriel and the others?"

"It all depends on what exit we're to use," Mick explained quickly. "The elevator that brought _us_ here is in the opposite direction from the exit through which _you_ came into the laboratory, and…" Mick stopped suddenly, staring past me into space, his brows furrowed a little more before he raised them again with a mixture of astonishment and horror. "Beth…"

It only now caught me too, the wave of energy that was sent at once by Gabriel, that was one by one activating every mind that had been joined with his before and I felt immediately that Beth's mind had been linked to that of the old vampire for much longer than ours. For some reason, contact with her had taken top priority and it was strong – much stronger than before. Good God! Was she inside the lab?

It didn't surprise me, when Malik returned to us along with Hannah and Thomas, who, though still very pale and weak, was at least able to walk again on his own, followed by Lance and a visibly shaken Coraline, for I had felt that Gabriel was very close again and would appear here at any moment along with the others - like he did now. The mental connection was a strain on him. I could not only feel it but also see it and yet I couldn't help myself from adding to Mick's terrified mental, 'Where are you?' an indignant 'Tell me that you're not in the factory' in Beth's direction.

But Beth, wherever she currently was, didn't respond to us, but continued to focus on Gabriel, who headed straight for Gallagher, knelt beside him and pressed his fingers determined against the man's temples. The energetic tingling in my temples grew weaker and almost broke and Mick's face even contorted with pain, then it was over, and Gabriel had to support himself with both arms beside Gallagher so as not to fall on him. My queasy feeling had returned, as it seemed the Ancient One had not yet nearly regained his old strength, rather had to be supported, and protected himself, so that he could lead us again.

"What's happening there?" Mick uttered upset and I felt his concern for Beth increase with every second that passed.

"They… they've opened the exits for us." Gabriel replied, breathing heavily and let himself be helped to his feet by an equally worried Lance. "We should really get out of here now."

"Emergency exit or the elevators?" I asked.

"Emergency exit – we can get to it faster from our current position," Malik replied instead of Gabriel. "And that section of the lab, I think, is hardly occupied by troops anymore. The soldiers fled in the other direction."

"Well, then…" Max loaded Gallagher over his shoulder with a flourish, while I did the same with Ritchcroft and the rest of the squad also set into motion… everyone but Mick. He stood there, frozen to the spot with his eyes closed and gave a highly concentrated impression and the slight tingling in my temples quickly told me what he was doing. He tried to resume contact with Beth without Gabriel's help, could not continue on without knowing if she had left the lab again unscathed. And I could understand… actually I wanted to know this as well. That was the only reason I began to focus, to feel for him, and support him with my own meager mental power, while the others were already on the move.

Fear, pain, despair… The feelings came so abruptly that I stopped breathing and swayed a little and then suddenly there were pictures as well: The interior of an elevator, Carl who stumbled into the car and fell to the ground, shots from the outside, Beth's arm bleeding profusely, that I perceived only very vaguely. Soldiers were coming…

'The door! Shut the door!' That was Mick, and I felt the mental connection to him mobilizing new strength in Beth, strength she needed to be able to throw herself forward and press the button on the control panel of the elevator. Not a second too early, because one of the soldiers was already approaching her. His shadow could be seen in the gap of the closing door, but he could do nothing more.

I let go of Mick's mind a little, turned for help because I strongly felt that at least Gabriel as well as some of the others had stopped, and one look into the bright eyes of the old vampire was enough to let him know what was going on.

"Where?" he uttered in my direction as he hurried forward to one of the cameras.

"Elevator!"

I couldn't see what he was doing, for Mick was already moving… in the wrong direction! I simply dropped Ritchcroft and took off to follow my best friend, caught him just before he could disappear into the next hallway. "Mick, this is crazy, you can't just rush to her head over heels!"

"Let go of me!" Mick growled, but in his voice was more concern and fear than anger. "She needs my help Josef! She's hurt!"

Something crackled in one of the pockets of my pants and I winced violently.

"Jo… Josef!" It was Seth's voice. Ritchcroft's device! I had totally forgotten.

"Wait," I asked my friend urgently and quickly fumbled the device from my pocket. Mick stayed. Even though his entire body was now totally hyped up, his mind seemed to be functioning well enough for him to realize that hasty actions in a situation like this made little sense.

The device blinked in my hand and I brought it close to my mouth. "Yeah?"

The sound of steps behind me, told me Gabriel was approaching us.

"I figured this had to be the frequency of Ritchcroft's device," Seth sighed with relief. "This thing almost drove me crazy. Anyway! I was able to hack, with Logan's help, straight into the elevator in which Beth is hiding. I'll make sure that nothing happens to her. But please, don't go in that direction. I can't tell you why just now. Scan for a new frequency with this device. I'll contact you again!"

Another noise was heard, and Seth was gone.

Mick hastily ran a hand over his face, looked down the hall and shook his head. But he stopped, made no further attempt to run off again mindlessly, even though everything inside him seemed to scream to just do that.

"Seth can handle this," I said softly, and my friend looked at me doubtfully, had become very pale out of sheer concern for Beth.

"The bullet has to be removed from her arm, Josef! As soon as possible! We can't afford to lose any time!" he brought out with difficulty and I didn't like the panic in his voice at all. Mick, losing his head out of fear and worry for his Beth, was always an unpredictable risk.

"May I?" Gabriel's voice caused me to wince once more in a very short period of time and I was a little annoyed with myself, at how sensitive a soul I had become… But without any resistance, I put the device in Gabriel's outstretched hand, and he looked at it quickly, then nodded and pushed a few buttons. A noise was heard, and then it crackled again.

"Well, there we go!" The relief in Seth's voice was quite obvious. "You won't believe who just got involved in our little skirmish…"

"The police team," Gabriel and I exclaimed at the same time and Mick stepped closer to us immediately.

"Exactly. I sent them pictures of the attack on Carl and Beth and they set off immediately. I'll get Beth and Carl up to them…"

"No!" Gabriel protested immediately and vehemently. "Take them up to the roof to the helicopter. At least Beth should not be picked up by them. _We'll_ take care of her and until then she should be safe up there. Is there a way you can route us past the soldiers to the other elevator?"

You could almost hear Seth think. "I think that's possible."

"Then do this and then tell Logan to inform August that he should wait for us at the agreed meeting point. Get in contact with us again soon."

Gabriel walked up to the other vampires that had now returned on our account and now eyed us with anxious faces and a growing nervousness.

"We'll divide into two groups," Gabriel instructed sternly. "Lance, Frank, Malik, Thomas, Coraline and Josef come with Mick and I and the rest follow Max and Patricia to the emergency exit. We'll take Gallagher and you Ritchcroft. Do not let him wake up again, and frisk him thoroughly. I have no desire to be surprised by him once again. Be on alert in general. The troops here will try with all their power to prevent us from getting out of here with their commanders. Seth will attempt to support all of us here by using the technology of the station. But that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet. We can only breathe freely once we've truly left the building."

He looked at the others one by one, but no one had anything to add to his words.

"Here goes," Gabriel said with a short nod and turned back to me and Mick, who could no longer stand still, and had paced up and down restlessly during Gabriel's little speech, always throwing nervous glances towards the hallway behind him. The nod in the direction of the corridor was hardly necessary, because Gabriel's forward motion was all it took for my best friend to start hurrying ahead and I just felt obliged to follow him, even though everything inside me rebelled against the thought of throwing myself into the next daring action. It was quite a challenge to be best friends with Mick-I-shun-no-danger St. John.

"Seth, whereto?" I heard Gabriel ask into the device behind me.

"By no means go straightforward. Take a right," it came back immediately, loud enough for Mick to hear as well and he put his statement immediately into action.

"There are a few soldiers, but I don't think they'll cause you any problems."

Oh great! _More_ fighting. But at least we were now on our way towards freedom and with the determination and rage that flashed in Mick's eyes, I was sure there wouldn't be many combat-capable opponents for me or the others to have to deal with anyway. And only seconds later I felt the reason for this tingling in my temples. Beth cried for him mentally. _I_ too now felt her despair and helplessness; the weakness that had attacked her body and a strong desire to reach her the quickest way possible grew inside me as well. And if that meant fighting my way along side Mick through a thousand soldiers – I'd do it.

'I'm almost there!' Mick mentally sent to Beth and as Gabriel also caught up with us with sword drawn, I was sure it wasn't an empty promise. No power in the world could hold us back now.

* * *

A light breeze that skimmed gently over her body and her tremor were the first things Beth felt as she came back to consciousness. And then this dull, throbbing pain, this burning, radiating through her entire shoulder causing her to utter a faint moan. She was breathing unusually fast, just like her heart that was beating like mad and she was sweating and shivering all at the same time. Something strange was happening inside her body…

She opened her eyes with great difficulty, and blinked against the bright daylight. At first everything around her was blurry, but her weary eyes soon won back a little more focus. A gray concrete floor and a little further away a small wall of stones… and something crawling in front of her across the floor. Yuck! A spider! Beth drew back a little, and deeply regretted it the moment she did. It wasn't just that a sharp pain shot through her arm, but also the buzz and hum in her skull, the feeling of pressure on her belly immediately started up again. She felt so terribly nauseous. She closed her eyes again and tried to breathe deeply and calmly, to convince herself that everything was only half as bad as it seemed and her response to the gunshot wound was typical, normal. Her body just wasn't used to it, had never suffered such a severe loss of blood, and because she was pregnant…

Oh, God! The baby! Beth snapped her eyes open again, gasping for air. The surge of adrenaline gave her the strength she needed to prop herself up with one arm, to bring herself to a reasonably upright position, leaning against the wall behind her. She fought the rising nausea and dizziness down bravely, and listened within in panic. There was her own rapid heartbeat and beyond… yes, it was still there, the heartbeat of her baby. It lived… lived… had come to no harm. She put her trembling fingers on her stomach and allowed herself to again lower her eyelids. The darkness felt so good, was so reassuring. The others would show up soon. Mick had said he would get to her, and he _would_. No one would be able to hold him back. She had felt that… felt…

Now she no longer felt him. She was too weak again and somehow an impenetrable mist had moved in front of her perception. Everything around her felt so different, so far away. Her recent highly sensitive senses weren't really working anymore and somehow that scared her.

'Okay, you need to pull yourself together now and try to relax!' she ordered herself. 'That's the least you can do! For you _and_ your baby.'

It helped. At least the panic was subsiding a little and the cramps in her abdomen had diminished somewhat. After a little while, she even dared to lift her eyelids again. Nothing around her had changed; it was the same empty roof as before. This was reassuring. Worryingly, however, was the sight of her injured arm. She couldn't see much of the wound, but her shirt was soaked with dark red blood down to her elbow and she could also feel it running down her arm under the shirt, to her wrist and drip onto the floor. She had already left a small pool there, a small, dark red pool… She felt sick again and she turned her head upwards, staring into the blue sky and tried to ignore the buzzing in her ears that was getting louder.

'He'll be here shortly. He's on his way.' She said to herself, and in fact a hum from the direction of the elevators could now be heard, causing Beth's heart rate increase again. Hopefully it was Mick and the others… She tried to turn, to get a better view of the elevators doors, but the movement caused her to bump her shoulder against the wall. The pain that shot through her arm and her whole left side was so severe Beth had to take in a hissing breath and rolled her eyes, her vision slowly fading to darkness and only in passing did she feel herself slid onto her side again.

Quick steps, someone calling her name, blurred, dark figures approaching her… One of them kneeled down in front of her, slid their arms under her body, lifting her up carefully. And then she was suddenly enveloped by the feeling of absolute safety and security. Someone said something to her. She felt his chest vibrate against her cheek, his warmth passing over to her.

"Beth… can you hear me?" Quivering fingers stroked her cheek and she blinked, trying to bring his face into focus, wanting so much to see his face that was so close above her. "I'm here… you're not alone anymore."

"Mick," she brought out barely audible and the caress of his fingers intensified.

"Yes. We're going to help you now."

"Don't wake her too much," Beth heard another familiar voice, and she turned her head slightly trying to spot where Josef was. If she wasn't mistaken, he was kneeling directly in front of her and was helping an elderly man dig various utensils out of his pocket. Why was everything she perceived so blurry? Still, she was able to register the other dark figure now kneeling on her left side. Gabriel. And he had something in his hand.

"Keep her as still as possible," he instructed Mick and Beth just furrowed her brows, as Mick's grip on her body grew more solid and she realized there was also another person holding her arm. She had no time to identify exactly who it was. At first it was just the rustling of fabric and then someone bored into her arm with something, into the wound. The pain was so unbearable; it not only took her breath away, but also caused her whole body to twitch and spasm. She didn't scream - she roared like an animal, writhing, not able to escape the inhuman pain, couldn't defend herself to get rid of it again. Instead, it grew even more intense, until the humming and droning became too much and darkness returned, pulling her quickly from this terrible reality.

This time it took a while before she was able to perceive anything again. First, it was only distant voices, excited, anxious voices.

"… not a vampire! You could kill her with it!" It was Josef, if she wasn't mistaken. "Mick!"

"Don't listen to him." And that… that was Gabriel. "He doesn't know what _we_ know. Do it!"

Warm breath brushed over her forehead, as the chest she leaned against, rose and fell under a heavy breath. She felt a slight prickle in her buzzing, aching, slightly numb arm. It didn't take long for the strange tingling sensation to slowly spread from this part of her arm. A soothing, pain-relieving tingle that motivated her to carefully lift her eyelids, blinking into the dull light. Dark, blurry figures around her… Beth gasped in horror, shrank back as she remembered the terrible pain these people had only briefly inflicted on her before.

"Beth, calm down. Nobody's going to hurt you…" a familiar, so soothing voice whispered gently into her ear, and the arms that held her body protectively reinforced their pressure, preventing her from hurting herself with her hasty movements. Nevertheless, the painful throbbing in her arm again became more noticeable and she grimaced, couldn't help the quiet sob from leaving her lips and tears formed in her eyes. It was all so terrible. She couldn't stand this anymore. When would this finally end?

"Everything will be all right now…" There it was again the warm hand that stroked her face so gently, so reassuringly. "When this is over, no one will ever hurt you again. I promise… I swear…"

She pressed her face against his chest and just let her tears flow freely. It felt so good. She wanted to believe this so dearly, focused only on the deep voice of her guardian angel that was so close to her and simply tuned out all the other excited voices around her.

"I'll take you away from here," he whispered in a husky voice and besides her own physical pain, she also began to feel _his_ mental pain. So much fear, so much despair that he tried with a vengeance to hide from the outside world. "Somewhere, where no one will find you… where everything is peaceful and quiet, where nothing will happen to you. I promise, Beth. I promise."

"Mick, we have to leave!" It was Gabriel again and Mick's whole body tensed. "Don't worry. She's stable enough for a transport. It will just take a while for her body to wash out the silver from her bloodstream. If necessary, you can inject her once more with your blood. But we really need to get out of here now."

Mick moved. "I'm so sorry," he uttered softly, and it wasn't until he started moving his arms, moving them in a different position, that she understood what the apology was for. The pain, which radiated from her arm, made her gasp for air again, even though someone had bound her arm with a bandage to her torso so it could hardly be moved, and the whistling and rustling in her head, the dizziness and pressure on her stomach announced the next faint. But she didn't really lose full consciousness this time. Everything just moved a little further away. Nevertheless, she perceived how Mick got up with her and started to walk. She opened her eyes a little, looked ahead and could see the outlines of a helicopter in front of her. A deep sense of relief washed over her. They would really flee from here, would finally leave this hell behind…

She gritted her teeth in anticipation when Mick came to a halt at the open door of the helicopter and a silhouette of a person who was already crouched inside the machine, stretched his arms out towards her. There was too much movement, too much wrangling and jerking on her body. The darkness returned, enveloped her and shielded her senses from the outside world and this unbearable pain. And for a little while she had her peace again.

Droning, a loud droning, but this time it wasn't from within her but from outside. And there was a dull, rhythmic pounding, the fast beating of a heart close to her ear. A cool hand gently touched her cheek, her forehead. God it felt so good. She was so terribly hot all at once. She felt as if her whole arm was on fire and brought her insides slowly to boil.

"Something's wrong." There it was again, that wonderful voice, so concerned, so full of fear. "She's burning up. It's not normal."

Another, warmer hand touched her forehead. "I think it _is_ normal… somehow," another male voice answered hesitantly. Frank? Beth couldn't help it she raised her eyelids with great effort, trying to focus on the face in front of her. Yes, it really could be Frank… she wanted to be happy about that, but even that was currently too difficult to feel for her.

"What do you mean _somehow_?" Mick gave back upset.

"Just that… that I've had so little opportunity for comparison," the professor replied in a soothing tone. "But _you_ too have usually responded to liquid silver with a violent fever. Actually it just means her body's fighting back."

"But she won't die?" The fear in Mick was again obvious for her to feel and she quickly tried to shake her head. She wouldn't die, absolutely not, she could feel that. But somehow her body wouldn't cooperate enough to help her make this clear to Mick.

"I… I don't think so," the professor stammered now, and even to her he didn't sound very convincing. Mick's heart began to beat faster and she felt him tense.

"Maybe we should inject her with more of your blood," the professor suggested timidly. "Just to be on the safe side…"

Mick swallowed hard. "And that… that definitely won't make it worse?"

"I don't think so."

"_You don't think so_?" it burst out of Mick with a mixture of anger and despair and Beth winced a little and then grimaced with a faint moan.

"Oh, God, Beth… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" There again was his hand on her face and she forced herself to lift her eyelids and look at him. His face was so close to hers that she could see him fairly clearly, could see the worry, fear and despair in his eyes. He was so terribly scared, so tense and nervous. He had to calm down again… She needed him so much…

"Mick…" she brought out only croaking and she immediately felt his trembling fingers on her lips.

"Sh sh, don't speak," he whispered. "You shouldn't exert yourself. You need all your strength to recover. You just… you just have to stay with me, o… okay?"

She nodded almost imperceptibly and the cracking of his voice made sure that her own throat closed up. She felt his lips on her forehead, felt him bury his nose in her hair and heard him take a deep breath. "Just stay with me," he whispered hoarsely into her hair and she buried her face in his chest, and breathed in his closeness.

A portable radio squawked from somewhere close to them. "Okay, here are the coordinates for the nearest private airport."

"I'm listening, Kurt," Gabriel said and the man provided what was asked for. Then he hung up again.

For a moment it was quiet in the helicopter.

"This means we'll continue to fly for now?" Beth could now hear Josef ask a little confused.

"No. We're going to land soon and continue on by car," was the surprising answer. But even these new twists couldn't prevent the fatigue and exhaustion from drawing Beth back deeper into the darkness. No strength… she just had no strength left anymore…

"I just don't want anyone else to know where we're really going."

Yes, that was good. No one should know…

"Only then will we be really safe for the next few hours."

Safe… What a wonderful word. Safe, here in Mick's arms…

"Beth?" her name echoed in the dark again, but she had no strength to react anymore. She let herself drift away and shut down all her senses. All she needed now was rest… and sleep… lots of sleep…


	55. Knowledge Gaps

_It's me again, with a new chapter. Thank you so much for your comments. I loved each one of them. And you had a lot of questions. But I can't answer them for now but I promise that the next few chapters will do this instead of me. You will soon get a lot of information. I'll be back within six days again – around next Sunday. Wish you a great week and would be very happy if you leave me a comment again. Feel hugged, yours Jenna_

* * *

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**K****nowledge Gaps**

* * *

"_**Knowledge is the only power you can gain if you don't own it, power is strength and strength is everything."**_

_**Arthur Schopenhauer**_

* * *

_Mick did not feel comfortable in his skin as he turned into the small street where his parents' house was. After three long days of dithering, pondering and thinking he had finally managed to make up his mind regarding his immediate future. He had come to a decision that his parents very likely could not bear, especially now that it was clear that Tristan would soon disembark with his squadron to Europe and would fight the Germans in the war. For his parents it was difficult enough to cope with the fact that one of their sons risked his life in this war, but if it was both… _

_His mother would surely break out in tears and his father would only look at him for a long moment with his stony face and then would give him one of his everlasting sermons: about the misinterpretation of the term honor, about the sense and nonsense of risking one's life for others, about his future that should not be thrown away, about the damage that a war could leave on the psyche of a person and so on and so forth. Michael St. John Senior was a convincing speaker, but Mick had decided to leave and would not be open to persuasion. His mind was quite made up. He would not sit at home in the safe nest, while his brother and his best friend risked their lives for the freedom of Europe. He would also be there and help when he could to ease the pain of wounded soldiers and to save their lives. He could do it… _had_ to do it, after what had happened at Pearl Harbor… _

_Mick frowned as he noted that another car was already parked in front of his parents' house - a car of the U.S. Army Air Force. This could only be Tristan! He was here! Why had he not written to let him know that he would come to LA once more before he set sail? Mick's heart immediately started beating faster in his chest and a feeling of warmth and infinite joy flowed through him causing him to rapidly get out of the car and hurry to the entrance of the house. The front door was unlocked and the moment Mick closed it behind him, he could hear an angry voice from somewhere. It was much like his father's voice, just a little brighter and younger. It was in fact Tristan. He had to be in his father's little office toward which Mick was moving right now with a broad grin on his face. Maybe he could even make him jump a little._

"… _I feel like I suddenly have a complete stranger in front of me," he seized the first intelligible word fragments of his brother's as he approached the office on silent feet, and his grin died away instantly. "I don't know that I can still believe you at all!"_

_Mick slowed down, furrowed his brows slightly confused and finally stopped uncertainly out of sight at the door. Tristan talked unusually harshly and seemed very upset. "Do I know you at all? And… have you told Mom about this?"_

"_Not everything." _

_Was this repentant voice really his father's? And what were they talking about?_

"_And just what do you intend to do now?"_

"_I… Tristan… none of this is fixed yet! This is pure speculation…"_

"Speculation_?" Tristan's voice trembled. "Dad, this is about Mick! About my lil brother! And if you don't want to or can't protect him_ I_ will!"_

_Gradually it dawned on Mick what had triggered this conflict. Obviously, Tristan had learned what Mick and his father had been fighting about for days now. And he did not seem to like it._

"_Don't tamper with this, Tristan!" his father now said sternly. "I have this under control! It may be that I sometimes don't seem like a born fighter, that I've withdrawn too many times and that I've closed myself off from you too many times, but I always - _always_ fight for this family. And I'll do it again! If it becomes necessary, I'll do it again! I won't allow this family to be torn apart and destroyed!"_

"_But it _is_ necessary now!" It was the first time in a long, long while that Mick witnessed Tristan yelling at their father. The good-natured, calm, thoughtful Tristan. "Why don't you see that?"_

_A resigned sigh was heard. "Tristan, you… you have… you have to stay out of this!" their father now replied quietly and Mick's eyebrows wandered upwards with surprise. Since when did he allow such a tone with him? _

"_Do you hear! You're not allowed to intervene here!"_

"_So are _you_ going to do something about this?"_

_Their father must have nodded, for at once the next question burst impatiently out of Tristan. "What exactly?"_

"_I… I know a few people who can help me, who can protect Mick."_

_Protect him? In war? His father could not earnestly think about sending a few of his friends after him as kind of babysitters. Or did he mean that he had connections that could prevent the army from taking him as a medic? He would not dare to do this – would he? Anger was starting to boil inside Mick. No matter how well his brother and his father meant this - it was _his_ life! He was a grown man who could make his own choices and no one had the right to interfere here!_

_He straightened his shoulders and stepped resolutely through the door. His father was leaning on his desk with his arms crossed over his chest and immediately lifted his gaze in surprise._

"_What kind of people?" Tristan dug deeper. He was standing with his back turned to Mick in front of his father dressed in his blue officer's uniform - as always making a great visual impact. The horror in their father's eyes, however, made him turn around only a heartbeat later._

_Mick now also crossed his arms over his chest and looked with raised eyebrows provocatively into his older brother's surprised face._

"_How… how long have you been listening?" Tristan stammered and Mick immediately felt how uncomfortable his sudden appearance has made him._

"_Long enough to know that you both still think I'm a little, silly boy who doesn't know what he's doing," Mick said with undisguised irritation in his voice. He let out an incredulous laugh. "Maybe this has escaped you, but I've been of age for two years. I'm capable of caring for myself during the training, of caring for everything concerning my person - why the hell do you have to barge into this decision? This is _my_ life!"_

_Tristan seemed a little mixed up, blinked at him noticeably confused while their father's face brightened visibly._

"_You… you've got this wrong," Tristan began, but was immediately choked off by their father._

"_No, he didn't. The thing is, Mick, Your mother and I, we…" He let out a deep breath and first had to collect himself to find the right words while Tristan was staring at him with his mouth open. "We can hardly bear the thought that Tristan is going to risk his life over there in Europe. But he's a pilot with the Air Force. This is part of his work. And after this terrible story in Pearl Harbor, we instantly knew that… that he would be deployed over there. But you… you don't need to do this. And you shouldn't, out of sheer cockiness…"_

"_Cockiness!"Mick flared up and the accrued rage from their last heated talks erupted all at once. "Is that what you think of me? That I only want to prove to myself what a courageous go-getter I am? To let out excess energy and let off steam?"_

"_No." His father raised his hands soothingly and shook his head. "Of course not, I…"_

"_I want to help, Dad! I won't go over there to kill, but to save lives. The lives of our soldiers! Soldiers like Tristan and Ray who will be over there doing everything in their power to defend our country. I have explained this to you a thousand times! You just never _listen_ to me!"_

"_But I do!" His father shot back now also slightly louder while Tristan, who was just standing next to them, shook his head. "And I even understand you! But you're still so young – you… you have no idea how much this decision can harm you."_

"_Oh, but you know?" Mick countered with deep sarcasm in his voice. "The only major battle that you've ever fought was the one against the rats in our cellar!"_

"_MICHAEL ST. JOHN!" It now burst uncontrolled out of his father, and even Tristan winced a little. "DON'T YOU DARE EVER SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!"_

"_What then?" Mick growled back unimpressed. "Will you get the belt?"_

_That hit home. His father stared at him speechlessly and finally lowered his gaze taken aback. Only once in his life had his father drawn on this drastic punishment in child-rearing methods and had later regretted it deeply. Not only because Mick had not spoken a word to him for nearly a week and had avoided being alone with him, but also because he had broken his own promise to never use violence against his children. Mick could not even really remember when it had happened or what had been the trigger for his father's lapse - maybe his last attempt to run away from home and to set out after Tristan - but he had learned over time to use this incident to prevent any further temper tantrum from his father. _

_Michael St. John Senior was now breathing deeply in and out and finally lifted his eyes again. "I've seen what war can do to men, Mick. I had to suffer my whole childhood from it. My father was a wreck, he…"_

"_I'm not like your father!" Mick said back angrily and rage seethed stronger inside him. His grandfather had not only fought in the Civil War, but also as a native Scot as a very young man in the Crimean War. From the few stories of his father Mick knew that his grandfather had been a hard, strict and at times very violent man who had eventually freaked out and committed suicide._

"_Stop comparing him to me all the time!" Mick added pressed, but the low, angry laugh Tristan uttered beside him made him pause confused. _

"_I don't believe this," his brother said very quietly and shook his head. "You know what, Mick," he turned to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. "I am beginning to think that you'd almost be safer in Europe than here in this house with this man." The glance he cast in the direction of their father was unusually black. "Do what you think is right, because_ I'll_ do exactly the same and Dad certainly as well. And then we'll see how this all will develop." He let go of Mick and giving their father a strangely warning look marched out of the room._

_Michael St. John Senior closed his eyes exhausted and shook his head while Mick just stood there and did not know what to do. He was deeply confused._

"_You… you certainly don't want to let him just go like this, do you?" he muttered in the direction of his father._

"_He won't let me hold him back," his father replied in resignation. "In this matter you two are unfortunately very much alike."_

_Now it was Mick's turn to shake his head and he turned on his heel and left the office as well. So much for the subject that his father was fighting for his family…_

_Tristan had still not left the house. He stood at the exit door and let their mother kiss and hug him good bye. It seemed she had caught him just at the right moment. If she had noticed the heated debate, she at least did not show it outwardly._

"_Take care of yourself darling," she said in a husky voice as she stroked her elder's cheek in her typically maternal way. "And call again before you're off to sea. When will that be?"_

"_Day after tomorrow," Tristan answered with a small smile. "We're going to do a few more test flights in the desert before leaving. And I think I'll definitely be able to find a phone somewhere."_

_Their mother nodded silently and hugged and squeezed her son once more while Mick slowly approached them._

"_Were you able to exchange at least a few words with Mick," she asked now and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "He loves you so much…"_

_Tristan looked over her shoulder at Mick and a small smile crossed his lips._

"_Does he?"_

_Mick rolled his eyes, but their mother had already turned around to him in surprise._

"_You're here!" she noticed pleased and hurried to him to clasp him in her arms as well and somehow she managed with her warmth and love to suddenly push away all the grievances inside Mick._

_She turned back to Tristan who was still standing at the door and brushed one of her dark curls behind her ear. "Do you really need to leave so soon? You should absolutely spend a little bit of time with your brother before you go to Europe, Tristan!"_

"_My schedule is pretty tight, mom," Tristan responded depressed and his apologizing gaze immediately roamed to Mick. "I have to meet some people and have some really urgent things to take care of."_

"_What can be more important than your family?" their mother answered in a lightly reprimanding voice and Mick could not prevent a smile from appearing on his lips as he rushed to help his brother out._

"_It's all right, Mom. I will walk him to the car," he said pushing past her. "Then we'll have a few more minutes together."_

_She did not look really satisfied, but nodded anyway. "But then you come back in here, young man," he could hear her say as he and Tristan left the house. "We still have to talk about a whole lot of other things!" _

"_Of course," Mick said to her over his shoulder and nudged his brother in the side because Tristan couldn't help but to giggle quietly to himself._

"_You poor devil," Tristan grinned at him. "She will pull out all the stops to keep you from volunteering as a medic in the Army."_

"_She's been doing this for days now," Mick sighed. "But she won't change my mind."_

_They had now reached Tristan's car and his brother turned around to him with a much more serious expression._

"_It was Ray's idea, wasn't it?"_

_Mick paused for a moment and shook his head, although his brother was not entirely wrong. Ray was a patriot through and through and had given such fiery speeches about how it was the duty of everyone to rise up against the dark power in Europe that the idea of doing nothing and continuing to study safely at home had seemed simply wrong to Mick. And then there was the certainty that Ray and Tristan would fight over there, while he hid cowardly at home… _

"_No," he added strongly. "It's my idea. I… I just cannot continue to stand idly by. And as a medic I can really do something. I can help…"_

_Tristan looked at him for a long moment and finally he nodded understandingly. "Sometimes you just have to follow your heart. I just hope that it's really yours and not someone else's."_

"_It is," Mick said firmly and for another long moment the two just looked at each other. There was so much they still wanted to say to each other, but also so much they simply could not voice and dared not think._

"_Maybe I'll wave graciously to you when I sweep over your heads," Tristan joked and on Mick's lips appeared a broad grin._

"_But discreetly, please," he replied, "not everyone should see that I'm related to the worst pilot in the Air Force."_

_Tristan chuckled, raised his hand and patted Mick's cheek older-brotherly. "Take care of yourself, lil bro."_

"_And you take care of _your_self," Mick replied with a slightly scratchy voice. When Tristan suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into a warm embrace the lump in his throat moved deeper causing a pressure in his chest and a burning in his eyes that struck him every time that he had to say goodbye to his brother. That would never change, no matter how old he was._

_This time Tristan held him longer than usual and only after a long while did he feel this male patting on his back to which Mick replied automatically, and then the embrace was loosening. What was also unusual was the deep concern in Tristan's warm blue eyes, the slight hesitation as he released him again. He still had something on his mind, something that disturbed him greatly._

"_Mick…" He took a deep breath, searching visibly for the right words. "If I don't come back…"_

_Mick shook his head immediately. "You _will_ come back."_

_Tristan uttered a sound that was only remotely reminiscent of a laugh. "I'm going to war, Mick. There's always something that can go wrong."_

_Mick's guts knotted. There was the thought that had sneaked up on him several times, but which he always had successfully pushed back. "It won't!" he said with a firm voice. "You _will_ come back." If he said this often enough, he would certainly be able to convince both of them of it._

"_Okay," Tristan said, smiling. "But if it's not the case, then promise me that you'll sit down with Dad and talk again about what happened today. Get him to tell you about the things that he has previously discussed with me. Tell him that, will you?" His brother looked at him forcefully, coercing Mick to nod although he did not quite understand what was so important about this. But the nod seemed to calm Tristan immensely and basically at the moment that was all that mattered. He should not leave with any uneasy feelings._

_Of course, Tristan had to rumple up Micks hair in this big-brotherly way before he opened the car door and got in as Mick straightened it again with a dark look. Basically a departure from Tristan without the hair-rumpling-procedure was no real farewell and Mick had almost hoped he would do it. What was new was this pain searing in Mick's chest and the strong urge to stop Tristan, to grab his arm and jump with him back into their childhood when everything had still been safe and happy, and their greatest enemies had been the monsters of their fantasy world. Death and all the incriminating thoughts that were associated with it had not really existed at that time - at least it had never been final and so menacingly close. _

"_Tristan…" Out of a deep impulse Mick stepped closer to the car again, although the engine had already started to hum._

_His brother stuck his head out the window looking at him quizzically. "Yeah?"_

"_You're not gonna die in this war," Mick said with firm conviction. "Neither of us. I simply know it."_

_Tristan laughed, this boyish, warm laugh that he loved so much and that was so similar to his own. "Okay, if _you_ say so!" He grinned. "I'll call you as soon as I can, and then of course I want to hear from you that you've changed your mind concerning the medic-in-the-war-idea."_

"_But of course!" Mick gave back less than convincingly. Again Tristan's laughter was heard, then the car took off slowly down the road that they'd so often run along as children in their play; it drove out of the past of a happy childhood into an uncertain future._

_Bad times had come, times of war, misery and suffering, even if most of this was not felt in this country. It was a world-shattering war, a war whose consequences were not yet fully in sight. And yet Mick was sure that he was right, that Tristan would indeed not die in this war. All the more strange it was that suddenly this queasy feeling inside him appeared, as Tristan once again held his hand out of the car and waved. It seemed as if this was a final farewell._

* * *

Any memory of Tristan and his family hurt. This was also the reason why Mick mostly remembered only the good ones, let only the happy memories approach him - if any. Why he just now remembered the last minutes with his brother, the last quarrel, he did not know exactly. It probably had to do with the fact that Tristan's unexpected death had been one of the worst experiences in his life and he had never felt more lost and desperate as the day he had heard of his brother's deadly accident. He had never thought that there could be another increase of these feelings – until today. Today he had learned that one could still feel more terrible, could emotionally fall even deeper. It was only hours since he had had the feeling that the world was collapsing around him and all life was suddenly sucked out of his body. To see Beth in this condition, pale, trembling, weakened by the self-liquidating silver bullet… and then the pain-filled scream as Gabriel had cut the bullet out of her arm. She had suffered so much… Mick's stomach cramped at the mere memory of it and his throat narrowed.

It had been anxious hours he had had to endure during the flight by helicopter and the journey by car to their new hiding place. Beth's body had been assaulted by fever attacks and chills and her cardiovascular system had repeatedly collapsed due to its enormous effort causing him to panic and get hysterical. It was only thanks to Josef, Gabriel and Frank that he had not gone completely nuts. Gabriel and Josef had supported him mentally, while Frank, in his role as a doctor, had again and again been able to make clear to him that Beth was only unconscious and was not dying in his arms and that her body's reaction to the silver had been quite like Mick's had been in the past. At some point, her condition had improved, and by the time they had reached the cabin in a resort in Munds Park where Alejandro had guided them, her body had finally destroyed the silver inside it.

Like so many times before, Mick's gaze wandered over the delicate figure that lay wrapped in a blanket on the bed he sat beside. Beth was breathing calmly and steadily again, was not as pale as before, and her body temperature had dropped - a sure sign that she was recovering. Mick reached out a hand to her, gently stroked a golden lock of hair from her face and then let his hand rest on her temple. Only his thumb was still stroking her soft skin, knowing that he would not wake her this way. Frank had given her a stronger pain killer and a sedative to give her body the rest it needed now… after all this pain… this pain…

He never wanted any of what had happened to her to happen and he was sure that his fear for her had been justified. She could have died without their quick help and without his blood. The silver had already begun to poison her blood, and probably any other normal human would not have survived at all. In this respect it was fortunate that Beth was such a special human and had already been infected by his blood - even if this thought was still scary and so hard for him to bear. Nevertheless, this incident had once again made one thing very clear to him: as long as Beth was in this war at his side, she was always in danger. The last bullet had only hit her arm. If her heart or any other vital organ or even her head had been hit…

Mick sat up a little and took a deep breath, because he somehow had the feeling that he could not breathe properly anymore. To think about this was so painful, so hard to endure, and yet he had to consider the worst possibility also. Although Beth was special, she was still a human and because of that more vulnerable and endangered than most of his friends who fought at his side. Not to mention that she did not deserve to spend the rest of her limited life time in fear and terror. No one knew how long this war would last and even though Josef's words to him were still with him, even if he had understood that with her birth Beth had already stepped into this dangerous world, one thing had become clear to him in the last hours: He could not allow her to be at his side anymore, could not further expose her to these dangers. He had to somehow find a way to take her to a safe place, to hide her somewhere and protect her not only from the Legion and hostile vampires, but also from herself. How often had she already risked her life to help him? This had to stop. And if that meant he had to take her away against her will and separate from her, then he would do it. At least for as long as the war lasted. A separation forever was out of question, not only because Josef's words had opened to him a new view of both of their fates, but also because it simply wasn't possible anymore if Beth was to remain healthy. She needed his blood to not get sick, as he seemingly needed her blood. Mick did not understand everything regarding this dependence, just enough to know that Beth was now bound to him forever. He hated himself for it, but a small part of him was happy about that fact and gave the possessive side of him a new impetus.

Mick leaned toward Beth again, ran his fingers tenderly through her hair and looked at her relaxed face. She looked so exhausted, so tired. The battle with the silver inside her body had robbed her of so much energy and vitality. Once again, Mick's heart contracted and the fears and concerns that laid the blame so much on him started to smolder inside him again. What if the contact with the silver had left scars inside her body or had attacked her vitals and they noticed this only after it was too late? His senses automatically directed more to the sounds her body was delivering. Her lungs were working normally. No whistle or other strange noise and she was breathing calmly and evenly. And her heart was beating again at a relatively normal pace. Only now and then a light stumbling behind was heard. Mick frowned and his concern grew. Had it always been there or was this new? And what exactly was it? Was there a heart valve not working properly?

Mick bent forward to locate exactly where the sound was coming from, but at that moment the door of the room opened and Frank entered.

"How is she?" he whispered to him and immediately came closer. "Was she awake in between times?"

Mick sat up a bit more and shook his head. "Didn't _you_ tell me before that she would sleep for a few hours?"

"Yes, I did," the professor replied with a small smile. "But I've learned in recent months that doctors can also be wrong with their predictions, and that some patients may surprise you a lot."

Mick tried to return his smile, but didn't really succeed in doing so. Beth's state simply burdened him too much. And as long as she was not awake and could tell him herself that she was feeling better again, there was always this little doubt, this fear that her condition could deteriorate again and he could still lose her. His stomach twisted again at the thought and the pressure on his chest caused him to breathe in deeply.

"She will recover quickly, Mick," Frank said softly and Mick looked at him again, striving to believe him. Only now did he notice that the professor was not wearing his glasses but still seemed able to find his way around very well although his eyesight was usually strongly reduced. If Mick remembered correctly, during his time in the laboratory there had also been periods in which Frank had been walking around without glasses, had appeared younger, healthier and physically stronger. Only now he realized that that must have been related to the administrations of his blood.

"Her immune system is now working much faster and more effectively than that of a normal human," said the old man. Between Mick's brows already this pensive wrinkle had appeared. The slight grudge against Frank began to grow again inside him and was pushing his concern for Beth a bit away. It felt good, was kind of relieving. And why should he not use the time while Beth was sleeping to fill in some gaps in his knowledge?

Mick leaned back in his chair and eyed Frank up shortly. The professor's posture became visibly tenser, but he held Mick's gaze bravely when it reached his face.

"There's one thing I could not yet fully explain to myself," Mick began with a thoughtful frown. "Gabriel and I concluded from the changes in Beth's body that she's a carrier of the blocking substances, but these changes only occurred after you were kidnapped again by the Legion. So, how did _you_ know that Beth is a carrier of blocking substances and how did you know that her blood and Gabriel's blood could replace the cure for me?"

Frank's narrow chest heaved under a deep breath and he had to clear his throat to be able to speak. These questions seemed to be very unpleasant to him.

"You… you will be mad at me again," he said softly and stepped still closer to Beth's bed. "Can you promise not to attack me when I tell you the truth?"

Mick eyed him up one more time. The professor was indeed afraid and with good reason. Mick had attacked him in the laboratory and also after their flight often enough and a few times Frank had only barely escaped with his life. Yet he had always stayed bravely at Mick's side, had hung on and helped him. Frank had made many mistakes, had disappointed him several times, but so far he had not done anything that Mick had not been able to forgive him for so he finally nodded.

Frank ran a little nervous a hand over his chin. "Can you remember what happened after the fight with Lance in Mexico, at the very beginning of your recovery?"

The wrinkles on Mick's forehead became deeper and he shook his head.

"Beth donated blood to you, through a direct transfusion," the professor continued and his eyes got a slightly anxious expression. "I… I secretly took some of her blood meanwhile."

"Why?" The anger in Mick's voice was now clearly audible.

"Because she told me that she has the same blood type as you," Frank responded immediately. "And I knew there was something special about it, that your reaction was particularly responsive to this blood type and that it was possible that she's a carrier of the blocking substances."

"This means you have studied her blood," Mick concluded grumpily.

"Yes," said Frank meekly. "And I realized that she was already infected with your blood."

Mick's eyes widened in amazement. "That early?"

The professor nodded. "You'd probably bitten her when you were seriously injured and your blood got into her bloodstream in that way."

Her wrist. There had been a bite wound to her wrist. Mick tried to get deeper into his buried memories, trying to remember. _Pain… no air… panic and that devouring hunger… Beth beneath him, naked fear in her eyes…_ He gasped for air, shook his head to get rid of the images. What had he done?

"Mick?" The professor brought him back to reality, his troubled feelings turning to anger.

"You… you knew all that time in Mexico that Beth was infected with my blood and might get seriously ill and did not tell us?" he snarled at him and was on the verge of jumping up and lunging at the old man. Frank seemed to sense this for he immediately took a step backwards and raised his hands.

"Yes, because… because Beth's results confused me," Frank said quickly. "She responded to your blood differently than, for example, I do. Her body could cope with it so much better and also had the blocking substances incredibly well under control because they appear to have activated sleeper cells inside her that can even produce the V-hormones."

"She… she owns cells that can produce V-hormones?" Mick probed in disbelief.

"Yes, to a small degree - just enough to prevent her immune system from attacking her own body. At least I concluded this from the results of her blood tests."

"Does that mean that some descendants of the Nigong got passed both aptitudes?"

Frank nodded. "In unequal proportions. And the weaker cells produce not completely functional hormones. With you it was the same."

"With me?" The turmoil in Mick grew from second to second.

"You're just as special as Beth is, Mick," Frank replied. "You also have inherited both types of cells. Only with you the cells to build blocking agents were too weak to defend themselves against the vampire blood that was supported by your stronger predisposition to build V-hormones. They, however, made it possible for the transplantation of the cells of the Nigong-descendant to work."

Mick ran his hands over his face and let out a frustrated groan. "Why must everything always be so complicated?" He asked from behind his hands and then let them fall exhaustedly into his lap. "Tell me only one thing, Frank: Is Beth's life in danger because of the infection from my blood?"

For a heartbeat the professor thought seriously about the question then shook his head. "I don't think so. Although she might have fits of dizziness and perhaps is now a little sick, your blood will help her to get well again and as long as she's supplied with it from time to time, nothing will happen to her. It will even make her stronger and healthier than anyone else. Look at me. Your blood affects me every time like a rejuvenating cure. I can see, hear, and move better… For me and Beth your blood is like a cure - and as we've seen today, it's the same for Gabriel. That's exactly the thing that's always fascinated and tempted me so much, Mick. How wonderful it would be if one could use your blood for the production of meds for every seriously ill person in this world. How many lives could be saved…"

Usually, it caused a great discomfort inside Mick when the scientist suddenly appeared in Frank, but the concern for Beth and the realization that his blood could actually help other people had changed something inside Mick, letting him at least see the things the professor had done in the name of science differently. To save lives, to find a cure for deadly diseases, was essentially a noble goal, but the way there had so far been wrong.

"I don't know if it's important," Frank went on as Mick hadn't said anything, "but Gallagher told me something that makes me believe that not everything he had previously told me was a lie. He said he and his team developed a med with your blood that showed amazing success in a patient with autoimmune hepatitis. I'm not sure if that's true. It's quite possible that he only wanted to tempt me to again enter into the research with him. But if he was telling the truth, then this part of the Legion is still interested in something other than the development of super-soldiers."

"Wait!" Mick raised his hand and shook his head in disbelief. "They've been experimenting with my blood with a sick man?"

"Or so he says." Frank shrugged his shoulders a bit helplessly.

"And this man has not transformed?" Mick could not believe what he was hearing.

"No idea. Gallagher said in order for me to hear more about it I would have to rejoin their team - which I've not done, of course."

Mick just watched him for a long moment while his thoughts tumbled over. "He probably just wanted to decoy you…" Or the Legion was even more ruthless than any of them had thought and had now extended their research and experiments to humans.

"You said earlier at the station that the Legion doesn't know about Beth, but in their search for the right blood type had come across the blood group AO negative. What exactly does the Legion know about the history of the cure? Was it one of them who told you the story about the Nigong?"

"No, that was someone else and now I even have a clue as to _who_ it was…" The professor took a deep breath and eventually sat down at the foot of Beth's bed. His eyes moved slightly melancholy over Beth's form while Mick was still wondering at Frank's weird make-up. Normally you knew who the people you called friends were.

"I've never told you how I met this friend who told me about the Nigong, did I?" Frank's questioning gaze rested again on Mick's face and Mick had no choice but to nod.

Another heavy breath and Frank's eyes turned to his own hands that had pushed into each other a little cramped. "It was the day that I…" He paused and breathed a few times in and out. "I… I could not go on anymore… I thought there was nothing left in my life worth living for…"

Mick's brows rose automatically and his mouth opened, because it immediately dawned on him what Frank had done that day. He had noticed the almost invisible scars on Frank's wrists but had never thought about it although he also had so often in his life played with this thought. It must have been shortly after the death of Frank's son and wife. Such a loss was hard to absorb and Mick was sure that he would not act differently if he lost Beth. Without her, life would lose its meaning.

"I… I don't know how he knew it," Frank went on with a shaky voice. "Or how he got into my apartment. All I remember is that he was suddenly there in my bathroom. He picked me up from the bathtub and then probably nursed my wounds. When I came around again I was lying on my bed with bandaged wrists and he was just sitting there watching over me."

"Who was he?" Mick asked, although the thought that had started to stir inside him upset him terribly.

"He called himself Andon Zadkiel and said he had come to acquit a debt. In the beginning I hadn't the faintest notion what he wanted from me. I did not even want to listen to him, but when he looked into my eyes I suddenly became quite calm and relaxed. And then he told me about the family he'd lost once, about his despair and his foolish actions that have influenced my destiny and that of many other people. He said he had promised his wife something. He had promised to keep on living for her, to fight for her against the injustice in this world and for the good and never to forget how precious he is for this world. And at some point we started to talk about the meaning of life, the future and fate." Frank paused for a moment, but the sadness was gone from his eyes and had made room for an expression of deep gratitude and admiration. "I've never met a man who was more thoughtful, well-read and wise than this man. He made me see things and my life from a different angle reminding me of the values and ideals that I had held once as a young man. And he said something that moved me deeply. He said if every person in this world regarded life as a gift and recognized that their task is to make the world we live in within their means a little bit better, then evil would have no chance to continue to spread and would eventually disappear. He also said my son had lived and acted by this philosophy and certainly nothing would make him happier than if I would fight in his place for good. My death could not atone for his, but my future could memorialize the life he had lived."

For a long moment Mick looked at the professor in silence. These words impressed him too, but there was something else that kept him from thinking about them further, something that increased the unpleasant feeling, the excitement within him. But he still did not really want it to approach him. He first had to find other evidence for it, had to adapt to the idea to prevent himself from exploding. "How did it happen that he told you about the Nigong?"

"After all that he had said I could not help opening up my heart to him," Frank admitted quietly. "I told him about my research, about the things that I had seen in my contacts with Ethan Crane, the transformation of my son into a demon and he told me that things were not always what they seemed to be. And then he started to tell me about vampires and their origins, to make clear to me that they are not monsters but beings we should appreciate and who, as much as any other human being, are lurching between the evil and the good, that they suffer just like humans from certain diseases and yearn for a better life just like us. He didn't convict me because of my research and my attempt to save my son at all costs. He just said that it's important to never let others suffer for my research, whether they are humans or vampires, and that you could more quickly get to your destination if vampires and humans finally started talking with each other and working together. Only then can we achieve any success in the research with the vampire blood. You cannot enforce healing and eternal life… He was very convincing."

"He was a vampire, wasn't he?" it burst out of Mick.

"At least that's what Gallagher told me later, after they had kidnapped me. He…" Frank shook his head sadly. "He told me things about Andon that were so terrible that I could hardly believe them. Probably I shouldn't have done that. He said Andon would have only manipulated me so that I worked for him… he would always act that way. And that vampires are monsters that have no mercy on humans and basically only strive for power. That was outright brainwashing and at some point… at some point I believed him. You know the rest of the story."

Mick leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath and looked thoughtfully at Frank, bravely fighting down the anger and unrest inside him. "And? _Did_ you work for Andon?"

"No," Frank replied convincingly. "He has never affected my research. All he did was answer my questions regarding the history and lifestyle of vampires."

"Does that mean you've seen him regularly?"

"No. I saw him only once at our first meeting. I eventually fell asleep and when I woke up, he was no longer there. He contacted me over the Internet and talked to me by phone every now and then."

Mick became silent for a moment and then had to take another deep breath to voice the thought he had held in his mind for quite a considerable time now. "It was Gabriel, wasn't it?"

"I'm guessing so," Frank replied with a small sigh. "You know how bad my memory for faces is and he looked different back then."

"Blonde hair with a beard and green eyes?"

Frank's eyes widened in amazement. "I think so. How did you know?"

Mick waved him off rapidly. "And you didn't recognize him by his voice that time in Mexico?"

Frank shrugged his shoulders a bit helplessly. "I was so excited and it was a long time since I had last heard from him. Almost one and a half years."

"And how did you get the idea that it could still be him?"

"I think it started when he told the story of the Legion. His way of talking, his behavior seemed at once so familiar to me." He let out another small sigh. "But even now I'm not sure."

"It _was_ him," Mick replied and he found it increasingly difficult to hide his anger from Frank. "And I think he has a lot to tell both of us."

He got up, took a long look at Beth and then looked at Frank. "Do you think we can leave her alone for a while?"

Frank looked thoughtfully at her and nodded. "I think she should still sleep for a while."

"Then let us seek Gabriel and insure that he finally fills these miserable gaps in our knowledge," Mick said with emphasis and marched with firm steps to the door and opened it immediately. Frank followed him reluctantly, but stopped in the doorway instead of stepping into the hall.

"I don't know… when I was over there earlier, Gabriel didn't look particular healthy to me," he said with obvious concern in his eyes. "Maybe we should give him a bit more time to rest…"

"Time?" Mick repeated and his impatience led him grab the professor's arm and pull him into the hall and then immediately close the door behind them. "Unfortunately, time is something we currently don't have. And I won't wait any longer for the answers that Gabriel owes me."

Mick did not even wait for Frank who remained undecided in the hallway. He just walked off, following the familiar voices he heard from one of the other rooms in this house. Gabriel was weakened? All the better for him, because if the old vampire tried to get rid of him again, he now knew a way he could get the necessary information, also _against_ his will. And this thought brought a small, sneaky smile to Mick's lips.


	56. Revelations Part 1

_Hi there! Here's the promised chapter – only thanks to Cleo and Sg6169 right in time who did a really great job in translating and beta reading the chapter so quickly. Feel hugged and kissed you two! And also a big Thank you to all my dear readers who left a comment__ for me. You made my day and motivated the muse very much. I'll try to be back at the next weekend again (around Saturday) and wish you all a great week, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Cleo_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**Revelations **(Part 1)

* * *

"_During the transition from experience to verdict, from knowledge to application that is where people are ambushed by all their inner enemies like at a pass." _

_Johann Wolfgang von Goethe _

* * *

Admittedly a cold shower couldn't even compare to the relaxation a comfortable freezer would provide, but it was better than nothing, and since there were nine of us in this hut we were now living in and no other possibility of getting the much needed cooling, I'd be content with what I had for the time being. Even though I hated to admit it, the fighting in the station had left me totally exhausted and every fiber of my being screamed for rest and relaxation. But even as I left the small but decent bathroom of our new home, I knew these two things would not be granted any time soon.

It was my friend Mick, coming my way that had really surprised me, because I had actually braced myself to have to pry him, sometime later, with a crowbar from Beth's bed, to force him to eat something and then to get some rest. During our journey to this holiday 'paradise' I had once again become keenly aware that Mick was currently useless without Beth. I had never seen my friend as distraught, as desperate as he was in the few minutes in which Beth's circulation had taken a serious turn and I too had feared for the young woman's life. Mick hadn't been too far away from a complete nervous breakdown and I realized that my friend, if Beth should actually lose her life in this war, would follow her, in whatever way it took. The thought was incredibly painful, but a reality and it reminded me that if I didn't want to lose my best friend that I had to watch over Beth, had to care more about her security.

The fact that Mick now marched past me with this determined expression, nostrils flaring, and this deep stubborn line between his eyebrows, could only mean one thing: Beth was much better _and_ he had once again heard something that had previously been kept secret from him and was now mad as hell.

"Is everything all right?" I called into his slipstream and was indeed able to slow him down a little.

"But of course," he threw at me over his shoulder with an uncomfortably false smile. "Everything's just splendid, as always. I just need to clarify something with Gabriel."

Oh, oh. That sounded like trouble and the worried, slightly unsettled look on Frank's face, who was now also rushing past me, and who had probably triggered this whole mess, only confirmed it. I couldn't help it – even though every muscle in my body protested against it, I too set in motion and followed Mick.

Screams were heard from one of the other bedrooms, which made the three of us cringe a little and stop - strange screams like that of a rabid animal falling into a complete rage. I searched Mick's glance in confusion, but he didn't respond, just kept on walking towards the door of the room where the cries had come. Gabriel's voice could now be heard.

"That should be enough to tranquilize him for a while."

"And then?" Lance seemed to be in the room as well and was in the process of stepping out of the door we had now reached, looking behind him.

"We'll see." Gabriel also appeared in the doorway. He looked strangely pale and dark circles had begun to appear under his eyes. It seemed there was someone who needed a cold shower even more urgently than I did.

"He won't be able to struggle against his instincts forever," Gabriel added, although his eyes had long since been directed to Mick, who now stopped in front of him and Lance.

"Are you talking about Gallagher?" my friend asked tense and Gabriel's nod didn't surprise me. The smell coming from the room, revealed that in there was a 'fledgling' and, if I wasn't mistaken, another elder of the vampires, maybe Malik. I still didn't know him well enough to say with certainty.

"He's having trouble accepting his new condition and is fighting it with all his might." Gabriel added explanatory.

"In other words, he's now behaving on the outside like the bestial monster that he really is," Lance said with his typically arrogant smile and slicked down the hair that had gotten slightly mussed up on his forehead. "We had to chain and feed him forcibly. After that he erupted even more, until he forced us to give him a sedative."

"Were you able to get anything out of him?" I probed curiously.

Gabriel shook his head frustrated. "He's not able to speak yet and in the state he's currently in, his thoughts are still too confused. We will have to be patient a little longer."

"What exactly do you think you _can_ learn from him?" Mick probed and there was such a strange lurking in his voice I didn't like at all. My dear friend was in a quite a belligerent mood and I was sure this wasn't going to subside so soon. 'Bundle of nerves' didn't even come close to describing the right words for the condition Mick was in, thanks to the last exhausting and emotionally charged hours. Gabriel seemed to have picked up on his mood, much as I had, and therefore gave him no reason to blow up further. Instead, Mick got an immediate answer to his question.

"In what state the Legion is in, to what extent the two parties are still estranged and who the leader is in this critical situation now. I think Gallagher knows a lot of names and has a lot of important information, we must get to, in whatever way…" The old vampire closed his eyes momentarily and took a deep breath before he looked back at us. "Let's talk about everything over in the kitchen cum living room."

He didn't wait for our reaction, but simply headed for the room. I furrowed my brows thoughtfully. Something was off with Gabriel, and when I noticed the anxious look with which Lance followed his Sire, I felt confirmed in this conjecture. An unpleasant sensation spread through my stomach and I looked over at Mick. These same pensive lines had also appeared on my best friend's forehead and he set, as hesitantly into motion as Frank and I had.

I wasn't surprised to find Coraline already in the spacious kitchen cum living room. She had settled on the couch there shortly after our arrival and had probably not moved much since. So it was indeed Malik who was currently guarding Gallagher. As far as I knew, Thomas was in the only bath tub in the house that was of course filled with cold water and ice, and would more than likely be there for a while to recover from his serious wounds.

Coraline still didn't seem to be her old self. She sat slumped on the couch and stared blankly into space. In her hand she held a glass filled halfway with blood. I doubted she had even taken a sip of it yet. Certainly it would take her a while to get over the loss of Cynthia. Only when Gabriel plunked, by his standards, quite cumbersomely down in the armchair opposite her, did she register that she was no longer alone and first looked at him a little startled, and then looked up in our direction. Her eyes brightened slightly when she took in Mick's figure, but I wasn't concerned with her at the moment, because all my attention was concentrated on Mick. My friend was headed with frightening determination towards Gabriel and sat down just opposite him on the couch next to Coraline, with an expression in his eyes that spoke volumes: the moment of truth had arrived – no matter if the old vampire wanted this to happen or not.

"Have Max and the others reported in already?" I quickly addressed Gabriel before Mick could say anything, and strolled with feigned coolness towards my friend to then sit down next to him. Frank and Lance were following me, but while the professor chose the armchair next to us, Lance stood right beside Gabriel, as if he felt he might need to support the old vampire somehow. With that it seemed the battle lines had been drawn.

"Yes," was the gratifying reply. Before I had gone for a shower, it had been a totally different story and I was beginning to worry a little about the other team. "They're safe now also and well accommodated for at the present. Now all we need to consider is how we want to proceed."

"Do_ we _need to or is it just you?" it immediately burst out of Mick and I held my breath for a heartbeat, waiting with trepidation for Gabriel's reaction. But the old vampire remained calm.

"I think with our present company, we can talk openly," he said. "It's safe to assume that the people here now, are not the traitors."

I expressed my astonishment by raising an eyebrow. "How do you figure that?"

"This mental connection that we Des Archanges can build between each other, allows us to sense the feelings and sometimes the intentions of other vampires much more clearly than if one of us tried it alone with his direct opponent. And with all the excitement going on around us everyone was so distracted that no one really noticed our mental approach. Malik and Thomas had been instructed to help me in checking all the vampires in our immediate surroundings. This is also the reason why Ritchcroft was able to escape from them in the beginning. To do something like this, drains you of strength immensely and deflects your attention from things happening outwardly around you. It was a risk we _had_ to take."

"And… is there a traitor in the other team?" I just had to ask.

"We're not entirely sure regarding Patricia's team, but at first glance it didn't appear that was likely," was Gabriel's honest answer.

"So this means that, concerning the traitor, we're still no closer to finding out," I stated with resignation, but strangely, this time, the old vampire didn't want to confirm my statement with a nod. All he did was look at me, assessing, as if he wasn't sure what he could tell me.

"You _know_, who he is?" Mick interpreted his reaction, very like me, and leaned forward a little towards Gabriel. Gabriel looked down, but that was answer enough for both of us.

"Who is it?" I had to ask now excited.

"The thing is," Gabriel began hesitantly, "there's not _a_ traitor but in fact two, a small fry who carries out the orders of the one pulling all the strings from behind the scenes and is most likely in contact with both the Legion _and_ the Cercle du Sang."

"And which of the two have you now tracked down?" Coraline, whom the exciting topic had actually pulled out of her reverie, interrupted now.

"Unfortunately, the one who only carries out the orders," Gabriel admitted.

"Who is it?" Coraline repeated my previous question and the tension in the room was heading toward a new peak.

So Gabriel's reply was even more disappointing. "I can't say just yet. I don't want anyone prattling away accidently or unconscientiously behaving adversely against this person enough to cause them to take flight. I still need this person and I can only uncover the mastermind through them."

Gabriel's words were clearly logical, but did nothing to satisfy my curiosity. Mick seemed to feel the same.

"How long have you know about them?" he asked, with this vigorous line between his eyebrows.

I didn't care for Gabriel's hesitation, but he decided to tell the truth. "I've been aware of them since your meeting with Talbot."

"_That_ long?" I exclaimed indignantly and Mick gasped for air upset. "And this person is still running around free?"

"I told you, I still need him," Gabriel replied, now a bit more aggressively. His nerves were probably not the best either, due to his weakened condition. "It was only _because_ he hadn't been uncovered, that we were so successful in our mission. Ritchcroft and Gallagher would never have been so careless, if they hadn't been previously supplied with the misinformation from the traitor."

"And what kind of misinformation was that?" I just had to ask. This whole story was becoming even more unbelievable with every second that passed.

"The Legion tried to lure us into a trap by passing erroneous information to one of my intermediaries, whom they had unfortunately uncovered beforehand," Gabriel began to explain. "According to this information the book that we're now in possession of and Peterson should have been in one of the last laboratories around LA and it was supposed to lead us to believe, that the stories that Peterson was at Station 5 was in fact their attempt to lure us into a trap. So I let them think we fell for their trick and only acted as if we wanted to attack Station 5, but in reality drove back to LA. The surprise attack on station 6 put them off their stride so much they weren't able to react fast enough to our real attack and quickly lost control of the situation."

"But we still had to take a lot," I noted a little annoyed. In all fairness, Gabriel's plan had been a brilliant strategic move and showed just how well he knew his enemies and could calculate their moves in advance; but I felt like Mick, whose mental state was heading more and more towards an 'erupting volcano': I couldn't stand being as a pawn in such a risky maneuver, not knowing what was going on in the background, without being able to really weigh the dangers of our missions for myself.

"It was clear from the beginning that losses were to be expected," Lance now defended his Sire and glared at me angrily. "These kinds of battles cannot be fought without loss on both sides. Fortunately, we didn't loose anyone really important…"

Coraline sucked in air through her nose indignantly and stood up abruptly, but Lance' threatening look caused her to pause.

"Sit down at once!" he growled at her and after quickly looking into Gabriel's warning eyes she followed his demand.

Gabriel sat up a bit more - amazingly labored - and leaned toward her. "I'm sorry for your personal loss, but Cynthia knew the risks - always. And in the end she chose the right side. The things she said in the end, about Nicolas' personal contact with Sinclair-Jones - was this all or did she tell you more?"

"Sinclair-Jones?" Mick repeated incredulously. "The old friend of Ben's uncle?"

Gabriel nodded. "Cynthia said Nicolas de Chambour tried to contact him personally."

"_The_ Nicolas de Chambour?" now it burst out of me. "The head of the Cercle du Sang?"

Gabriel again responded with a nod, only this time he took a deep breath and I knew immediately that once again an information-bomb of the most explosive nature would be dropped.

"Rudolph Sinclair-Jones was once one of the highest leaders of the Legion and still has an enormous amount of power within this organization," Gabriel said loudly and clearly. "He's the one who's currently trying to establish peace within the Legion."

For a moment Mick didn't seem to know what to say and I felt very similar. This information was outrageous. Ben had actually given us the business card of our worst enemy, had even asked us to meet with him! What would have happened if we had complied with his request?

"Does… does Ben know this?" Mick murmured after a moment of reflection.

"No."

Finally, a gratifying statement and that also probably meant that at least Ben wasn't a traitor.

"He didn't have the faintest idea that his uncle is involved in the whole thing, nor does he know that his mentor is one of most important heads of the Legion," Gabriel added. "And he shouldn't be made aware of this information so fast. I don't want Ben initiating any actions against Sinclair-Jones. We need his connection to that man. And also Rudolph seems to be trying to make contact with us very badly."

"Yes, probably, to lure us into a trap," Mick added angrily, but Gabriel didn't seem to share his opinion completely, because he tilted his head and his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked thoughtfully at Mick.

"I'm not so sure. Maybe he wants to negotiate."

"Oh yeah! He's already tried to with Nicolas," I just had to add mockingly. "I would really like to know what the two have concocted in their little secret meeting…"

Gabriel shook his head, although that hadn't been a question on my part. "I can't imagine Nicolas being here in the States in person," he said. "In this situation it would be much too dangerous for him and he trusts the Legion as little as I do, I think. What's important for us to know is that he _has_ tried in some way to contact the Legion and in a much more intense, more personal way than we ever thought before. Direct contact with the old leadership of this organization is really troubling."

"And what if he's not only tried to contact Sinclair-Jones, but also Judge Ruthers?" Coraline asked now with a strangely shaky voice. During the conversation she had become a little paler than before.

Gabriel raised his eyes and looked at her briefly. "Somehow, I can't escape the feeling that you're trying to tell me something about these two men, my dear. Perhaps now would be the right moment to do this."

Coraline swallowed hard and her eyes flickered briefly over to Lance. His short nodding gave her just enough strength to meet Gabriel's request.

"I… for a while I tailed Judge Ruthers," she admitted lowly, and one more time today my eyes widened in amazement.

"On whose authority?" Gabriel asked, still on an even keel and somehow I felt he already knew the response to his question. At least he gave no indication he was surprised when Lance cleared his throat softly.

"By mine."

The smile appearing on Gabriel's lips was very cool. "Without consideration?"

This time Coraline's look slipped treacherously towards Mick, before it was again directed to the face of the old vampire. "I… I just wanted some information about Mick."

"Why doesn't this surprise me?" Gabriel brought out with a small sigh and a slight shake of his head. "I think the information about this secret meeting between the two and their agreements must have come from you."

Coraline nodded silently.

"And you think that Nicolas could have contacted Ruthers, too?"

Again a nod.

"What led you to believe that?"

"Cynthia had uttered another name before you arrived. She said it several times and said that if I should ever meet this man I should be careful. This name seemed so familiar to me and now that we're talking about it I remember where from. This same man called Ruthers several times and asked him for an urgent meeting. But for as long as I've been tailing Ruthers this meeting has never taken place."

"And what _was_ his name?"

"Ethan Crane."

"_Ethan Crane_?" Frank blurted somewhat high-pitched and even I winced a little. I was not really used to such sudden surges of emotion on his part.

Gabriel was the next one who surprised me. For a few seconds he only stared at Coraline in silent speechlessness and then uttered a disbelieving laugh, which was immediately followed by a bewildered shaking of his head. "This…" He didn't go on, but only closed his eyes, still shaking his head and then ran a hand over his face.

"I thought Ethan Crane was with the Legion," Frank stammered now confused. "He… he's the one who put me on the trail of vampires, gave me the blood with which I started my research. In addition, I was told later that he had been killed in an attack by vampires. How… how can he possibly call the judge?"

"He can't," I replied. "Not unless he's risen from the dead, and as far as I know, there's only one species that can do that…"

"Vampires!" I hadn't even considered that, but Frank's eyes became even wider, were almost popping out of their sockets. Not a very pretty sight…

"I don't think the Ethan Crane who contacted you and the one who called Judge Ruthers are one in the same," Gabriel now brought out with a low sigh. "_Ethan Crane_ is an alias used by all the leading people within the Legion, who in certain situations have to take action, but whose true identity must remain a secret. There are only a few people who are allowed to use this name so far, including Sinclair-Jones. But the thing is: Sinclair Jones had already met with Ruthers, as _I_ understand it, and these calls from Ethan Crane came afterwards…" His gaze wandered to Coraline, who nodded quickly. "For this reason and because it was Cynthia, who mentioned this name, I'm assuming it was actually Nicolas, who adopted this identity. The only question is how _long_ he's been doing this and whether the reason he's been so untraceable, is perhaps that Nicolas is indeed already in the States and has been hiding out for quite some time now within the Legion. I would never have thought to look for him there. Perhaps he's also the reason this split within this organization has taken place a few months ago. Perhaps he provoked all this in order to weaken the Legion and at least got a part of them to cooperate with the Cercle du Sang. He's always been a true genius at playing one side against each other and weaving intrigues in order to gain personal advantage. Apart from the fact that he himself once belonged to the Legion…"

It was embarrassing, but my mouth dropped opened again by itself and my eyes became almost as wide as Peterson's had moments ago. But I wasn't the only one giving such an 'intelligent' impression. Mick was indeed able to compete with me concerning this.

"Nicolas de Chambour is a former Legionnaire?" he repeated breathlessly.

"He _was_, before he became friends with Luis and became one of us," Gabriel replied. "He had always been fascinated by vampires, striving for immortality, power and superhuman strength. He and Luis were truly a devilish duo and goaded each other into doing the most heinous things. And together they researched the cure… It's quite conceivable that he also fueled the interest within the Legion to research the cure. He may have even initiated it. And it's very likely he made sure that…" Gabriel broke off. His eyes had come back to rest on Mick's tensed features and had made him realize that the turmoil inside my friend was again tilting alarmingly into a negative direction.

"… that the Legion had chosen me for their research purposes?" Mick asked irritated.

Gabriel didn't answer. The thoughts in his head seemed to be tumbling at the moment and if I wasn't mistaken there was something close to regret and uneasiness shown in his eyes.

Mick, however, didn't notice it, for he had turned to the equally bewildered looking Frank. "You… you once told me that they'd selected me because of specific criteria you established. Had you come up with these conditions on your own?"

"Yes, but Gallagher gave me some food for thought," Frank replied deeply thoughtful.

"It's amazing how much he knows about all the backgrounds," Lance noted. "Maybe all this time another man had been hidden behind him."

"That would explain a lot," Gabriel added grimly. "Nicolas knows through Luis so many things no one should know. Making sure that Mick was a subject in the research would have killed two birds with one stone for him: he would have been able to advance the research and approach the goal of his great idol, and at the same time settle an old score he has with me…"

Mick not only looked over to Gabriel alerted, but also I, and the old vampire instantly avoided our gazes, looked at Coraline instead, who looked at him rattled.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Mick nevertheless insisted on digging deeper and I felt the anger and tension in him grow with every passing second.

It was surprisingly hard for Gabriel to look at Mick, but he did and I immediately saw how bad he felt when voicing his next words. "You're in the book of the Sangsujets, Mick. And he knew it. He knew it was actually my duty to protect you."

"Why?" Mick gave back blankly. "I had long since been a vampire by this time!"

"But that's a far cry from saying that this relieves me from my duties to the blood lines that are under my protection. Quite apart from that, Coraline is my fledgling and through the transformation, she made sure that you became a part of my family – albeit without permission, but she still did it. I should have contacted you and officially introduce you to my family. This failure not only put you at risk within the vampire community but also ultimately delivered you to the machinations of the Legion. Basically this is inexcusable, as are many other things that have happened."

For a few heartbeats Mick looked at the old vampire totally stunned, and then he shook his head. "You_ knew_ it…"

I felt sick because I was immediately aware of what Mick was talking and only needed to look into Gabriel's sad eyes to know he was right.

"You knew that I… that I was there. You knew what they were doing to me."

Mick's voice was very quiet, but I could still hear the pain and growing anger over this knowledge.

"And you did nothing…"

"I _couldn't_ do anything," Gabriel gave back just as softly. "The peace between the Legion and us vampires a year ago was already teetering on the brink and I had my work cut out trying to prevent open battles from breaking out. I couldn't risk that. You cannot always act the way you want, Mick. Sometimes you just can't stand up for the fate of an individual, especially if it endangers the well-being of many others. At the time it was beyond my power to help you."

"Was it?" Mick asked full of doubting bitterness. "Or was it that back then I wasn't as valuable to you then as I am now, that you just saw no real reason to intervene?"

Gabriel again only kept quiet, composing his features. Only his cheek muscles twitched treacherously.

"I made no difference to you the moment I turned into a vampire and in doing so proved to you, that I don't have the precious blood you hoped so much to find inside me," Mick spat out contemptuously and his eyes sparkled hostile at the old vampire.

Although Gabriel really struggled to keep his composure, his eyes now flashed with anger, that was pushing in front of his deep remorse, and I felt him tense. "You have no idea…" he brought out in a tone that sounded almost like a growl.

"Well, I wonder what the reason is for that," Mick growled back.

Gabriel let out an angry laugh. "How many times do I have to tell you that I have my reasons for telling you everything gradually and that you will _definitely_ learn everything you need to know? When will you finally understand that I'm only trying to protect you? That's all I've ever wanted!"

"I think more protection from _real_ dangers and less protection from important information would have made things in the last year a little more comfortable for me," Mick shot back with a false smile and Gabriel drew audibly air through his nose. But he still had himself under control.

"Your impatience with the lack of information is indeed understandable, Mick, but it only harms you," he replied emphatically. "I've lived for over 4700 years, why is it so difficult for you to understand that I simply have a better grasp of everything and know when certain information is useful for you and when it would only harm you? Why can't you just believe me that I'm doing the right thing by telling you bit by bit everything that's important to you? Why can't you trust me, after all we've been through together?"

Mick looked at him bewildered and then uttered a mirthless laugh. "You really have to ask why I can't trust you? The answer is simple: Because you are hiding things from me. Because you've lied to me. Because you're doing things behind our backs that you haven't discussed with anyone else. Because you use everyone around you to play a game with the Legion, that none of us can see through. Because you've endangered the lives of people who mean something to me again and again for this cat and mouse game, regardless of the consequences. And it's _precisely _because of your old age, your experience and your connections everywhere in the world that make you stand head and shoulders above anyone else and combined with this secrecy that basically make you a danger to all of us – because of _that_! Or do you need even more reasons?"

"_My_ secrecy is not endangering you all – it's made it possible for all of you to still be alive!" Gabriel exclaimed unusually upset and he was suddenly on his feet, took a menacing step towards us, making me flinch slightly. "I'm doing all I can to end these disputes once and for all! I've repeatedly learned through experience that sharing secrets only makes things worse, causes everything to collapse and leads to far greater losses than if I kept my strategies to myself and only gave them up gradually. And I'm _not_ going to change this course of action! You won't be able to squeeze anything from me that I'm not willing to tell you, Mick! Your well-being is not above all the others! And if I have to keep secrets all to myself in order to protect the society of vampires, then that's what I'll do!"

I held my breath because I felt strongly that Gabriel's words were the final straw for Mick, but he didn't explode verbally or physically, he did something mentally, and very effectively. I gasped loudly for air, because suddenly there was a pulling inside me that within seconds drained an awful lot of energy from me. And I wasn't the only one. Lance stumbled surprised to the side and Coraline let out a gasp. But Gabriel was the one who reacted most violently: He gasped for air, stumbled backwards and crashed into the nearest wall, screwing up his eyes and grimacing as if he were in pain.

"STOP THIS!" Gabriel growled and opened his eyes again, in which now unbridled wrath was flaring, and now Mick flinched violently, pressed his fingers to his temples and drew air deeply into his lungs. My heart had started to race and accelerated its pace even further when I noticed that what was shining in Mick's eyes wasn't fear or respect for the angry vampire elder, but profound shock and fury.

"You… you…" Whatever sentence it should have become, it was drowned by a frightening growl just before Mick shot off the couch and threw himself with an inhuman snarl at Gabriel. The old vampire was still too weak to react quickly enough and crashed with such force against the wall behind him, that the wood splintered. But the fangs of my best friend snapped at air, because Gabriel had had the presence of mind to press his arm against Mick's neck and had turned his head to the side. For a moment it looked as if Mick might actually be the more superior, but this impression only lasted a few seconds because the next moment Mick flew across the room, crashed into the countertop of the kitchen behind him and staggered to the side. I knew that in his rage my friend wasn't going to stop his attack on Gabriel so fast and I leaped at him, grabbed him by his arm at the same moment Coraline did, who was suddenly beside me. Nevertheless, Mick threw himself forward, growling, pulling us a few steps forwards until he was stopped by the blade of a sword that was suddenly pointing at his throat.

"Don't even dare to take one step further!" Lance hissed at my panting, snarling friend and now also brought his body in front of Gabriel's, who had been weakened by the short battle with Mick so much so that he had to brace himself against the wall to still stay on his feet. "Any attack against an Ancient One is usually punishable by death. So don't temp me."

"Lance…" Gabriel had once again gathered enough strength to approach Lance and lay his hand on the pommel. "Put your sword away. Here are no enemies…"

Black-Eye had significant difficulties meeting the request of his Sire, but eventually he lowered his sharp weapon. I, however, did not dare to loosen my grip on Mick's arm yet. I felt how much anger was still boiling inside him and really had to ask myself what had triggered this attack.

"I had her permission, Mick," Gabriel gasped and then looked intently at Mick. "It was necessary and the quickest way to find out what was wrong with her. There was no other reason."

I raised my eyebrows and my mouth dropped automatically. Had Gabriel bitten Beth? I couldn't believe it, even though this would explain Mick's irrational behavior and his still smoldering anger perfectly.

"We were aware that you would react like this, so we didn't tell you," Gabriel continued. "None of us wanted to deceive you, and it only lasted a moment. But because I did, I can now say with certainty that Beth is well and your blood hasn't threatened her in any way and won't be a problem in the future. But we… we shouldn't talk about this without her, but later when she's awake again."

I saw Mick close his eyes, grit his teeth, and heard him exhale deeply through his nose again and again. A part of him probably wanted to calm down again, but to the other part, the idea that Gabriel had clung to the neck of _his_ Beth, was still unbearable. I could easily understand it. Beth and I were just friends, but I too felt a deep resentment against the old vampire concerning his act and a touch of anger against Beth, that she had approved it. How would it look to Mick then?

"You… you shouldn't have done that," my friend finally brought it softly over his lips and when he lifted his eyelids again, the beast had vanished. It was the devastated human, who now looked at Gabriel reproachfully, still struggling with his violent emotions.

"I know," Gabriel said very softly. "And I'm really sorry…"

Mick's hand shook visibly as he ran it over his face and tried to free his mind from the grip of the uncontrollable anger and disappointment. "I… I can't do this anymore… I cannot stand this much longer," he muttered quietly. "Everywhere these lies and secrets…" He took a deep, heavy breath. "I swear… if… if this secrecy continues, I'll go mad - even if I don't want to. I _will _freak out, Gabriel, and I don't know if there'll still be anyone left who'll be able to help me find my way back to being a normal person. These… these things…" Mick had to take another deep breath and, besides his continuing rage now also fear and helplessness was shown in his bright eyes. "…they always throw me into a tailspin. Each time anew, when a new secret is disclosed unexpectedly. I cannot stand this any longer - not in this way. It may be that you're more experienced, wiser and strategically cleverer than I am, but there's one person in this world that _I_ know better, that _I_ can assess better than anyone else can. And that's me. I_ need_ honesty. I need the truth - the_ whole_ truth. Today. Here… Now."

Gabriel said nothing once. He only looked at Mick, deeply thoughtful, understanding, almost a bit sad. Then, after a little while, which seemed like an eternity, he nodded scarcely perceptible.

"Leave us alone," he said quietly, without detaching his gaze from my friend. Coraline and Frank moved immediately, walked over to the door, which lead into the hallway. Only Lance and I had problems fulfilling the old vampire's wish, but for different reasons. Lance because he was concerned that Mick would attack his weakened Sire once more, and I on one hand, because I was afraid that Gabriel could still punish Mick for his actions, and on the other hand, however, because I was very curious, what secrets the ancient vampire would now reveal to my friend.

"This applies to you, too," Gabriel said now in a much tougher tone to Black-Eye and looked at him asking.

"But…" Lance started, but was cut off by a growled "Immediately!" on Gabriel's part.

I decided to set a good example and go ahead - well, Gabriel's menacing look in my direction might have spurred my voluntariness in this regard a little - and walked over to the door. From the corner of my eye I noticed that Lance had followed me slightly slouching, but was a bit vexed by him as he closed the door behind us. That indeed put a damper on any eavesdropping on the conversation, and it also signaled that he would now personally see to it that no one started such an attempt.

But I had no time to fume at Black-Eye's slave-like behavior, because in just that moment the front door of our cabin opened and loaded with all kinds of heavy bags, Logan squeezed himself through the doorframe, puffing. I was sure that the blonde head of hair behind him belonged to Seth and somehow a warm feeling of relief came over me. It was strange, but the two had grown on me so much that I had indeed been a little worried about their welfare.

Logan stopped in the hallway when he finally noticed us and for him, this so typically broad grin appeared on his face.

"_That_ was one hell of a day, wasn't it?" he let out with a deep sigh. And I had to prove him right. Unfortunately, _this day_ was still not over yet and I was afraid that the efforts imposed upon us weren't either. But at least now the most important people were reunited. And with Logan, we now also had a contact with the outside world again. At least I hoped so.


	57. Revelations Part 2

_It's Saturday and here's the next chapter. It was great to hear you enjoyed the last one (thanks for all your great reviews – you made me so happy and let the muse jump up and down with joy!) so I hope you'll like the second part as well, although it's still in Josef's voice and you have to wait for the answers to your questions until I post the next chapter. But then, I promise, you'll get a lot of answers! I'll try to be back next weekend (around Saturday again) and wish you a great weekend and new week. Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_P.S. Lucretia: I don't know how many more chapters I will write. Have to check that again and then I'll tell you, okay?_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**Revelations **(Part 2)

My joy at seeing Logan and Seth again hadn't last long, ten minutes to be exact, at which point he brazenly asked me and Frank to help him and Seth prepare one of the rooms so he could set up his equipment. To avoid further aggravation, I agreed, but then slipped away after I had rearranged a couple of pillows on the bed a little differently, with the words, one must now finally look in on Beth again.

I had no reason to feel guilty, especially since I hadn't lied. I really was anxious to know how Beth was, especially since I had been more concerned about her in the last few hours than I had previously let on. I hated to admit it, but she had really grown on me and sometimes, in a quiet moment of emotional weakness, I could even admit to myself that I missed our conversations, just the two of us, our little trips and pleasant evenings, to help distract each other from the loss of Mick's a little bit. And the fear of losing her as a friend had chilled me to the bone, drove me now to enter her room on silent feet and carefully sneak up to her bed.

She was sleeping soundly and clearly looked more rested and healthier than before and that reassured me immensely. However, I didn't want to leave right away, but sat down in the chair beside her bed; the one Mick had been occupying for quite some time and did exactly what I had done over the year he had been absent: I took his place as the person who watched over Beth. Only one thing had changed since then – I now did it gladly.

Of course, with this knowledge and the aftermath of the recent disturbing hours, I once again began to ponder my hidden sensitive side, my feelings for the people in my life that really meant something to me, my fears about losing them in that threatening situation, and so on and so forth. And as I sat there, a thought occurred to me, one I hadn't thought about before: the situation might be dangerous, dramatic and nerve-wrecking and we had all suffered from the ordeal that had been imposed upon us, but there was something that, at least for me, felt surprisingly good: the emptiness I had felt again and again over the centuries in everyday life, this feeling of loneliness and weariness of life, had disappeared completely. If I was honest with myself, I had never felt more useful, protected and connected with anyone as I did at this moment, in this extreme situation. Suddenly there was a circle of people around me that had become a kind of family to me. And it felt really good. Was that bad? Was it selfish?

I looked thoughtfully at Beth's relaxed face. She had suffered so much, but here in the sanctuary of our new hiding place, between all the old vampires and with Mick at her side, she had finally found the peace and security she needed to sleep and recover. Of course, she had been given drugs to make it easier for her to sleep, but I was sure this was only secondarily responsible for ensuring that she could relax. So I wasn't the only one whom it did some good to be together with all these other people and that was somewhat reassuring, for it told me that these positive feelings weren't necessarily connected to the fact that I was slowly but surely loosing it. However, one might also say that perhaps we were_ all_ slowly going crazy. I wrinkled my brow thoughtfully and scratched my chin. No, the idea that over time I was becoming a little softer and more emotional and had begun to enjoy the company of others was still much easier to bear than slowly turning into a lunatic.

I breathed out a small sigh and looked at Beth again. When we'd first met, I never would have imagined how close we'd become one day, how dear this small, brash person would become to me at some point. In the beginning, Mick's enormous interest in her had made me angry and at the same time very curious and at our first meeting she had actually impressed me - not only by her attractiveness, but also by her courage and self-confidence. I had immediately felt what a strong and stubborn woman was hiding beneath that cherubic facade and my concerns about her contact with Mick had grown dramatically, as well as my jealousy. It had been clear to me that if my friend were to really fall in love with this young woman, she would turn into my worst competitor with regard to his affection. And that had really pissed me off.

As time drew on though, it had also become clear to me how good she was for Mick and that the deep connection they shared was really something special, unique, something no one should stand in the way of, unless they wanted to antagonize the universe; and I had begun to accept her, to come to terms with the fact that Beth had become a part of Mick's life and thus of mine as well. For this reason only, I had allowed that she had learned private things about me, that we had also gotten closer. I had let her see Sarah, had told her and Mick of the most painful chapter of my life and let her see my most vulnerable side… not just once… She had turned into a good friend of mine, who had made my time without Mick easier, had made me forget the pain of his loss, at least from time to time, and I was infinitely grateful for that. Only I had never really found the time to show her this gratitude. I had not looked after her very well recently, had been only concerned with my own problems and worries, and had really let her down - and the effects of that were that she was now lying here injured and weakened before me and had suffered greatly in these last few hours.

Yes, a bad conscience held me tight in its clutches - and rightly so. I should have been watching out for her better. How easily she could have died in the firefight and that would have cost me not only a good friend but also my _best _friend. And I knew Beth well enough to know that you couldn't park her somewhere and expect to stay while her beloved was out there risking his life for everybody and his dog. Of course, her intervention had helped us all, but with Gabriel on our side, we would have probably escaped from the lab in some other way. Certainly it would have been much more difficult - but for sure we would have made it - without Beth risking her life for us.

A noise outside the door made me look up and only a second later it opened and Frank entered. My presence surprised him somewhat, but he quietly closed the door behind him and came up to me.

"I didn't realize you were still here," he explained his appearance and got me to actually look at the clock across from me. My goodness, had I indeed wasted almost an hour with profound pondering?

"Seems as if Mick's isn't the only one Beth arouses a strong protective instinct in," Frank went on with a small, coy smile. "Everyone here's worried about her. Logan said he would be quite willing to stand guard at her bedside also, if our fumes started to run low. I first had to explain to him that Mick had only given up this task temporarily in order to clarify something with Gabriel. He almost looked a little disappointed."

Part of me wanted to laugh at Frank's comment, but another was left hanging on the words _Mick_ and _Gabriel_ and my thoughts now revolved around this much more exciting subject. I had put it out of my mind so as not to fall into the temptation of eavesdropping on the two of them in someway - because they both would have probably responded with great anger in the attempt. But now I could no longer contain myself.

"Do you think he'll let him live?" I asked, not quite seriously, and Frank blinked, confused.

"Who whom?"

"Mick, Gabriel," I replied, and the smile I had actually planned on hadn't really materialized. I knew it was absolutely possible for Mick to attack the old vampire again if he were to find out anything else that upset him terribly. But Gabriel had made it quite clear, he wanted complete privacy with Mick and with such an old and powerful vampire as Gabriel, it was best not to argue. He knew what he was doing. And if truth be told, he even deserved to shed a few feathers.

"I don't think he'll attack him again, or even seriously injure him," Frank said and seemed to be serious now. "Mick just hates to be left in the dark about things and I think he'll be able to cope with the truth, no matter how shocking it might be, rather than with all this secrecy around him. It will help him to regain some of his trust in Gabriel. And he _should_ trust him."

"What do you think Gabriel's telling him?" I asked the question that bothered me the most.

Frank shrugged his shoulders. "No idea, but I do think there're a lot of things the two need to clear up. I also think there are some more things in the recent past that have happened between the Legion and Gabriel, than he's previously admitted to."

"And… what brings you to this conclusion?" I asked interested and had to admit inwardly that I myself had actually had the same feeling.

"I don't know." A renewed shrug followed these words, and yet I could tell this wasn't quite true. He _knew_ something - at least he had his own thoughts about all this and I was extremely interested in getting to know what they were.

"Come on - surely you have a theory about it," I urged with a small smile, which Frank actually returned a bit shyly and even his cheeks reddened slightly.

"Well, yeah, when you're seriously ill and have nothing better to do other than lie around in bed, then you start to wonder about a lot…" he admitted somewhat bashfully.

"I'm all ears," I replied, raising my eyebrows encouragingly.

"But I may well be wrong…"

I nodded understandingly and made an impatient waving gesture with my hand.

Frank took a deep breath. "Well… I thought again about all the things Gabriel told us in Mexico about the origins of the Legion and the contracts with this organization. And a few strange things stood out: Gabriel's fought so many times under different names against the Legion and defeated them but has never completely wiped them out - even though, before the contracts between the vampires and the Legion were signed, he had the chance to do it, several times. What kept him from doing this? And why did he use a different name for every major fight?"

These were really good questions - questions I had foolishly never asked, but now seemed incredibly important to me.

"I mean, the Legion has already shown, in their early stages, that they wanted to wipe out all vampires," Frank continued. "They've taken some pretty drastic action against the vampires and even killed Gabriel's closest confidants - why didn't he destroy them when he had the chance? Instead, he just kept an eye on them, even allowed them to rebuild. There's something amiss here!"

My brows had drawn together thoughtfully and my mind was working harder than it had in a long time. "Maybe they already had some rules or understandings between them, to which he had to adhere."

"But what forces such a powerful vampire such as Gabriel to stick to the rules of a human organization whose only goal is to systematically decimate other vampires?" Frank kept on asking. "I mean, they must have some really strong leverage against him - or he himself _wants_ the Legion to exist, wants them in turn to control the vampires. After all, the Legion has indeed forced the vampires of Europe, from what he's told us, to form a real community with rules and a certain cohesion…"

I felt a little nauseous. The thoughts Frank's words conjured in me were frightening. Both assumptions had there pitfalls, but that Gabriel had always been pulling the strings from behind the scenes and was manipulating both the Legion and the vampire community and using them for his own interests, was really a very frightening thought.

"Don't get me wrong," Frank went on now. "I don't think Gabriel is a malicious man who's used everyone just for his own benefit. Quite the contrary, I think he really wants what's best for all and he's an incredibly wise and highly intelligent man who is of the utmost importance to our survival. But I also think Mick was right in what he said; that Gabriel's advanced age and his experience make him superior to the rest of the people who surround him. Who wouldn't be tempted to take advantage of this superiority in order to influence the fate of the people for his own purposes; for example, prepare things in such a way that optimal control of the two opposing parties is possible? I mean, doesn't the constant change of name indicate just that. That way you can keep one name clean, while, with another one, you're leading bloody campaigns against one of the parties you still want to continue influencing. And then there's the _choice_ of names… Why Archangels? Are they not known for influencing the ways and the fates of people, even steering them? Perhaps Gabriel, with each name he's used, has even revealed what kind of mood he was in when he wore the respective name, what his main goal was. The angel Gabriel, in the Christian religion, is an interpreter of visions and a messenger of God and in the Islamic religion an angel of revelation. The only question is what does Gabriel want to reveal to us? What visions does he want to bring home to us?"

I frowned and couldn't keep my gaze from becoming skeptical. I wasn't into religion at all. "I don't know," I immediately expressed my doubts. "Isn't that a bit far-fetched? After all, the idea of the Archangels wasn't his, but that of this strange Frenchman, who founded the original Legion."

"So says _Gabriel_," Frank added shrewdly. "But what if that was only half the truth? Perhaps this association of vampires, these _des Archanges_ existed much earlier, and Gabriel just changed a few things in history to eliminate the chance of any other vampires coming back and holding him and the other Ancients accountable for the emergence of the Legion in the first place. Maybe he himself is actually to blame for the fact that they do exist…"

"That would at least explain why he has concealed so many things from all of us and especially Mick," I noted with great unease and let my fingers roam over my mouth. "I mean, basically, Gabriel would then also be to blame for all these terrible things that have happened to Mick."

"_And _the fact that the Legion even started with all this research. Also, for me getting involved… that my family had to die…." Frank stopped and looked down. "And then the things he said to me would also fit, that he had come to make amends…"

I frowned. "When did he say that to you?"

Frank looked up again. "When I met him for the first time," he said softly. "Mick and I just talked about it… The idea came to me that the man, who once saved me and then educated me about the Nigong, might have been Gabriel, and Mick was sure it was, and became incredibly angry. Basically, this whole story is the reason for him blowing up in front of Gabriel, I think."

I closed my eyes and shook my head to loosen the knots which the many different threads of thought had formed in my mind. When I looked at Frank again, his eyes showed remorse and discomfort.

"Maybe I should have told you all this much earlier… but some of this I've only just now realized…"

I raised a hand to stop him from continuing and confusing me even more. "Again, from the beginning… Gabriel saved you once and told you about the Nigong?"

Frank nodded.

"When was that?"

"A few weeks after my wife and son died."

"That means _after_ the Legion contacted you for the first time," I concluded from his words.

Again the professor nodded.

"This would mean the Legion already had you experimenting with vampire blood for some time…"

Another, little, uneasy nod this time, followed my words.

"And Gabriel knew about it?"

"Yes. When I think about it more precisely, I believe, nothing had surprised him about my report."

"What did he want?"

Frank shrugged his shoulders now somewhat unconvincingly. "I think he was trying to prevent me from killing myself. He probably wanted to point out that my job in this world still wasn't finished."

"That means he wasn't trying to discourage you from continuing to do research on the vampire blood," I stated and I found my own grudge against Gabriel begin to grow again.

Frank nodded hesitantly. "Basically, by telling me the stories about the vampires and the Nigong he even helped me to move forward in my research. I think he just wanted to prevent me from seeing vampires as monsters and abusing them without remorse for my research. Generally, he didn't disapprove of what I was doing."

Somehow this all made sense now. Gabriel himself had admitted to us before that he had once harbored a deep desire to return to being human again. He had developed the cure and had not been able to prevent it from being stolen by others to further research it - an experienced, intelligent man like Gabriel! Wasn't it more likely that in his heart two souls were struggling with each other? The selfish one that longed to finally reach the state it so desperately yearned for and the wise, selfless one, inclined towards the world that only wanted the best for his fellow men and longed for peace and unity between humans and vampires. That would explain the fluctuations in his behavior, his changing attitude towards the research on the cure, his inability to act more radically against the persons who had continued to research, despite his prohibition. How was he supposed to do that when he himself wanted so much to find a real cure for everyone?

"What was the reason you gave him for your research?" I had to ask. I had a specific thought in mind…

"I told him the truth, Josef. I told him I was searching for a cure against autoimmune diseases; that I hoped to be able to develop it into something that also promised help for other serious diseases; that I believe with the blood of vampires you could stop the aging process one day and can change the world from the ground up."

I avoided his gaze, looked at Beth instead, who was still sleeping peacefully beside me. Actually I wanted to be angry, I wanted to despise Gabriel for betraying us vampires because of his contact with Frank, but the professor's words had also reached me, causing me to brood and it touched a sore spot within me. A spot that every man possessed, who had ever struggled through a serious illness in his life or had ever sat at the bedside of a loved one, with the feeling you might loose this very important person forever. Both were true for me, and the idea that one could develop a cure to prevent such terrible situations and still remain human, was indeed tempting. In my particular case, it fueled my already awakened hopes which I had always been able to successfully suppress. But now they burst out of me with a vengeance.

"You… you said earlier in the station Mick's genetics must have developed in the right direction. How close did you come with Mick to reaching your previous goal?" I asked quietly and didn't dare look at the professor. The feeling I was now having, of betraying my best friend, was just too strong.

"I can't say for sure," Frank said and I could hear the surprise in his voice at my question. "As we've noted, it seems that Mick's blood in a certain minimum dosage shows some healing effects on the average vampiric body. I would have to talk to August to be more precise, but I think you can really say it's been an initial success."

"And how do you think his blood would react on an organism that is neither human nor vampire?" Now I cast a hesitant glance toward Frank and could see the slight confusion appearing on his face.

"Do you mean like with Beth?"

"No." I took a deep breath. "I'm talking about someone, in which a turning has failed. She's been in a kind of coma for many, many years now. She doesn't age, but she wouldn't survive without life support. She's neither a real vampire nor a human being, and she just doesn't want to wake up again…"

Frank looked at me with wide eyes and I could see in them how the scientists in him began to stir. It was the first time since I'd known him that I liked that, that I wanted to see just that.

"What blood type does she have?" he asked with great interest.

"B negative."

He nodded. "In this group there are blood descendants of the Nigong as well. And that these people have had problems with the transformation into a vampire is not unusual…" He scratched his forehead thoughtfully. "You're hoping that maybe she'll come out of this state with the help of Mick's blood, aren't you?"

I wanted to nod, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to make this minimal movement because I had one hell of a guilty conscience concerning Mick. Frank understood me anyway.

"If she's indeed a descendant of the Nigong and carries these specific genetics within her, this could actually be possible…" His gaze wandered over Beth's figure. "At least we know that Mick's blood was able to help Beth… _and_ Gabriel. But so far these two have been the only ones to have been injected with his pure blood and still tolerated it. And since this woman has a different blood type, I'm not quite sure how she would react to Mick's blood… How long has she been in this coma?"

I swallowed hard, had to first gather myself to be able to voice the words. "Fifty-five years."

Frank reacted exactly as I had expected. He opened his eyes wide and gasped for air. "_Fifty-five years_?"

I avoided his gaze, stared uneasily at my hands. To an outsider my behavior concerning Sarah had to look like obsession - coupled with a huge dose of selfishness. And perhaps it was, that being said, it was time to put this whole drama to an end - whether it be a good outcome or not.

"I know it's been an immensely long period of time that's passed and I… I would've let her go a long time ago, but I…" I breathed a small desperate sigh and only now looked at the professor again. "I just couldn't do it, couldn't accept that fate would take away the one person who was meant for me…"

The compassion and understanding immediately shown in Frank's eyes surprised me, as well as his understanding nod. "I probably wouldn't have acted any differently. And who knows - maybe it's the right decision, considering the latest developments. Perhaps we can in fact bring her back to life with Mick's help."

My stomach made a small flip, not because Frank's words had scared me, but because they made my hopes seem more real and caused my intestines to tingle.

"Of course we must not rush things," the professor continued. "We should first make a few tests with her blood and then carefully consider how to proceed. I would have to know how her vital signs are, to give me a better understanding of her condition. And then I'll need all the medical information you've collected over time about her."

I nodded willingly and my heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. "Most of it is in a safe in my L.A. office. But as far as the current vitals are concerned… I think Logan could help us there."

Frank raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Logan?"

I let out a chuckle. "Not in medical terms. He can make contact with the person who's currently caring for Sarah."

"Oh… okay," Peterson said, relieved and turned towards the door, seemingly to put the idea into immediate action. But just as he reached out his hand to the latch, the door opened and Mick entered. I almost winced, caught, and couldn't do anything against the irrational feeling of having betrayed him, though I had done nothing that could harm him.

Mick, however, looked confused from Frank to me and frowned. It probably surprised him that we were both in Beth's room. "Has anything happened to Beth?"

I shook my head quickly and got up from the chair at Beth's bedside while Frank responded with a reassuring "No, everything's fine" to his question.

"We both just had the same brilliant idea to check on her," I added, but even I furrowed my brows critically. Something about Mick had changed. He was so pale, looked so rattled, and somehow seemed only half-aware of his surroundings. The other half of his attention was obviously still focused on the things he had just learned from Gabriel. Really shocking, earth shattering things that had left him quite upset - I could read it in his face as he stepped closer to Beth's bed and let his gaze roam over her form with a strangely absent expression.

Perhaps Gabriel had been right. Perhaps it would've been better for him not to know everything at once. But it was too late now. The mischief had been done and all I could do now was to help Mick try to process what he had heard - and perhaps get an even better picture of the whole situation for myself.

"I'm heading over to Logan," Frank said and I could feel just how much he was itching to start working, in a positive way for a change, as a physician and scientist. My revived hopes made sure that I nodded to him and allowed him to slip out of the door almost happily, while I was left, as so often, with the arduous task of bringing my best friend back to a reasonably normal state again.

"And? Did he allow you grill him a little?" I asked somewhat clumsily.

Mick raised his head and looked at me with this strange expression… so tired, so exhausted… so empty… No, he wasn't well at all. An unpleasant shudder ran down my back and not even the silent affirmative nod of my best friend could please me.

"Somehow, I can't shake the feeling that the rest of us are going to have to wait a little while longer for the answers to our questions," I said and stepped up next to him, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

Mick didn't react. His gaze was resting on Beth again and he seemed to be deeply involved in his own melancholy thoughts. It took a few seconds in which I didn't know what to say, but when he spoke again, it made me even flinch a little.

"Josef… when I was introduced to you by Coraline… was that really the first time you'd ever seen me, that you'd heard about me?"

His question confused me a bit, but I nevertheless immediately responded to it. "Yes. _Was_ there something I should have heard about you sooner?"

"And my family name? Did it mean anything to you?" Mick just passed over my question and looked at me again - with a forcefulness that almost made me feel a little uncomfortable.

I could only shake my head again.

"What about the name _Saint-Arnaud_?"

"I really have no idea what you're talking about," I had to admit to my disappointment.

"And this?" He raised his hand, held his ring in front of my nose. "Have you ever seen this elsewhere?"

I shook my head as my confusion began to paralyze my thinking.

"What about Marisa's pendant?"

"Marisa was a Freshie but except on her, I've never seen it before," I gave back a little ungraciously. I hated it when someone confused me so much and didn't just spit out, what was really on their mind. "But you said yourself that it was a family heirloom."

"You always used to say there was no cure for vampirism and I that couldn't undo what Coraline had done to me," Mick just continued. "Was that true? Did you know absolutely nothing about the cure?"

"Of course not!" I replied a little angry now. "Do you really think I would lie to you like that? What… what are all these questions about anyway?"

Mick hung his head, ran a hand over his face. "Somehow… everything is just so messed up right now…" he said very softly, and as he looked at me again, there was a hint of despair and deep sadness in his eyes. "All at once I feel so… so alien in my own life again. Everything that I thought was fixed and stable broke away from under my feet, and I… I just need a constant in my life, someone who hasn't lied to me and deceived me, at least not in the past. Someone I can absolutely rely on."

"Mick." I grabbed him by the shoulders and looked at him intently, tried to make it clear to him that he could find the hold he was searching for in me. "You're still you, no matter what's happened around you or what may have happened behind your back in the past. And I'm still the same person. Our friendship has slowly built up over the years and I didn't have any ulterior motives, or any prior knowledge of you that I've hidden from you when we became friends. The things Coraline confessed to you were also completely new to me and whatever Gabriel has just told you, I swear I'm not involved in this matter. Do you believe me?"

Mick looked at me a moment longer, then he took a deep relieved breath and nodded.

"Good," I said with a small smile and patted his face briefly. "And about this questioning… you know I hate this, but if you do happen to have anything else on your mind…"

Actually, I was expecting a laugh, but Mick remained serious, still looked so terrible worn down that I too couldn't really relax.

"And if you want to unburden yourself of some of the things that are weighing on you," I felt obliged to continue, "you know you'll always find in me someone who's ready to listen…"

He nodded again, though his gaze was already on Beth again. I didn't like the sad, slightly disappointed look in his eyes.

"… and certainly Beth, too," I added quickly. "I know this thing with Gabriel's bite has upset you quite a bit. But put yourself in her position. Wouldn't you have done the same?"

Mick's cheek muscles twitched treacherously, but he finally nodded.

"You can always rely on us, Mick. On her _and_ me - no matter what happens. We'll always be there for you, stand beside you."

I had expected that Mick would nod in agreement again, but he didn't. Quite the contrary - he even shook his head.

"I know I can rely on you both," he said, before I could gasp angrily for air. "And I still remember all the things you told me about my relationship with her and my feelings of guilt towards her. And I still believe you were right - but nevertheless, Beth cannot stay by my side."

Now Mick's pause was long enough for me to take in an indignant breath. "This is the stupidest thing…"

Mick cut me off with a strict movement of his hand, but it wasn't the gesture that left me speechless but the deep sadness and sorrow in his eyes that was affecting him as his gaze roamed once more over Beth's figure. He took another breath, this time clearly haltingly.

"I kill her Josef," I heard his low voice and as he looked at me again, even the despair had returned to his eyes. "Sooner or later she'll die - just because she's by my side, because we had to fall in love… The Legion will hunt me forever if we can't destroy it - for the rest of my life. And at some point, they'll know how much Beth means to me and try to get to me through her. The danger for her is still growing… and I… I can't…" Mick said nothing else, lowered his head and shook it a second time, pressed his lips firmly together. He inhaled a deep trembling breath in his lungs and when he raised his eyes again, they were filled with tears. "I can't allow that to happen, Josef," he breathed. "I… I must find a way to prevent this. And if we're not able to bring the Legion to its knees, there's only one way to get them to leave the vampire world and thus Beth alone in peace…" Again he paused and looked down, but I needed no other words to know what he was driving at. I knew Mick only too well and that knowledge ensured that my chest tightened, and a dangerous mixture of anger and fear rose within me.

"We… we still have time Mick," I stammered. "We _will_ destroy the Legion. I swear to you. And until then, we'll keep Beth out of all dangerous activities, whether she wants it or not."

"Yeah, this has previously worked _so_ well," Mick brought forth with a small, sad laugh.

I wanted to say something else, but again there were quick steps outside the door that made me pause. This time the door not only opened, it _burst_ open and a visibly paler, distressed Logan rushed towards us. "Josef, you… you gotta tell me right now that you've called this Lisa, this nurse, about half an hour ago, and asked about Sarah's condition! Tell me please, will you?"

I became hot and cold at the same time, and stared at Logan with my mouth open, while my heartbeat jumped immediately into a very unhealthy pace.

"You… you didn't, did you?" Logan concluded from my reaction with a thin, shaky voice. "Fuck… I really fucked up this time…" He ran his hand erratically over his forehead. The next moment he grasped for breath, because I had seized him by the collar of his shirt and jerked him up close to me.

"What the hell are you trying to say?" I growled, even though I knew what disaster was already taking shape there.

Logan swallowed hard. "When… when you were so drunk and asked me to contact this Lisa, I… I did, by mistake with my old ID number…"

"And?"

"I think Gabriel had suspected some time ago that one of the traitors had tapped into my computer and not only got some very important information, but set it up to eavesdrop on important conversations I've done on the PC. Everything through the old ID address…"

I felt sick. "Does this mean the Legion may know where Sarah is now?" I gasped in horror.

"If _you_ weren't the one who contacted this Lisa – then who else could it have been?"

I let go of him again, took a few steps toward the door, while my thoughts tumbled over in my head. The Legion had been informed about Sarah, knew, perhaps, where she was and what she meant to me. They would look for her and take her hostage to blackmail me… if I didn't get there fast…

"I… I need the helicopter," I stammered and rushed out of the room, but stopped indecisively in the corridor, trying to sort my confused thoughts and not responding to Mick, who had called to me and only seconds later appeared behind me. But at that moment I was already moving again, rushing toward the exit.

"Josef!" Mick was with me after taking a few steps, grabbed my shoulders and turned me around, forced me to look at him. "Calm down! Where is Sarah?"

"In Three Rivers, near Visalia," I stammered and now had to fight vehemently against the feeling of despair that wanted to overcome me, because my subconscious mind told me very clearly it was going to be impossible to move Sarah fast enough with all the equipment that she needed to stay alive. This time we had no intensive-care-transport helicopter and had even less time than we had had back then with Mick.

"I… I can't let her down," I stammered on and my voice broke a little under the weight of the influx of my feelings. "I… I need to get to her."

"I know," Mick replied, looking at me intently. "But you can't do this alone. We'll get her together!"

"But I can't move her that fast – not with all these devices! It's impossible!" My voice sounded, through my increasingly growing panic, almost shrill now.

"And if we just wake her up?" Frank suggested quickly, as he had followed me also full of worries.

I froze, looked at him with eyes as wide as Mick's. I hadn't even considered that.

"Just wake her up?" my friend repeated perplexed. "But that's not possible. Josef's been trying that for decades!"

He looked at me, but I couldn't bring myself say something, because the thought was just too scary.

"Josef and I were just talking about it," Frank now explained for me and the confusion in Mick's bright eyes grew. "I… I think it might be possible that your blood could have a healing effect on Sarah. Although she doesn't have your blood type, she has B negative - this blood type can also be related to the Nigong. And her problems concerning the turning also point to that. We… we could take your blood and fly as quickly as possible to her and then try to wake her before the Legion gets there. Then we'd no longer need to consider the life support."

"But you… you're not even sure if that'll work, are you?" Mick replied in concern. "And if not, she'll die without the devices, won't she?"

Frank hesitated, but then he nodded and looked at me sadly. My thoughts began to move rapidly. I didn't have many options if it had indeed been the Legion that had questioned Lisa about Sarah's condition and whereabouts, and in that regard I was almost certain. I could only go to Sarah, barricade myself in her room and fight off the Legion until they killed me and therefore Sarah as well, or I could take her off her devices and take her with me, which she would, without fail, not survive without Mick's blood. _With_ Mick's blood she had a small chance to wake up and to return to life.

I swallowed hard and nodded to myself. "We do it," I said resolutely. "We go out there and try to awake her with Mick's blood." I looked again at my best friend. "If you _want_ to provide it for us," I added quickly.

He nodded and straightened his shoulders. "Then take all the paraphernalia with you. We can do this while we're driving," he said to Frank and already moved down the hallway to the living room where Gabriel was probably still sitting.

I followed him automatically, but with a puzzled frown. "You… you really want to come along?" it slipped out of me with a little look in the direction of Beth's bedroom.

Mick's facial features became a little harder for a moment, and then he nodded. "You might need more than one vial to wake Sarah up," he replied. "Let us quickly arrange all this with Gabriel."

And with that he disappeared inside the living room. I couldn't help it - I just stood in the hallway and closed my eyes. I didn't like these developments at all. Not only because there was this insane fear for Sarah that stirred up my soul completely, but now, also my growing concerns over the mental state of my best friend. Even though he sounded like Mick, was as selfless and brave as ever, all at once he seemed so strangely alien to me. He seemed so fragile… so… out of it…

I lifted my eyelids again when I felt a hand on my arm, and looked into Frank's warm, compassionate eyes. "We'll fix this somehow," he said softly, and even as he tried, he couldn't hide one thing: his own uncertainty, which joined mine quite wonderfully. If we were to really save Sarah, it was going to take a miracle and I really hoped that we had not used up our supply of miracles long ago.


	58. Avenging Angel Part 1

_Hi my dear readers and comment writers! Here's the next chapter for you. I again split it up because it was simply too long and the second half is still in the translating process. I think with that chapter (in the whole) a lot of questions will be answered. And I hope you maybe leave me a comment again. I so loved your last ones! Fat hugs for all of you. And now I'll leave and let you read the first half of the chapter. I'll try to post the second half in about a week again. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

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**Avenging Angel **(Part 1)

* * *

"_A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green. They would heal if he didn't do it."_

_Sir Francis Bacon_

* * *

It was dark, darker than an ordinary night. The already blackened sky had clouded up with dark clouds that did not let the light of the stars and the moon get through. But the darkness around Beth could not compete with the darkness in her heart. Any happiness, any ray of hope, any positive sentiment had been drowned by the events of the last few weeks. Grief, despair and hatred were all that was left behind along with this tremendous urge for revenge - bloody, brutal, merciless revenge that had not disappeared after her last atrocities. Dumuzi and Nin-Mach's cries of pain, the torture she had let the two go through, the fear and the pleas for mercy in their eyes had not been enough to subdue this urge; their death had not been able to banish the emptiness inside her. But perhaps Inanna's death would; maybe her Sire's suffering would erase her own.

She heard footsteps approaching and turning a little saw three dark figures under the cloud of night rush between the trees and bushes toward her. The dark clothes and armor they wore and their soot-blackened faces and hair helped them merge with the night. Only their movements and the golden tree of life symbol on their chest armor revealed where they were.

"She's in the house," whispered one of the dark figures when it was close enough to her and Beth recognized by the voice that it had to be Marcus. "But she's not alone…"

Beth nodded a mocking smile on her lips. "Of course not. She knew we'd come to fetch her and put an end to the machinations of the Anunna once and for all."

"Do you really think it's a good idea to approach her as a human?" Marcus asked again with great uncertainty in his eyes.

"Didn't this work wonderfully with the others?" Beth asked back somewhat annoyed.

Marcus nodded hesitantly. "But with her it's different – she's stronger and wiser than the others."

"And also more arrogant," Beth added. "She thinks she's immortal and we didn't leave anyone alive that would have been able to warn her of our tactic."

"And if Flavius is with her?" Titus, the other man at her side, asked uncertainly and retightened the straps of his black leather breast-plate.

"He's one of us," Beth said back emphatically. "He won't betray us."

Marcus scrutinized her for a long moment then nodded encouragingly to Titus. The young man immediately set into motion disappearing in the direction from which he had just come.

Beth briefly examined the weapons she carried: an inward curved broadsword which was sharpened on both sides at her left side and the short two-edged silver dagger that was still spattered with the blood of the vampires Beth had already killed. She had vowed not to clean the knife until everyone who had taken her family away from her in such a horrible way was dead. And yet the ornament that Beth had engraved in the dagger was still recognizable under the bloody crust: a delicate lily.

She gritted her teeth, bravely ignoring the hard lump that formed immediately in her belly, drew her sword and nodded to Marcus who then quickly lit a torch and swung it to and fro a few times in the air. Immediately something happened in their vicinity. From the front of the house which harbored the vampires and their other bodyguards loud cries were heard and only seconds later red and yellow lights flew onto the wooden roof of the house - more burning torches that immediately set fire to everything around them.

Beth stood up now, because behind her she could hear the squad they had been waiting for move closer. A large group of darters, archers and sword fighters, all dressed as darkly as the others, all with their faces and hair blackened by soot. Inanna would not recognize Beth if she was moving between these men. She would not see the danger and thus her death approaching - until the moment she turned back into a vampire.

Beth searched Marcus' gaze and he nodded to her determined. "For my sister and Janus."

"For freedom," she replied softly and they both knew that the outcome of this struggle would either instigate a new beginning for all of them or the certain end for their resistance movement. Everything depended on whether their plan worked out one more time and that they had not been betrayed by someone.

Marcus turned his attention to the many brave men who had gathered around them. "We're observing the old method. Keep Šamaš in your midst and protect him with everything you have, until he transforms." He did not even wait for the understanding nods of his men but simply gave the signal to attack immediately.

It was indeed time for the sounds of battle in the front of the house and the flames on the roof forced the vampires to flee through the back door. Even to the men, between whom Beth was now moving, this was clear she could tell from only looking at them, she could feel it in the tension that had gripped all of them. The darters had already raised their weapons, the archers had bent their bows and even Beth clutched her sword so tightly that her knuckles stood out white under her skin.

And then it happened: the door of the house opened and dark figures rushed out, more quickly than a human eye could perceive. But the men at Beth's side were conversant with vampires and had begun to adjust and sent their arrows and spears already on their way the moment the door began to open. Some of them hit neither stone nor wood, but flesh and bone, knocking three of the attacking figures immediately off their feet. Much more Beth could not see, however, because just seconds later, the other attackers dashed hissing and growling against their little army. Men were flying through the air like dolls, bones cracked and blood spurted toward her. The vampires were beside themselves with anger, like wild beasts they went through the ranks of humans and created within seconds a terrible bloodbath. And there she was among them, confident of victory - Inanna. Even in her transformed state, with the hate and bloodlust glowing in her eyes, she still had a grace and beauty that was breathtaking, but she had lost her power over Beth and could not affect her any longer. All that Beth felt for her was abysmal hatred and the strong urge to kill her, slowly. These feelings were enough to initiate the transformation. The energies inside her began to converge, burning and tingling in her body, and then her body became as cold and unfeeling as her soul, causing her to tense up like a bowstring.

Inanna turned around to her and as their eyes met for a moment time seemed to stop, giving the ancient and deep connection between them the opportunity to flare up again briefly, letting the feelings they had once had for each other surge up within them. Then it was over. Beth jumped off a fraction of a second sooner, spun around in the air, faking a blow with the sword that Inanna parried in her flight, and then landed softly on the ground, just like her Sire. The surprise that was written in the face of the Ancient One evolved rapidly into horror and she pressed her hand to her throat, gasping for air and staggered a step aside. Bright red blood oozed through her fingers, ran over her hands and arms as she continued to gasp for air in horror. Beth raised the sharp silver dagger that she had held in her other hand and had driven in an almost invisible movement deeply through her Sires neck into Inanna's field of vision. It had been hidden by the strike with the sword. The corners of her mouth lifted into a minimal smile as Inanna fell to her knees in front of her.

The fighting around them died away. Vampires and humans could hardly believe what they were seeing. The last of the 'wrong' gods fell, reaching one of her hands covered in blood out for help towards Beth, silently begging for mercy. Beth took a step toward her, but her eyes showed nothing but contempt.

"Ereškigal's waiting for you," slipped softly from her lips as she raised one leg and kicked the rattling woman over with her foot. The sad eyes of the vampire still clung to her looking for forgiveness. But there was nothing that Beth was able to give to this woman - except death. And she would take her time with this…

* * *

Beth jumped awake panting. Her heart raced and she quickly sucked air into her lungs ignoring the slight pain in her arm and the dizziness that overcame her as best as she could. Good God! What had she dreamed here? She tried again to get her breathing under control, to calm her pulse.

'Just a dream - a really strange dream,' she said to herself. However, everything had been so real, much like the dreams in which she was connected with Mick, but still she was unable to make heads or tails of it. If she was not mistaken, she had made a trip back to the time of the Roman Empire. The clothes and weapons of her comrades as well as the appearance of the building that they had attacked had suggested it. The only question was why she had made this journey, unless it had been just a confused dream due to her exhaustion and injury.

But if she had indeed been connected with someone, if it had indeed been another person's memory she had seen it could certainly not be Mick's as he was born in the twenties. The only person she knew who had lived in the time of the ancient Romans was Gabriel. Somehow the thought made her feel not at all good, because an uneasy feeling deep inside her told her that in her dream something had happened that was related somehow to the situation in which they currently were.

Beth closed her eyes and breathed more deeply through her nose until the vertigo slowly vanished and her thoughts became clearer.

'Don't jump to conclusions,' she said to herself. 'It could just have been a normal dream. So relax.'

But that was easier said than done, not only because she was so terribly upset, but also because the pain in her arm had become a little stronger and when she looked around she noticed she was all alone. Alone in a completely foreign environment. No Mick, no Josef, no Frank. Not _anyone_ watching over her. Disappointment and subdued concern mixed with the turmoil inside her and she tried hard to remember what had happened before her last swoon. A car and Mick who held her in his arms, pale, tired and full of concern for her. She had looked out the window perceiving blurry trees that had moved past her at not too high a speed and then they had stopped. Gabriel had opened the door from outside and had bent down to her. Then she had lost consciousness. Her friends had probably brought her here, had laid her down in this bed and had just let her sleep. And she had indeed slept really well. She felt much better although the slight dizziness was still there. She closed her eyes and listened to herself, felt with all her senses for the little creature that had been exposed to the same hardships she had, and when she felt that it was alive and well, greeting her with a regular, steady beating of its little heart, a feeling of deep relief and affection washed over her. Not _all_ alone…

'Let's see where your daddy is,' she sent to her baby and felt the warmth inside increase with the word 'daddy'. It felt so strange and yet so wonderful. Maybe it was about time to let Mick participate in these feelings, no matter how much she was afraid of his reaction. They had experienced so many terrible things in the last hours. Could such a message then be taken as something bad?

Despite her circulatory problems Beth slipped with resolve up to the edge of the bed, put her bare feet on the floor and threw back her blanket. She glanced down at herself and raised her eyebrows in surprise. She must have been passed out like a coma patient – nothing else could explain how she was now dressed completely differently than before and had not noticed that someone had changed her clothes. She hoped so much it had been Mick. She was now wearing pajama pants that were a little too wide for her and a T-shirt whose sleeve had been cut open somewhat to get better access to her wound. A thick bandage was wrapped around her upper arm and prevented her from taking a look at the wound, but Beth was actually rather relieved about that. She could also _feel_ that the wound healed slowly, and the sight would probably only cause her to become sick again. Her stomach acceded to her thoughts with a loud rumbling and also made her aware that it wanted to be stuffed a little bit again. Above all with water as her mouth was terribly dry and certainly the slowly-increasing headache proceeded from this dehydration.

She was sure Mick and the others would not like it that she got up now to get something to drink and see what the others were doing, but then again they shouldn't have let her alone. She would certainly not croak for help like a small, tearful girl. She had been asleep long enough. She could see through the little window that was set into one of the walls that dawn had already come. It was really time to get up.

Beth steadied herself on the bedpost beside her as she slowly lifted herself, and it was a good thing because the vertigo immediately became stronger and caused an unpleasant pressure in her stomach. She stopped for a moment, focused on breathing calmly and relaxing, and then looked over to the door which was actually not that far away. But just standing upright took more than she had suspected. Maybe it _was_ better to call for someone to help her a little. However, it was very likely that her friends would tuck her right back into bed and condemn her to sitting around and doing nothing for quite a while. No, she would clench her teeth and at least make a try to get to the door on her own.

Beth took a deep breath, gathered her strength and moved. She was a little shaky and uncoordinated, but it worked. She even had the feeling that it did her good, that her circulation stabilized and that she gained more strength with each step. Basically it had just been a shot in the arm. Carl had had to take much more. Oh, God, Carl! Beth paused at the door, horrified. If it had been so bad for her that she had had to take Mick's blood to recover… She didn't dare to dwell on that thought. She hoped nothing had happened to Carl. He _had_ to still be alive. Please, please…

She closed her eyes and forced herself a second time to breathe deeply. It was no good to anyone if she became anxious now and broke down. All she could do was to find someone who knew about Carl's welfare. First she had to take care of herself, though, because the thirst she felt had now become much stronger, as had her hunger, and she had not only herself to care for, but also her child. After all the stress it certainly needed more nutrients than before. She pressed the handle down resolutely and opened the door. In the hallway there was no-one to be seen either and Beth furrowed her brow thoughtfully. Was that good or bad? Probably good, because every time there had been imminent danger everything had always been rather noisy and hectic. Silence, however, usually meant that everyone had time to rest and to recover. And she was happy for her friends. The fact that Mick was nowhere to be seen gnawed at her and made her a little nervous. But perhaps she would find him in the kitchen or the living room engrossed in a quiet conversation with Josef and Gabriel. The only question was where this room was.

Beth moved forward along the wall to be able to support herself when she was again overwhelmed by a dizzy spell. She ignored the first doors she passed because she was sure that these were only rooms like hers. There was light falling into the hallway from another room further ahead and some instinct told her that there she would find what she sought.

She was right. It was the living room that she entered a few minutes later, a bit tired. Rather it was the very comfortable-looking, pretty but very empty kitchen-cum-living room. No Mick or any of her other friends. But the sight of the water bottle on the counter made Beth forget her concern about Mick's whereabouts for a moment, and she immediately rushed over to it. She didn't even bother to look for a glass, but screwed the bottle open and put it to her lips just like that, to swallow down the cool water in greedy gulps. God, that was good! Now she understood what Mick had gone through back when he had woken up for the first time as a human in the farm house. Somehow her modified organism needed more liquid to heal than that of a normal person.

Beth put the bottle down only after she had emptied it halfway and she got a little dizzy again. 'A little' was actually an understatement, because her legs were now wobbly and she felt dull and tired. The couch was not so far away. Maybe she could make it there and would not have to settle down here on the cold tiles of the kitchen area. She gritted her teeth and staggered on using whatever she could find for support and reached her goal, just barely. The pain that shot through her arm as she flopped on the upholstered furniture was barely endurable. Even worse were the nausea and light cramps in her stomach. She let her head fall exhaustedly on the back rest and closed her eyes. It took a while until her circulation calmed down and she could lift her lids again and she just could not help but to be somewhat annoyed at herself. Why oh why did all this have to happen to her again? Why couldn't the things that she herself initiated just work out the way they were planned for _once_? Mick would certainly be feeling terribly guilty and would again be toying with the idea of taking her somewhere where she would be safe. That's just how he ticked - and somehow his touching ministrations were also a reason why she loved him so much. But it would be very hard to convince him again of the fact that he was not to blame for the things that had happened to her and that she was better off at his side than anywhere else.

Beth suddenly lifted her head as a horrible thought crossed her mind. What if she_ had_ already been taken away, what if this was exactly the reason why it was so quiet here? Perhaps the other vampires were no longer here and she was alone with some nurse who was just taking a nap. Beth's eyes flew across the room looking frantically for a clue that the vampires were still here… empty blood packs or something similar. But there were none, at least not in her immediate proximity. The only thing that drew her attention was a dark bag, which lay on the arm chair beside her and from which something was peeking out.

Beth drew her brows together, gathered her strength and slid as far forward on the couch as she could in order to take a closer look. Was it a book? She stretched out her hand and then pulled at the corner she'd gotten a hold of. It was in fact a book; a very thick, heavy, old book that looked very similar to the book of the Sangsujets. But it was not the same, as on the cover no lilies cross was emblazoned but another emblem - the same emblem that had been visible on the armor of the men in her dream!

She pulled her hand back so fast as if she had burnt her fingers and held her breath for a moment, still staring at the book as if mesmerized. Had the others taken it out of the lab? Then it had probably been in the hands of the Legion. But… why had _she_ dreamed of this symbol? And what exactly did it mean?

Beth looked around briefly, listening for voices or other sounds in the distance that showed her that someone was coming closer to her. But there were none. No one would notice it when she looked at the book more closely.

Her fingers trembled slightly and her heart was beating much faster as she reached out her hands for the book a second time, grabbed it firmly and heaved it over onto her lap. It was really heavy – even heavier than the book of the Sangsujets if she remembered correctly. But it was at least as old. She took a deep breath and opened the cover. Old pages of papyrus came to light, as in the other book, pages with Roman dates and notes in Latin. Was this really a second book of the Sangsujets? Had Gabriel ever said anything about there being several? After all, it had been several blood lines that had been watched over. But how did the Legion get their hands on it?

Beth turned the pages carefully. Other names and data… Pedigrees… Beth was startled when she turned the next page because it looked so different from the ones before. It looked more like a diary entry. At the top a date was noted followed by a longer passage of text and at the end some names were listed. Twenty, if she was not mistaken. Somehow she could not shake the feeling that something terrible had happened on the day mentioned and said people had lost their lives. She turned back some pages and compared the names with those on the other sides and found with horror that it was indeed people from the lists of the putative Sangsujets. She was sure that they had been executed - the only question was for what? Her eyes flew over the Latin words searching for familiar syllables and found them: _Rebellione_...

She paused. Was it possible that there had been an uprising? Had the Sangsujet risen against the vampires that took advantage of them and been brutally punished for it? She stopped breathing as her eyes fell onto another word, or rather a name. Laelia. It was not mentioned once, but several times. That probably meant that she had played an important role in this rebellion. Perhaps that was the real reason why Gabriel had fled with her. He had saved her from execution, because her name was not to be found in the list of those executed. But then shouldn't he have been mentioned somewhere? Again her eyes were on the move, looking for other names that were found in connection with Laelia. Her heart made a small leap when she came across the name Marcus. He had really existed? Then her dream had probably really not been just that, but actually a memory. Her eyes stopped on the next name she could find in the text next to Laelia's: Šamaš. A strange shiver ran down her back. If she was not mistaken Marcus had mentioned that name in her dream and it was not a Roman name… Maybe Sumerian? Had Gabriel called himself by that name at that time? Was this his birth name or just a pseudonym again? And in her dream he had fought side by side with Marcus, a man who was probably part of the Sangsujets and had rebelled against the vampires. Had Gabriel changed sides and become a part of the rebellion? And if that was true, when exactly had that happened?

So many questions… Somewhere there had to be answers. Beth turned another page looking hard for words which she understood, for clues on how she could interpret her dream and how it fit into the whole story of Gabriel and the Legion. The first journal entries were followed by others, with the recurrence of the same names, but also names of places and other countries. Beth understood quickly that here the search for Gabriel and Laelia and others of the volatile rebels had been documented and she was sure after a while, that Šamaš had really been Gabriel's name at this time and that in her dream she had been him.

Beth paused, as on one of the following pages a date and several other names were to be found again, including Laelia's. Beth swallowed hard, because somehow she knew it had to have been the day of her death. Among them were some other notes and two particular words caught her eye: _Šamaš__ filium_. It seemed then as if this was also the day on which the vampires had learned that Gabriel and Laelia had conceived a child.

Beth flipped the pages more quickly and cursed herself for quitting her Latin course at the university after a few sessions. How helpful it would have been now. Again, there were only country and city names that seemed somehow familiar to her, but that did not mean very much. She paused again only when she found a sketch of a soldier in armor, an armor that not only protected the breast, but also the wearer's neck and in the middle was emblazoned the emblem that could also be found on the cover of the book. It was exactly the same armor that the men in Beth's dream-memory had carried, but there she had not registered this extra protection around the neck. But there was something else that did not just cause Beth to hesitate but also her heart to miss a beat. Below the picture were the clearly written words _legionarius hostus_. Hostile legionnaire. Legionnaire…

Beth tried to keep breathing deeply and calmly, not to allow her thoughts to drift into a rather frightening direction.

'Do not jump to conclusions,' she said to herself again. 'At the time of the Romans that was a common name for soldiers - no matter who they were fighting for. The term _legion_ is indeed from that period and it does certainly not mean what you think it means…'

Her eyes quickly scanned over the obviously hastily written words. There it was again, the name Šamaš, at the top of a further list of people - incredibly many people, much more than with the first rebellion. And after the name was something written that increased the discomfort in Beth stomach many times over: _auctor_, _dux_.

Beth winced violently when a noise could be heard from the hallway and not much later voices – men's voices, that were not too familiar to her, but yet she knew them.

"Maybe he will listen to reason then, as if _I_ would say this. He thinks I'm too solicitous anyway. Maybe I _am_ when it concerns him, but I'm sure he tried to deceive us all this time. I can feel how bad he is. And if I'm not mistaken, his condition deteriorates even more rather than getting better - no matter how much blood he drinks."

"I'll see what I can do. But I can't promise anything."

The voices were coming much closer and Beth broke her stillness, flipped the book closed and quickly leaned forward to open the bag, which of course immediately had to slide to the floor.

"And what about this lieutenant?"

"I've done everything in my power, but I'm not sure if he'll survive. He was very weak."

No more time. Beth quickly heaved the book onto the armchair and leaned back at the very moment the men entered the room. Lance and… August! She had not seen the vampiric doctor for so long and almost had not recognized him. He looked so different, was wearing that Army-haircut that Gabriel and some of the other vampires had adopted shortly before the mission, and his beard was gone as well. But she had not much more time to inspect the doctor, because Lance stepped closer to her, his eyes sparkling with rage.

"What the hell have you done there just now?" he snarled at her and she shirked away from him a little. His gaze that wandered over to the book told her clearly that he knew exactly what she had done and that he only wanted to hear it from her.

"N… nothing," she stammered awkwardly and knew exactly how unconvincing she sounded.

Lance took another step toward her and lifted a finger menacingly, his eye sparkling dangerously under his long bangs. "There will be repercussions! No one is allowed to nose around into this book - certainly not a human!"

"I didn't _nose around_," Beth said back a little defiantly, knowing full well that it provoked the vampire still further. But she hated it when someone tried to intimidate her like that.

Lance let out an angry laugh. "You think you can do anything you want to, just because you're St. John's who…"

"LANCE!" The deep, powerful voice which suddenly echoed through the room, caused not only Beth but also the two other vampires in the room to wince violently, and Beth was not surprised to find Gabriel standing in the doorway to the living room. A visibly angry Gabriel.

Lance's immediate onset of insecurity and fear were a boon for Beth's tarnished soul. "I… I only wanted to make clear to her that she's not allowed to get near the book," he stammered, "and I…"

Gabriel choked him off with a firm movement of his hand and now came up to them. "These are things that don't concern you. It's for me alone to decide who has the right to take a look into the book and who has not."

Lance gritted his teeth and nodded ruefully.

"And should I ever again have to witness you talking to Beth in such a tone, there will be consequences for you that will be difficult to bear," Gabriel continued strictly.

Lance again responded with a pinched nod and that was enough for Gabriel to turn around to August. "It's great you could make it. There are some new developments we urgently need to discuss. Alejandro, Simone and Tony will also be here soon. I've also prepared a vial with my blood for you. It would be nice if you could take a look at it. But now I, unfortunately, would have to ask you as well to leave me alone with Beth. I also owe _her _some explanations, I think."

August nodded understandingly and immediately set into motion and Lance followed him, only with a much grimmer face. Although Beth did not really like Lance, somehow it felt not right for her to be left alone with Gabriel - now that he knew she had had the book in her hands. Where was Mick? It was time that he appeared and protected her against… whatever…

She lowered her eyes quickly as Gabriel's gaze was directed at her and looked intently at her fingers as if there was nothing in this world that was more interesting.

"It's great to see that you feel better," she heard the old vampire say and as she thought she heard a slight chuckle in his voice she raised her gaze cautiously after all. She had not been wrong. He was in fact smiling a little, but even that could not distract from the fact that he looked unusually sickly. He was very pale and under his eyes, that shone almost feverishly, dark circles had formed. Something was wrong with him and Beth did not like it at all.

Gabriel moved toward the armchair, took the book and laid it in front of Beth on the table to plunk down somewhat cumbersomely onto the armchair. Her gaze was drawn to the symbol on the cover of the book as if by a magnet following the delicate golden lines that seemed to represent branches and roots of the tree in the middle.

"It's called the _Tree of Life_ or _World Tree_," she heard Gabriel say softly and looked up again searching the surprisingly warm gaze of the old vampire a little confused. "My people called it _Gišchar_, the sacred tree of Eridu. It connects the three levels of heaven, earth and underworld and is therefore a symbol of cosmic order and of immortality."

"And… and what does that sign mean in context with this book?" Beth stammered, confused about Gabriel's openness.

"It was once the symbol for the people who carried the Blood of the Lily."

"So, for the Sangsujet," Beth concluded but Gabriel shook his head.

"Not for all of them. Only for those who proved themselves as true carriers of the precious genetic material. They were given an amulet with the same symbol. And later in the ceremonial blood-letting they wore a white robe on which this symbol was also embroidered."

"But why…" Beth stopped. Gabriel knew nothing about her dream, and she was not quite sure how she should tell him about it. But he looked at her encouragingly, even nodded at her.

"I… I saw something… while I was asleep earlier," she stammered. "There were men in black armor, which had this icon and they fought against vampires. One of them was named Marcus… And when I looked into the book, I found his name… and the name Šamaš…"

Gabriel tilted his head and looked at her for a few heartbeats with thoughtfully furrowed brows. "When exactly did you have this dream?"

"Just recently," she admitted frankly. "I woke up because of it."

Again there was a moment of thoughtful silence between them, which was only brought to an end by Gabriel taking a deep breath.

"I had previously shown Mick some of my memories, and since you seem to be connected with him to an astonishing degree you've probably also shared some of them, just delayed. It's what I call a mental echo. If your mind is not open for a mental transmission, it may be that it receives this only much later, in a recovered state of relaxation."

"So that means it really was not a dream?" Beth asked back in excitement. "It _was_ one of your memories?"

Gabriel nodded and it was obvious that this particular memory came from a part of his past that burdened him heavily.

"Is Šamaš your birth name?" Beth cautiously asked.

"No. Šamaš is the name given to me by the Anunna when I was made a member of the Council of Elders."

"You… you belonged to them, but you… you still killed them," Beth brought out quietly and she found it incredibly difficult to keep her thoughts at bay, not to let them simply bubble out and to voice the terrible questions that were associated with them.

"They took everything from me that had given my life a deeper meaning," Gabriel replied just as softly, and he too seemed to have a hard time holding back, not to let the intense feelings that were evoked with this topic surface. "With the murder of my wife and my son every trace of humanity in me died and it took centuries until someone came into my life again who brought me to my senses and drove the cold and the hatred out of my heart. I had my revenge, but basically it has brought nothing but mischief. And I still have to struggle with the consequences of this revenge-madness today."

Beth's stomach clenched one more time. She stared at the cover of the book once again. "These… these people who fought by your side - were they Sangsujets?"

"Yes."

Beth looked at the old vampire again and saw the demand to keep on asking in his gaze, although it all had to be so terribly painful for him. But she felt that he _wanted_ to talk about it, that in fact it also somehow took the pressure off him.

"There was a rebellion, right?"

"Two," Gabriel corrected her. "One was countered bloodily. It wasn't organized well enough, and almost all the leaders were killed."

"And Laelia was one of these leaders?"

Gabriel nodded. "She had started all this. She was so… uncompromising, so strong, so determined. And so terribly stubborn…" Gabriel uttered a sad laugh. "She drove me crazy!" He shook his head with a telltale glistening in his eyes. "I know I told you the story yesterday somewhat differently, but I didn't lie to you. Laelia did _carry_ this precious blood and _was_ supposed to be sacrificed but that was not the only reason why I fled with her. I only just in time saved her from the persecutors of the Anunna and hid her from our enemies for years. But at some point…" He didn't say more, looked instead, as Beth had done before, at the book on the table.

"At some point they found you," she simply continued his sentence.

Gabriel shook his head. "They came close, but we could have escaped them. I just thought…" He paused, took a deep breath and looked at her again. "I thought we'd run away long enough. I thought we could only find peace if I myself killed our enemies, one by one. So I hid my child and my wife and set off to do just that - against Laelia's will, against all odds. I was able to kill one of the Anunna, but I was lured into a trap. They gave me into the hands of human torturers, gave them the Blood of the Lily to experiment on in order to get me to tell them where Laelia was, but they failed. However, it was not necessary because she came out of hiding by herself. She… she had gathered a large group of the Sangsujets and with them attacked the house where the Roman legionnaires kept me imprisoned. She gave her life for mine… She died in my arms…"

Gabriel bowed his head and ran his hands over his face, as if this was the only way to keep control of his emotions. "And how did I thank her? I took our son out of the safe custody of a caring family and took him along, hid with him, just because I could not bear to go on living without Laelia. At least I had to take this small part of her with me. I was so… _selfish_." The rage with which Gabriel spoke the last word caused Beth to wince a little, but her sympathy with the old vampire was so great that she quickly forgave him. "Basically, I killed them both with my behavior, because running away is as bad an idea as to solve things with violence. Only it took me ages until I understood that."

Beth had to swallow to be able to talk again because she knew that her next question would affect the most unpleasant part of the story. Nevertheless, she had to ask this question: "The second rebellion of the Sangsujets… Did it begin after the Anunna had killed your son?"

Gabriel nodded and gritted his teeth so tightly that she saw his cheek muscles twitch under the skin.

"Did… did you organize and start this rebellion?"

"Yes," was the expected and yet so unpleasant response. "Together with Marcus, Laelia's brother. And we made sure that not only some of the Sangsujets rose against the Anunna, but all of them."

"They were then probably better organized, knew better how to fight vampires?"

"Yes." Gabriel's gaze had gained something strangely lurking, something excited, demanding.

Beth hesitated. She could not ask this, could not bring herself to do so. It would be just so terrible, so shocking if she was right with her suspicions. But Gabriel's eyes, they held her, bored into hers.

"Ask it! Say it!" He harassed her and she gave in, now with a wildly beating heart.

"Did you… did you create the Legion?"

"Yes, I did," was the disturbing answer and her own shock was reflected in the bright eyes of the old vampire.


	59. Avenging Angel Part 2

_I almost forgot to post the chapter and just wanted to jump into my bed. But for I know a few of my readers are already waiting for the second part of Avenging Angel I'll do it now quickly. Thank you all for your great reviews again. It's so great to get an insight into your thoughts about my story and it's so motivating – can't tell. Feel hugged and I'll try again to post the next chapter next Saturday. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_P.S. The memory of Gabriel is strongly influenced by Milow's great song 'Out of my hands'_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**Avenging Angel** (Part II)

For a long moment Beth did not know what to say or even know what she should feel. Anger? Fear? Disappointment? Horror? Probably a little of everything making it more difficult to think straight.

Gabriel looked down and his chest expanded visibly with the deep breath that he took. "The group that we put together at that time has almost no parallels to today's organization," she heard him say softly and only then did he lift his gaze again. Her wordless bewilderment had given him enough room to calm his mind down and now he just looked exhausted and sad. "And I had originally created it for completely different reasons."

"Yes, to take revenge!" Beth spat out angrily although she knew that this was only half the truth and she did him wrong.

Gabriel shook his head. "I did not only want to have my revenge. I also wanted to free these people and to atone for what had been done to them by us. I swore to them back then that I would never again hurt either them or their descendants in any way. I swore to protect them just as I had protected Laelia. I could not always keep my promise, but I've at least tried to, with a vengeance and am still doing so today."

"That means this first legion… they were all Sangsujets?"

Gabriel nodded sadly. "They were for a long time something like my family whom I had to take care of. All this should only have been a one-time action."

"What exactly happened back then, after the Anunna were killed?" the next question already slipped from Beth's lips. She could not help it. There was so much that she desperately wanted to understand.

"We… we did not kill _all_ the Anunna," Gabriel confessed after a moment's hesitation. "Enki had changed sides with me. He… he realized that it was wrong to use the Sangsujets in that way and he worked for me as a spy among the other Anunna, even luring Inanna into a trap."

"Was he Flavio?" Beth immediately questioned further and a slightly appreciative smile crossed Gabriel's lips.

"Yes, that was his Roman code name."

"That means that you and this… Enki were the only survivors of the Anunna", concluded Beth thoughtfully and Gabriel confirmed her words with a nod.

"After all the battles we sat down together with all remaining Sangsujets and thought about how we should deal with everything. There were still plenty of other vampires who knew about the Sangsujets but had not particularly noticed much of the fighting. So we decided at first to immigrate with all remaining Sangsujets to Aquitaine. Furthermore, we resolved that a small part of our army should continue to exist to ensure the safety of the Sangsujets from vampires. Heads of the party should always be one of us vampires and one of the Sangsujets themselves. The lists of the bloodlines of the vampires, however, should all be burned and a ban was imposed on further documenting the progeny of the Sangsujets."

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But… you didn't do that."

Gabriel nodded guiltily. "I could not. Although I threw my lists solemnly into the fire, I had previously copied them and then hidden the rolls of papyrus."

"But why?"

"Beth… this list also documents my life, my ancestry and the one of the woman I loved more than anything in this world. To destroy it would have meant for me to also throw the memories of her and the rest of my still remaining sad existence into the fire. I couldn't do that and I… I still had hope."

Beth's eyebrows were now moving towards each other. "Hope for what?"

"To be turned back into a human sometime and be allowed to die." Gabriel's voice was very quiet, but she still was sure that she had heard correctly.

"To be _allowed _to die," she repeated incredulously, and she found it hard to hide her bewilderment at this strange statement from the old vampire.

Gabriel avoided her gaze, instead looking at the book before him on the table with an expression of deep longing in his eyes. "Do you see that sign?" He reached out his hand toward it, almost caressing the fine lines of the emblem. "It describes a cycle. A cycle of infinity, of movement. To die and be reborn, that's what this cycle is promising. Getting the chance to start your life over, to find the ones you have once lost and stay by their side to leave _with_ them and return…" It was obviously difficult for Gabriel to take the next breath, and as he looked at her again, tears glistened in his eyes. "To be stuck here in this skin, in this life is one of the worst punishments that ever happened to me. To see her come and leave again, to love her and watch her die again and again… there's nothing that is more unbearable."

"You… you think Laelia has been reborn and died again?" Beth asked a little doubtfully. Although she had thought about such things many times before, it always seemed a little strange to her to talk about them.

"I'm not just thinking it - I _know_ it," Gabriel replied quietly. "There are souls who are deeply connected to you. They… belong to you, complete you. Sometimes you don't recognize them immediately. You just feel suddenly so very close to people who were previously complete strangers to you. Sometimes it takes a little longer until you can read the signs, recognize them…" He let out a soft sigh. "I thought for some time that my long existence would give me the chance to see Laelia again and to be happy with her, but that's not the case. My job is a different one – I've now realized - and I am forced to lose her again and again and go on without her until I have fulfilled this task."

Beth opened her mouth and closed it again, without having said anything. She knew exactly how precarious the words were that were burning on her tongue. She once had deeply hurt Mick with very similar words, yet she could not hold them back but had to say them again. "But you… you _could_ follow her," she said quietly, almost bashfully. "I mean, you… you're not really immortal."

Her heart beat a little faster when Gabriel looked at her for a long moment in silence, deeply touched and then closed his eyes. Something tingled in Beth's temples and her eyelids sank down automatically causing her senses to open wide. She knew exactly what was coming and that it would probably be horrible, still she reached for the energy of the old vampire, for his terrible memories.

_Screams. Fire. The clash of swords. And pain, pain of various kinds which roared and flashed through her body while she was stumbling forward, pressing the wheezing, rattling woman in her arms firmly to herself. Just away from the battles. Far away. Get out of danger. A doctor, that was what they needed. Right now. But her muscles were too weak and could not stand the strain after all the torture of the past days. Beth stumbled, ramming her shoulder against the wall of a house and screamed in pain. Her collar bone had not completely grown together, and sent a nearly unbearable pain through her entire right side bringing her to her knees. Knees, which were also still healing and sent more stinging pain through her body. Her vision went black, but she still had the presence of mind to throw her bruised back against the wall behind her and continue to hold Laelia so that the young woman stayed safe in her arms. _

_For a few seconds, darkness embraced her, quiet, soothing, pain-free darkness. It was Laelias broken voice that brought her back to reality. _

"_Gil… Gil…" _

_Beth lifted her heavy eyelids, looked at the much too pale, pain filled face of the young woman in her arms and forgot about all the pain she felt herself. Deep concern and fear spread through her displacing all other feelings, creating that pressure in her chest, that burning in her eyes. _

"_Don't talk," she whispered with a scratchy voice. _

"_Janus…" _

"_He's safe. No one will hurt him. I will see to that. And we will soon all be together again." Beth raised her gaze and looked around the alley where they had fled to. There was no one to be seen. No enemy, but also no friend - no help. The frantic beating of Laelia's heart, her much too fast, too shallow breathing… _

"_We need a doctor," she said to herself, fighting against the panic that now grabbed her, and tried to move, but Laelia's pain-stricken moaning made her stop and look at her again in alarm. The entire breast area of her dress had now been soaked with fresh, bright red blood. Beth's heart began to race again, and her innards contracted painfully. She moved again. Even though it caused Laelia pain, they had to move on, had to find a doctor! _

"_Gil…" Again Laelia's small voice brought her to a halt, made her look into the expressive eyes of this incredibly brave woman. "Pro… promise me that you won't give up…"_

"_I won't. We'll make it," she immediately replied although she knew full well that Laelia was not talking about their current situation. "We only have to find a doctor and the time to take care of your wounds."_

"_No, Gil…" She closed her eyes with exhaustion but re-opened them at once, searched her gaze. "You must not give up… you must live…" _

_Beth gritted her teeth, fought squinting against the hot tears in her eyes, against the growing tightness in her chest. She felt exactly the same thing that had made Laelia utter these words: her strength was dwindling, life was leaving her body. _

"_You… you have to go on living… for Janus, for… the people who need you." _

_Beth did not want it, but she shook her head. "I'll stay with you… No matter where you're going. I won't leave you. I'll go with you… with you, Laelia." _

_Now tears also showed in Laelia's eyes and she shook her head feebly. "No… Gil. You have to stay here. You have to keep on fighting… You… you're not allowed… to die. Your time has not come yet… and you are so important… for this world. Live… for me. For me, Gil."_

_Beth pressed her lips together and shook her head again. _

"_Please…" Laelia whispered and the first tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please…" _

_Beth writhed under the pressure in her chest, the powerlessness and despair that tormented her. Her arms closed tightly around the soft body of her wife, fingers dug into the fabric of her clothes, didn't want to let her go, clinging to the life that seeped now so incredibly quickly from her body. She pressed her forehead against Laelia's, closed her eyes and took a trembling breath. She still felt a strong spiritual connection to her, could reach for her, feel her, make her feel how much she loved her… tell her without words that she was her life, one part of herself she had always sought and which she had only found so late. _

"_Gil…" It was just a breath, but it penetrated deep into her heart and touched her deepest inner self. "Promise… me…"_

_Beth took a trembling breath and could not prevent the tears that broke away from her lashes and the soft sob that escaped her lips. And yet Laelia's silent pleading forced her to nod to give in to her wish at last. _

"_Swear…" _

"_I… I swear," Beth sobbed. "But please… please stay with me." _

"_I… am…" The words were barely heard but Beth felt them in the warm breath that blew so softly across her own lips. _

_The energetic connection between them became weaker and weaker and Beth raised a hand to Laelia's face, stroked it, held it, trying to hold on to her and yet she felt that she could not, that Laelia glided over to a world into which she could not follow, was no longer allowed to follow. She had promised… promised. _

"_Stay with me." Beth continued to whisper nevertheless. "Stay with me… please, stay with me…" On and on the same words, words that accompanied Laelia's last breath, the last rise and fall of her chest, the last flickering of the deep love for her in her gracious eyes, the last caressing tingling of her spirit._

Beth took a trembling breath, raised her eyelids as the tears ran freely down her cheeks and looked at the so infinitely sad vampire slumped in his chair with great compassion in her eyes. "I'm… I'm so sorry," she whispered, leaning forward and touching his arm in a gesture of apology.

He shook his head almost imperceptibly and breathed in and out haltingly. He no longer had the strength to cry. "I… I just wanted you to understand why I did certain things in the past, and why, until today, I'm still tempted to continue the research on the cure… why I carry around a lot of guilt for the terrible things that happened to Mick and for all of you who are in great danger."

She nodded understandingly, breathed deeply in and out and tried to get her emotions back under control. She had to gather herself at least to the extent that she could concentrate on the really important questions. What had happened to Laelia was terrible and she felt so much for Gabriel that it was almost unbearable, but she could not be drawn into his sad past. It was the future that counted, because only the future could still be influenced.

"So you… you kept your lists and eventually produced a book with which you have followed yours and Laelia's blood lines," she tried to lead their conversation back to the initial point.

Gabriel confirmed her words with a silent nod.

"Okay. But _this_ book _also_ contains names and pedigrees written on papyrus so not _all_ the other lists could have been destroyed."

"That's right," Gabriel said quietly. "And this book is basically responsible for the fact that the Legion has become the organization it is today."

"Who made it?" Beth asked immediately and already had a guess.

"Enki," was the answer which she had been waiting for. "You have to know that almost every Sangsujet is descended in some way from the bloodline of an ancient vampire. Enki had the same difficulty as I did and could not burn his lists so he did exactly the same thing I did. Only neither of us confided his secret to the other. And that worked for a while. The Legion protected the Sangsujets and kept an eye on the vampire world through us. When vampires came too close to them, we either moved them or the vampires were extinguished. The only problem was that even a small population grows over the years and we could not keep them all together forever. Enki and I tried at least to stay in contact with our blood lines, so we also knew that the knowledge of vampires and the rebellion was passed on from generation to generation. Some even wrote it down. These writings can also be found in the book."

"In Enki's book?" Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"At some point it was no longer Enki's book…" Gabriel thoughtfully ran one hand over his mouth, seemed to take stock of himself once more. "Can you remember what I told you about the origins of the Legion that time in Mexico?"

Beth thought for a moment. "You mean that story about the Frenchman who founded the _Les Archanges_ with his friends?"

Gabriel nodded. "I did not lie then. Until that time the Legion had not really been hostile toward the vampires. After all, they were protected by two powerful vampires. The problem was that in their stories and writings we were never designated as such. They called us their _Guardian Angels_, messengers of God who protected their families from the demons of the world. Bernard Gaulliaume, who was a Sangsujet himself also came from a very religious family that had no real contact with the other Sangsujets. However, his grandfather had told him since he was a small kid again and again the story of the struggle of the Sangsujets against the blood-drinking demons - of course dramatically altered and embellished. But at least his grandfather could provide him with all sorts of information about vampires, so he was indeed able to eliminate the vampire who harassed his village. He didn't stop there but build a task force and began a veritable witch-hunt for all vampires he could find with and under the name _Les Archanges_, which he used, ironically, in honor of the angels who had saved the Sangsujets back then. And as his organization spread and increased the hostility against the vampires, Enki and I were forced to intervene."

"I thought you had vowed never to inflict pain on any Sangsujet ever again," Beth opposed.

"We didn't," Gabriel returned to her surprise. "Bernard's friends were no Sangsujets, and I let _him_ live."

"This means the story with the disembodied heads is true, as well?" Beth asked with slight discomfort and she felt goosebumps forming on her arms at the thought. She often forgot what brutal acts the man in front of her was capable of.

Of course, Gabriel nodded. "I just wanted to scare these nascent hostile groups so that they would never again dare to tangle with vampires, and while I did that I made them realize that I am one of their so appreciated guardian angels. The old Legion, which was at that time still in existence, stood solidly behind me, so at first it really looked as if we had gotten the problem under control."

"But you could not have been so sure about that back then," Beth thought aloud, "because as far as I can remember, you told us that at that time the _Des Archanges_ arose…"

"That's true," Gabriel agreed. "It occurred to me that perhaps not only the Sangsujets but also the vampires would need someone to protect them from enemy attacks and to intervene before the conflicts get so out of hand that they can only be solved by force, murder and manslaughter. Enki and I contacted other older vampires, but only two of them were willing to take on more responsibility for the community and to espouse that humans and vampires could live peacefully side by side. Our efforts were not appreciated by many vampires as they had no real desire to adhere to rules or to hold themselves back."

"Your betrayal took place then also," Beth concluded softly. It must indeed have been a terrible feeling to have your efforts for creating peace and security on both sides thanked like that.

"It did," Gabriel replied just as softly, and in that moment, after all the years that had passed, she could still hear a touch of disappointment and sadness resonating in his voice. "And it did not only cost Enki's and one of my fledgling's life but also ensured that Enki's book was discovered and eventually fell into the hands of the Legion. And with that the change in the behavior of the Legion in regards to us was instigated."

"They must have felt betrayed," Beth knew. "It must have been really scary to find out that one of the vampires they have always trusted, had always counted on had deluded them like this."

"That's true," Gabriel sadly agreed with her. "And they drew their consequences from it. They broke off all contact with me and also decided to eliminate every vampire in this world."

"And you could not let that happen," Beth replied sympathetically.

"I don't know…" Gabriel leaned back in his chair and looked thoughtfully into space. "Maybe I would have done that. Because of their treason I did not care about the other vampires for a while and I allowed the Legion to do their mischief for too long. It was one of my other fledglings who opened my eyes and showed me that these people had lost all reason and acted like wild beasts. I did not like to do it but in the end I fought against those I had actually sworn to protect."

"But you didn't destroy them completely," Beth stated.

"No," Gabriel admitted openly. "Firstly, because I wanted to keep at least a part of my old promise and secondly, because I also considered it the proper thing to let this organization survive for the human race. Someone had to protect them from possible attacks by the vampires. So I sat down with their ailing leaders and told them again the story of the Sangsujets which hardly anyone was familiar with in its original form. And then we tried to negotiate rules for future dealings with each other."

"All this happened before the French Revolution, didn't it?" Beth asked curiously and knew she was right in her assumption. Again the old vampire nodded.

"What were the rules?"

"We decided that within the Legion there should be a supreme committee which in times of crisis has the right to put in a veto on major decisions. This committee consisted of a Sangsujet and a vampire elder who were bound to regularly swap ideas on the state of affairs. It was particularly important that it was a Sangsujet who could not be turned and he had to agree to ingest the blood of the vampire."

Beth's eyes widened in amazement. "But… but why?"

"Vampires live far longer than humans, as you know, and we had already found out by that time that vampire blood could extend the life of certain Sangsujets for many years. It also ensured that the Legion was tied in some way at least to this old vampire."

Gabriel's answer did not really eliminate Beth's surprise. "But why did they agree to it?"

"They had no other choice," the old vampire replied. "They knew very well that it depended on me alone whether they could continue to exist as an organization or not. And I promised to ensure that their families would gain powerful positions in human society. Wealth, prosperity and security are very effective bait."

He sure was right about that. Even today, those were the very things for which many men would even kill. However, Beth could not imagine that this had really been the whole reason for the Legion to agree to this contract.

"And what else was negotiated?" Beth probed further and wondered at the same time how long Gabriel would be willing to be interrogated by her. But he did not even hesitate.

"That certain selected persons and families on both sides are inviolable and harming them would be punished with the utmost severity."

"That means you have created new lists again…," she concluded, frowning at his words.

Gabriel leaned forward, pulled the book around a bit and opened it. He browsed through it for a while until he seemed to have found what he was looking for and turned the book back so that Beth could take a look at the register. The many names that were written there meant nothing to her, but the drawing that was found at the bottom of the page made Beth's eyes widen and her mouth open on its own. There was a ring with a cross which spanned over a bright stone. A ring that she was all too familiar with - Mick's ring.

Beth looked up again, moving her lips but bringing out no sound.

"This is the ring of _Des Archanges_," Gabriel said softly. "I designed it and caused it be forged. Once it defended its owner from attacks of the Legion and other vampires."

Beth swallowed once, twice, until the fat lump in her throat had disappeared. Why was she so shocked at this? She knew that Mick was a descendant of Gabriel's blood line – was it really that surprising that he was wearing this ring?

"How many rings were there?" she finally brought out somewhat delayed.

"Five."

She stopped and frowned. "That few?"

Gabriel nodded. "The vampires who bore the name _des Archanges_ were already protected by that. They wore the medallion of the particular angel whose name they had accepted. The rings were designed for vampires or humans with whom I could not keep such close contact. The ring not only protected them but their families also."

"And… the Legion, did they have a similar identification object for the people who were under their protection?"

A little, strange smile appeared on Gabriel's lips. "They did," he said and flipped to the next page. Another set of names and then the outline of a piece of jewelry. Beth gasped for breath once more. A delicate lilies cross on a chain. Mick's chain pendant. She shook her head bewildered. The whole story was getting even stranger.

"I don't understand," she admitted while shaking her head. "Why are both these protective symbols in Mick's possession? And why was he still kidnapped and abused by the Legion for their tests?"

Gabriel leaned back and rubbed his eyes wearily. The questions combined with all these emotions seemed to exhaust him very much – it wasn't any different for her - but the old vampire still seemed to be ready to share his knowledge with her because he took a deep breath. "To answer your first question - as I already told you, Mick is a descendent from the bloodline of my family. I have given this ring personally to one of his ancestors with the instruction to pass it on to his children. He knew of its protective function and also knew the history of the Sangsujets. I think Mick inherited this ring from his father when he died."

"But why _his_ family?" Beth immediately objected. "Five rings… I mean, that surely wasn't enough for all the families that you had listed in your book."

"No, of course not," Gabriel admitted, and strangely avoided her questioning gaze, focused again on the book. "But I could not protect them all. The number of persons who should be untouchable was very limited. I had to decide."

Beth thought about that for a moment and then looked closely at the old vampire again. "Was there such an heirloom in my family as well?"

Gabriel nodded. "It's not the only ring that somehow got lost. If you don't know its story, you don't know of what value it is."

Beth dug around in her own memories, but she could not remember ever having held such a gem in her hands. Perhaps it was lost or eventually sold. She shook the thought off quickly, and tried again to concentrate on the things that were still not so clear to her.

"And why did Mick have the necklace with the icon of the Legion as well?" she asked. "How did it get into his possession without him knowing what it is?"

"That's the one thing I myself still don't know for sure," Gabriel confessed. "I have my suspicions, but I'm not really sure. The fact is that both symbols have found a way to him without him knowing about it or somehow causing it. And that's really fascinating."

"They still couldn't protect him," Beth added bitterly, shaking her head. "It seems the Legion has set aside all their previous promises and agreements long ago and they don't care anymore about such symbols."

Gabriel frowned and shook his head. "I don't think so. The Legion here in the States has indeed been very self-sufficient for quite some time and can barely be controlled by the European Legion, but they always have left the vampires of my blood line alone. And I know from experience that they are very familiar with the old protective symbols and respect them."

"But why did they act totally differently with Mick?"

"I think the temptation was too great, and they needed him so badly that they even took the risk of tangling with me and their own leaders. There was a reason for this break in the Legion."

"And what exactly put them under this enormous pressure? What has driven them to this haste?"

"This is exactly the right question," Gabriel said, looking now a lot more alert as he leaned forward to her. "That's what we need to find out, because I think that we can use it to force them to their knees."

Beth closed her eyes, slumped against the back of the couch and took a deep breath. All this new and exciting information and the many thoughts which followed them strained her so strongly that it was almost too much for her. Her wound had robbed her of too much strength to tolerate such an information-marathon in the long run. But she did not yet abandon the field.

"Do you think that we can do it?" Beth asked wearily raising her eyelids. "Force them to their knees, I mean."

"With the right tools, we can certainly succeed - yes," was Gabriel's quiet reply. "And I don't talk about destroying them. I don't want that, and we would not succeed anyway."

"Do you really think that you can negotiate with them?"

"Yes," Gabriel answered confidently, "I know that it's not the same Legion it was in the 18th century, but even today there are somber, wiser heads among them who are fortunately still very powerful. And I will get them to negotiate with us."

"But will they ever leave Mick alone? He's the one they want…"

"And that's our trump card, Beth. With him we have leverage that they can hardly resist."

Beth looked at him in horror. "What… what do you mean? That you really want to hand Mick over to them?"

"Of course not!" Gabriel gave back almost indignantly. "I would _never _do that. Please believe me! But I know from experience that for the long haul there's neither any sense in running away nor in trying to destroy the enemy. To increase your own value for the opponent and by that to gain power over them, _that's_ the only way through which you can ultimately achieve something."

"But Mick doesn't seem to be so valuable for the Legion," Beth replied in concern. "After all, they have already tried to kill him…"

"Yes, the radical part of them has tried that which is why it's so important to eradicate them."

"Are we doing that?"

"Not you personally," was Gabriel's short answer and Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"But you?"

"Yes, for quite a while now. But I can and will not let you in on this now," Gabriel now stonewalled her. "That would be too risky. The fewer people who know about it, the better."

Beth found it really hard not to go further in this direction but pulled herself together as she felt that Gabriel had no more strength and very little patience left. She did not want to provoke him, not after he had told her so much, had revealed so many secrets for her. And if she was honest, she also lacked the strength for a hard fight for more details.

"Have you at least informed Mick about that?" she asked instead.

Gabriel shook his head almost imperceptibly. "He didn't ask about it and I didn't want to bother him with it, after all the things he's learned today."

Beth was all ears again, lifted her head a bit once more. "This means that you already had your talk? Does he know all that you have just told me?"

"Yes," he replied with an affirmative nod. "All this and more."

"What more?" she probed immediately.

"I've told him a few things about his ancestry and the ring… and about his connection to me."

"The connection to the bloodline of your sister, you mean."

"That as well."

"As well?" Beth repeated and was not sure whether she really still had the nerve to learn even more secrets.

Gabriel seemed to feel quite similar. He had to really force himself to address her questions and inhaled deeply again. "Did Frank tell you what had been done to Mick to get him into the state he's now in?"

She nodded quickly. "They transplanted cells of a Nigong-descendant and provided him with the blood of an ancient vampire."

"This blood came from me and the cells were from the mummified corpse of a child… a boy…"

Gabriel made a pause, heavy with meaning, and that was the only reason why Beth's tired mind recognized the connections that opened up between the different stories she had heard. "Oh, my God," she uttered and moving her hand to her mouth, stared wide-eyed at Gabriel. "_Your_ son? They took the cells of_ your_ son?"

Gabriel nodded. "They did. And that Mick took them so well was because he is from my bloodline. With him basically everything came together that was needed for a positive outcome of the experiment: his human and vampire ancestry, his prior contact with the cure, his age, his genetics… simply everything. He was already special before and is now even more so. And if we can crush the radical part of the Legion and the part that initiated the research takes over the lead, we have an incredibly good chance to get the situation so far under control that we can win the maximum benefits for us out of this. If we become indispensable, we can finally provide for a turning point in this struggle, which this time does not end in murder and manslaughter and half-hearted arrangements."

"_We_?" Beth repeated confused.

"Yes – we," Gabriel gave back with vigor. "Because you and me, we are also very special, Beth, and _we_ are indispensable for _Mick_."

Beth just looked at him even more confused. "I don't understand…"

Gabriel leaned closer to her and she had the feeling that his bright expressive eyes would penetrate deeply into her, even into the most hidden corners of her soul. Without her consent, a warm gentle shiver ran down her spine when he laid one of his large, surprisingly warm hands on her forearm.

"You are my mirror image, Beth," she heard him say very softly and was not able to break away from his gaze to get rid of this intense pull he had on her all at once.

"You have what I lack and I have what you lack," he continued. "Your blood and my blood make Mick what he is. We three are the key to the suffering of all vampires and humans, we are the way to the Holy Grail and that makes us so precious in this world, in this feud, this war."

"Mick needs my blood?" Beth stammered, still a little bewildered, though she felt unconsciously that he was right. Mick had admitted several times how great his desire for her blood was, and she had always known that there must be a reason for it.

"His genetics have changed so much that he no longer needs the support of the lilies juice," Gabriel said with a gentle smile. "If his system falls into imbalance, all he needs to do is to take in a certain amount of your or my blood. Through us Mick becomes what the Legion needs."

Beth avoided his gaze and escaped his warm hand, skimmed with slightly trembling fingers a loose strand of hair from her face. She had to process this first. "Does that mean that Mick no longer needs the cure to survive?" she asked hopefully after a little while and lifted her hesitant gaze again.

Gabriel had leaned back in his chair and looked at her with a mixture of great favor and thoughtfulness. "I'm not a doctor and to make a precise statement we would need to talk with Frank and August, but I think at least that this is very likely."

"But after these transformations he often has painful cramps and fever attacks."

"That is something completely different," Gabriel immediately interrupted her. "I did not say that his body will no longer have problems with switching between the different metabolisms. That will probably never disappear and he will always have to carry an emergency package of anticonvulsant drugs and other meds with him, but both organisms will no longer be able to hurt each other as long as he has access to both your and my blood."

Beth became silent again. She remembered the words of the professor that he had said to her in the middle of the fight in Mexico. He had suspected it already then, had known about Mick's dependence on her and Gabriel. The only question was how long he had already had this idea and who he had let in on it…

"Does… does the Legion know about it," Beth asked worried.

Gabriel shook his head. "At least I don't think they know _what_ blood Mick needs to keep himself in balance and maybe to develop even further."

"But you… you won't tell them either, will you?" Beth brought out with great difficulty, and her thoughts immediately went to her child, turned into fears that were almost unbearable.

"No," was the reassuring answer. "But the Legion _should_ know that only _we_ here in this community know the secret of how to help Mick to develop in the right direction. That only _we_ are in a position to achieve the goal that they had once craved."

"And you think then they will start to negotiate with us?" Beth now felt not good at all. She did not like what Gabriel was telling her and it caused her fear to grow – fear of the unknown plans of the inscrutable old vampire; fear that he might have had in mind to really give Mick back into the hands of the Legion someday, as a pledge for the negotiation of new treaties of peace for the good of the vampire community.

"I guess so," Gabriel replied, but gave her a strange look. He seemed to notice that she had tensed up and that something was troubling her.

"And… and when they negotiate with us… what do you plan to offer them?" she asked.

She did not like that the old vampire now avoided her gaze again, and instead looked at the book before him on the table, as if there was something written that could help him to answer this question. "We will think about that when the time comes," he replied evasively.

Silence spread between them. An awkward silence that caused a tension between them that was unbearable. Beth looked longingly toward the door. Somehow the desire to continue talking with Gabriel and to continue to be in the same room with him got lost completely. Who she needed now was Mick. Not just because his presence always calmed her down and gave her the feeling that everything would be alright again and that together they were strong enough to brave any danger, but also because she absolutely had to exchange with him.

She cleared her throat softly and then searched for Gabriel's gaze. Deeply pensive lines had formed on his forehead. "I… I think I'm going to go look for Mick now," she said and wiped her slightly sweaty hands on her pants to then ponderously get to her feet.

"Maybe you'd better go back to your room and take a little rest," Gabriel suggested and rose with similar difficulty.

She frowned. "Why? I'm doing really well."

Gabriel slouched his shoulders in resignation and let out a tired sigh as if he had to overcome himself to speak the next words. "Mick's not here."

Beth stopped short and blinked at the old vampire somewhat confused. "What… what do you mean, 'he's not here'?"

"He wanted to help Josef get Sarah," Gabriel said and not only confused Beth even more but also left her with a very strange feeling in her stomach.

"Josef's Sarah?" she asked puzzled. "Sarah Whitley?"

Gabriel nodded and Beth stomach clenched. Sometimes it was a plague to have been born with an alert mind like hers. All too soon, her confused thoughts formed into meaningful netting and provided her with information that she met with deep concern and restrained panic. "You… you don't mean to tell me that the Legion knows where Sarah is and that the two of them went to save her by themselves!"

Gabriel looked at her in silence and Beth gasped. "This is…" She broke off, moved away from Gabriel a few steps to bring her effervescent feelings back under control, but then she turned back to Gabriel still upset. "And you just let them leave?"

"Mick has made it very clear to me that he needs more freedom to make decisions, that he no longer wants to be controlled by me," Gabriel replied with a strangely cool undertone, "and he _absolutely_ wanted to do this - so I let him have his way."

"You… you want to educate him by letting him walk right into a trap?" Beth blurted out angrily. "_Now_? In _this _situation? After all the things he has endured over the last few hours?"

"It's not as dangerous as it looks," Gabriel said in defense immediately. "They have a good chance to reach Sarah before the Legion does and to get her out in time."

"_A good chance_?" Beth's voice almost cracked. "And if not? What if the Legion is faster than you have anticipated?"

"What do you want from me, Beth?" Gabriel replied and to her surprise was just as annoyed as she was. "Shall I chain him, tranquilize him, hypnotize him? Do you really think I let him go without raising concerns?"

Beth lowered her eyes and breathed deeply in and out. Of course he had not - that was clear. She was just so terribly angry with Mick because he was acting so foolish again, because he had driven off without her, didn't even talk to her about it.

Gabriel let out a soft sigh. "If it helps: I let Malik and Logan leave with them and I have already called Max who should be on his way to Sarah's whereabouts with a few of his men. They're not going to arrive there alone. I don't think the Legion knows exactly what's up with Sarah. It will take them a while to figure it out and that will give Josef and Mick ample time."

Beth took a deep breath through her nose, tried to get a grip on her upset feelings again and think about what she could do now. To follow them would be a hare-brained idea and she was sure that Gabriel would deter her anyway from leaving the house. Quite apart from that she herself was still so exhausted that just the thought of a strenuous journey wherever caused her to break out in a sweat. But she could not possibly lie down in her bed and take a nap when she did not know what was happening out there with Mick. How could he be so unreasonable… after all this disturbing information? And he certainly had not rested enough. She had to at least find some way to speak with him, to tell him not to strain himself too much and to disappear immediately if it became too dangerous for them.

Beth turned around to Gabriel who had calmly waited for a further response from her, a pensive frown on his face. "Who is in contact with them?"

"Seth, in one of the other rooms," Gabriel replied without hesitation. "He has an order to inform me when they reach their destination."

"Well," Beth turned around and walked resolutely to the door. "If anyone is looking for me - you know where to find me now," she told the old vampire in passing and thought to have seen a small smile cross his face very briefly.


	60. Uprooted

_Sorry for this delay. I somehow had problems to send my translated chapter to my beat reader, but finally I found the problem and now I'm here with the new chapter. Big hugs and thanks for all your comments and dear words! My muse and I got enough food to go on with our work and I think I'll be able to post the next chapter with Draco's and my beta readers' help next weekend again. Until then, as always, have a great week. And I would love to read your reviews again. Yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**U****prooted**

"_If there is one person in this world that I know best, that I can assess better than anyone else, it's myself…"_

* * *

These had been Mick's own words and he had been sure of them, had been so convinced he was right in this respect at least, that he would be strong enough to bear the revelation of Gabriel's secrets with composure. So wrong… so stupid… But he had wanted this, had asked Gabriel to tell him the truth and had basically encouraged him to turn his world upside-down one more time, to show him that even the past wasn't real if it was built on lies, and that the Mick St. John he believed himself to be, had actually never existed.

When Coraline had turned him, when he had involuntarily become a vampire, his life may have changed radically at that point, but his past as a human, the path he had already walked had at least remained an integral part of his life. He had known where he came from, where his roots were and had been able to draw on his memories of a normal human life. Now that was over. Everything had suddenly mutated into a play that had been staged for him, to hide the truth from him, a truth that even now he couldn't grasp to the fullest extent, but which had shaken him deeply, so much so that he didn't know how he would be able to catapult himself out of that dark hole he now found himself in.

He had hoped that this trip to Sarah's would distract him, that the distance from Gabriel and Beth would give him enough room to think more clearly, to gather and find himself again, for the proximity to the two of them released so many strong emotions inside him that his mind could no longer function properly. He had hoped it would get better if he concentrated on something else important and was with people who had no direct relation to what he had just learned. But that wasn't the case.

They had now been on the road for quite a few hours, first by helicopter and now by car, and it was already dawning. Josef had advised him to try and get a little sleep and Mick would have - after all, he wasn't really needed yet. Malik drove, while Logan kept in contact with all others who were involved in this action through his laptop, and Frank tried, after he had indulged in a quick nap, to get a picture of the current state Sarah was in from the information Josef was giving him. No one needed his help right now, yet Mick couldn't relax, couldn't seem to find the necessary rest to unwind at least for a little while and to give his body and mind the opportunity to recover a little. His nerves were raw, twitched painfully at the slightest stimulus and kept him awake and tense, even though his body and mind had long cried out for rest and sleep.

He had tried, had even closed his eyes and inwardly persuaded himself that he could finally relax, had to let go of the thoughts that plagued him, at least for a time. But it had been futile and even the quiet conversations the others led, had not been enough to distract him. Once he was no longer directly addressed and his attention was not required, Mick's thoughts took on a life of their own, always returned to his last conversation with Gabriel, to the information he had insisted on hearing and to the images of old memories that had chilled him to the bone, had shocked him and yet had made him so terribly angry. But he had needed to do this, because there had been so many issues that had already begun to eat him up inside…

"_When did you first learn that I was in the hands of the Legion?" was the first question that slipped from Mick's lips after the others had left the room and had moved away from the door. "And from whom?" _

_Gabriel looked at him motionless for a few heartbeats, and then took a deep breath. "From one of my spies inside the Legion a few weeks after you were kidnapped," he replied. "He wasn't sure since he worked in another department, but he told me that Cynthia had traded Coraline for information about another vampire, a vampire that would be much more suited for their experiments. And since you had been reported missing, I concluded that it could be you." _

_There it was again the hot anger and disappointment that drove burning into his chest. All this suffering, all the painful changes in his life, in his being… None of it had to happen; he could have been spared all of it. _

_Mick had to force himself to breathe deeply, to fight the strong emotions that seethed within him and needed a moment to gather himself enough to be able to speak calmly. "This means you knew all along that the Legion was hunting vampires so that experiments could be done with them that hardly any of them would survive," he managed to utter through gritted teeth and he couldn't help that another large part of his trust in Gabriel had waned. _

_Gabriel's cheek muscles twitched briefly. It was obvious how much he too was struggling with his feelings and how unwilling he was to answer that question, but finally he nodded. "It's not as it appears," he added tense. "Things are pretty tangled, just _because_ this is the Legion, and a part of the Legion that is relatively detached from the original organization in Europe. You must not think these vampires, who had to suffer during these experiments, didn't matter to me – for that is definitely not the case! But to just storm into one of these laboratories and free these vampires or you would have worsened the situation for all other vampires in the States and probably even in Europe. Quite apart from the fact that only a small cell would have been destroyed and that they would have just carried on with their experiments in another lab, they probably would have characterized our intervention with the other branches of the Legion as an attack out of the blue and we would now not only be fighting against the Legion here, but everywhere else in the world. At the time this split within the Legion had not yet existed, because internally hardly anyone knew about these experiments."_

"_But _you_ knew about it," Mick stayed persistent. On the surface he could even understand Gabriel's motivation for holding back, but this understanding hadn't really penetrated his thinking, could neither extinguish the burning anger inside him nor his disappointment. _

"_Yes - but only unofficially," Gabriel replied quickly. "_Officially_, I was still outside of the vampire society on a self discovery trip." _

"_But you were already in the States." That wasn't a question but a statement that the old vampire confirmed with a short nod._

"_Yes, I was," he added. "I wanted to find out what was really going on here, and whether the Cercle du Sang was indeed somehow involved with the Legion. When I realized in what direction things had developed here, I decided to gather evidence of the research to submit to the top leadership of the Legion in Europe and force them to act. But the situation escalated by itself and the Legion here in America began to fight among themselves without my involvement." Gabriel looked at Mick with an expression of deep remorse in his eyes. "I'm more than sorry about the things that happened to you. But there was nothing else I could do at that time. I know this isn't an excuse. I just want you to know that you and the other vampires were not completely indifferent to me. And no one knew exactly what was being done to you. I only learned gradually what tests you had been exposed to and that Gallagher had eventually lost control. I would not have let him…"_

_Mick raised his hands and narrowed his eyes briefly, to push back the memories that wanted to immediately take possession of his mind. The re-hashing of his trauma was the last thing he needed now. All this was already hard enough to endure. "This… this… is over," he stammered, as he was again able to look at the old vampire. "And honestly, what could you have done about it?"_

_Gabriel's bright eyes examined him briefly, then he took an audible breath, seemed to gather strength for what he wanted to tell him now, and Mick's intestines clenched, as he sensed that the old vampire was about to lift the curtain on another secret. _

"_The Legion in Europe and I are in closer contact than the vampire community suspects. I have a close connection with its top leadership and therefore the power to influence the actions of that organization from time to time. Sadly, the American Legion evades this access and makes it hard to control them even for their own leadership. But again, I know at least one man personally who has a great influence on the decisions of the local Legion…" _

"_Wait, wait!" Mick held up his hand again to stop him once more, drew up his eyebrows and closed his eyes, fighting down his boiling anger before he looked at Gabriel incredulously. "You're in close contact with the Legion?"_

_Gabriel nodded tensely and Mick uttered a sound that only remotely resembled an incredulous laugh and couldn't even come close to his state of disbelief. _

"_Why?" _

_Gabriel breathed in audibly through the nose, again gathering his strength. "Because it was me who originally founded the Legion."_

To label the state in which Mick had been after receiving this information as shock, was an understatement, and he had only been able to stop himself from attacking Gabriel by getting up and pacing up and down in the room a few times, while pressing his fingernails into the palms of his hands so hard, that he drew blood and the pain drowned some of his rage. Gabriel had quickly started to tell him the story behind all this - an even more incredible story than anything he had ever heard before. And yet Mick had known from the first word it was true, that the old vampire had revealed a secret that was hardly known by anyone else. For that he did not even have to share his memories.

Their joint journey back into Gabriel's rough past had not only been terribly painful for the ancient vampire but also for Mick, for it had brought two shockingly disturbing findings to light: first, that Mick seemingly was a direct descendent of Gabriel's family and that, similar to Beth, certain important things about himself had been withheld from him; and secondly, that the tragic love story the old vampire had endured seemed to be repeated through Beth and him. The parallels were not to be overlooked and it really seemed almost as if fate had desperately tried to bring the two of them together - for whatever reason.

It had certainly not been Gabriel's intention, but his confession, the disturbing images from his memories, had only stoked Mick's fears about Beth further, had frayed his nerves and caused him imagine the worst scenarios life could throw at him and Beth. And it had become clear he wouldn't survive any of them, that he couldn't continue to live with any of them. And yet he currently couldn't come up with an option to keep the dangers away from Beth permanently, how to keep her out of the Legion's line of fire and other organizations that were chasing him. Quite the contrary, the more Gabriel had told him about the Sangsujets, the more he had learned about his own specifics, the clearer it became that for him to love Beth also put her in danger and maybe end up losing her.

Frank had once told him that he was the ideal research subject for the experiments of the Legion and only now, with all the new information, he finally understood what that meant - not only for him but also for any one else engaged in close contact with him. The Legion would never find another person that fast, with which a similar successful repetition of the experiment was possible. Currently Mick was unique and everyone who knew of him and was interested in making a profit for themselves through his, now so incredibly precious blood, would do everything in their power to get him - for the rest of his life. They would always chase him, always be behind him and threaten the people who meant the most to him, trying to use them to put pressure on him, to manipulate him. He could run away with Beth, could hide with her, but even for Gabriel and Laelia there had been a point where it had become too much to bear and the old vampire had realized that this couldn't go on forever. He had then turned to the only other possibility that still existed, of getting rid of the threat from the others: direct attack. Destroy your enemies and you're free. But in the end this was exactly what had cost the life of the woman he had loved so much. And the Legion was now far better equipped than before, making not only an escape but also an attack far more difficult than at times of the Roman Empire.

One thing, however, Gabriel had not considered and it was precisely this possibility that Mick now struggled with, since he had asked Gabriel for a break in their conversation. He knew he had to plan his steps carefully, if he was really going to choose this path, knowing that he had to arrange some things first before he could start the preparations. But right now it seemed like the only way to truly protect Beth permanently, to enable her to perhaps lead a normal life one day - just as he had always wanted for her. Because there was one difference to Gabriel's and Laelia's story: The Legion didn't know about Beth's precious blood. They were just chasing him and when they got him, they would certainly not continue to care about Beth. She would then really be free again.

The only major problem that lay before him was overcoming himself, for the injured, traumatized part of himself was already crying out in protest at the thought alone, made him break out in sweat with the fear and caused his intestines clench. Never again had he wanted to fall into the hands of the Legion and now he saw that he was maybe forced into voluntarily going to them when there was indeed no other way out and if Gabriel failed in his attempts to force the organization to its knees. The thought was so unspeakable, so awful, and brought him, combined with the feeling that he did no longer know who he was and whom he could really trust, quite close to the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Everything suddenly seemed so hopeless, so terribly inconceivable… like one big nightmare in which the present was unbearable, the future lay buried in darkness and the past opened up behind him like a yawning chasm, filled with dark secrets, secrets he no longer wanted to know.

To struggle with his concern for Beth and their future was already bad enough, but to have the feeling that his whole life was built on lies, that he had never been as free as he had always thought and had always lived in danger of someday falling into the hands of vampires or the Legion without even knowing it – that was nearly unbearable. But he had provoked it, had driven Gabriel to reveal even this secret to him…

"_I still don't think I understand everything yet," Mick said exhausted, after nee__ding a few minutes to absorb the so shocking circumstances of the emergence of the Legion and to get a grip on his troubled feelings once again, enough for him to reasonably and calmly ask the next important questions. "Originally, the Legion only contained Sangsujets, didn't it?" _

_Gabriel nodded, giving a similar exhausted impression as Mick did himself._

"_And Bernard Guillaume was a Sangsujet himself, but he gathered his friends around him to fight against the vampires," Mick continued. "But once you crushed his troops and later, after the bigger war against the Legion, you came to those agreements with them, without prohibiting them from recruiting ordinary people and allowed the organization grow even further." _

_Again an oppressed nodding followed his words and Mick immediately blurted out the next question: "Why?" _

"_Because I myself had no strength left to protect the humans alone from the vampires in this world," Gabriel admitted quietly. "The vampire population grew rapidly, and what had happened in Guillaume's village had shown me that I could not control them all by myself that my power alone wasn't great enough - even though the vampires saw me in a new light after the war and feared me more than ever before. I was certain back then that this fear would subside in time, that they would again begin to exceed their limits and to exploit their superiority towards humans. To give the Legion a certain amount of power, to permit them to compensate for the misconduct of vampires by themselves and draw up lists they could pursue vampires who violate the rules with, seemed to be the only way for me to protect humankind back then and to ensure a certain balance in the coexistence of humans and vampires. And my close connections with the Legion should prevent this organization from starting their hunt of vampires anew."_

"_But that didn't work," Mick immediately returned bitterly, and he did not care that Gabriel could hear his frustration and the anger in his voice. _

"_It worked, at least for limited periods of time," the old vampire admitted sadly. "But neither side could never fully trust the other and that inevitably leads to misunderstanding and anger on both sides. And eventually the whole situation escalated…" He let out a soft sigh and shook his head. _

_Mick frowned and looked at him suspiciously. "How? How can this happen? You're always so well informed about everything. Why do these escalations continue to happen?" _

_Gabriel sighed sorrowfully again, skimmed one hand over his mouth and then let it fall limply into his lap. "Because I too am not perfect, Mick. I… I sometimes have periods where I don't care about the things going on around me. Phases where I think the world is clearly much better off without me, that_ _basically my interventions have so far made things worse; that all these dramas might not have happened if it weren't for me. Phases in which I retreat and let fate take its course." _

"_But in the end you always intervened," Mick replied impatiently. "That was the case way back with Luis and this time with me."_

"_And both times I didn't want to and was forced to." _

_Mick's eyebrows wandered again towards each other. "In what way?"_

"_Luis' mother came to me and asked me to save her son. She told me to remember the old promises, told me that I was obliged to do everything in my power to protect her family." _

"_That means she was a Sangsujet?" Mick concluded immediately. _

"_Not just any. Her family was descended in direct line of Laelia and… there were a few peculiarities."_

"_Peculiarities?" Mick repeated, questioningly raising his eyebrows. _

_Gabriel nodded. "Yes. Also among the Sangsujets there are very special humans, Mick, humans whose genetics come incredibly close to those of the Nigong." _

_Mick closed his eyes briefly, trying to prevent that this thought-knot, that was so difficult to unknot, from forming in his mind again. "What… what do you mean?" _

"_That in certain family lines, such as that of the Bourbons and your line, people were born again and again that were able to produce the blocking agents _and_ the V-hormones," Gabriel explained._

_Mick hesitated. "I thought this was the case with all Sangsujets…" _

"_Yes it is," Gabriel replied, "but for most of them it was and still is the case that their cells are already highly mutated and the substances they produce, take effect only in a very weakened form. These intensely responsive hormones, like those found in you for example, are very, very rare. However, for you, your predisposition of the formation of V-hormones is much stronger than even the formation of blocking substances - and that's why you could be turned. For Beth, it's probably the other way round." _

_Mick had great difficulty not showing that this flood of information slowly but surely began to mentally overwhelm him. But he pulled himself together, fought bravely for the answers that he thought he needed so desperately. "And… and why is that?"_

_Gabriel was silent for a moment, probably also had to sort his thoughts and to fight down the strange anxiety that was written in his eyes. "I had a sister Mick. A sister by blood that had children… and you are a descendant of her bloodline." _

_Mick's eyes widened and he stared at the man before him for a long moment, speechless. That was something he had not expected at all. "I… I'm related to you?" he stammered, as he had overcome the initial shock at last. _

_On Gabriel's lips appeared a small, almost agonized smile. "That you are. And it's especially the line of your family that passed on the genes of the Nigong my line is descended of - without interruption." _

"_And… what about Beth?" _

"_Beth is a descendant of Laelia's bloodline. To be exact, her brother, Marcus." _

_Mick was silent again, pressed his lips together tightly. He did not like what he was hearing. It caused him to suspect that Beth too was in greater danger than he had ever guessed. He cleared his throat, tried to remove the frog and to face this bleak, new knowledge without once again becoming overwhelmed by his grudge against Gabriel and his secrets._

"_And was it the same for her - with the inheritance of genetics, I mean?" he asked, his heart beating a little faster automatically. _

_Gabriel nodded again. "These were the two blood lines, which I had always kept a particularly close eye on, that I tried to protect by all means, at least for a long period of time. The biggest mistake I ever made was probably the moment I decided to stop doing it and to retire and just leave your ancestors alone. Maybe that would have worked if I had burned the book and all other records of the Blood of the Lily. But I didn't and when Coraline found the book, that's when your fateful history actually began." _

"_What do you mean?" Mick asked with a suspicious frown._

_Gabriel let out a deep sigh. "I… I already knew how to assess Coraline's state of mind very well, and realized that the relationship between the two of us wasn't doing either of us any good and that I had to end it sooner or later. I knew she would want revenge for this and therefore decided to resettle the families for whose sake I had moved to Scotland and that were now threatened by her, and to protect them in this way from Coraline or even other vampires." _

"_What families?" it burst out of Mick immediately and there again was this sense of foreboding in his interior, this unpleasant pressure in his stomach. _

"_A family of six from the Gordon Clan and another young man with his equally young and at the time, pregnant wife. His name was Michael Johnstone."_

_Mick's breathing stopped a second time for a moment and his heart began to stumble. "You… you knew my grandfather?" _

_Gabriel didn't need to nod. His serious glance was enough to answer the question for him and the painful feeling of having been betrayed was back. _

"_Personally?" Mick continued, after a short break. _

"_Your grandfather lost his mother at a very young age and since his father did not know that he existed, I took care of him - as well as I was able to at that time," Gabriel confessed softly, and something in his gaze told Mick, that there was more emotion behind this whole story than the old vampire was willing to admit to him. _

_Mick could only continue to look at Gabriel in bewilderment, while his heart was now beating far too quickly in his chest. He knew that his grandfather had been a 'bastard' and therefore had always had a difficult life. His mother's family had taken him in after her death, but real parental loving care he had never received. It was surprising to hear now that there had been someone who had at least taken a little care of him. That it had been Gabriel made the whole thing almost incomprehensible and Mick's anger at the old vampire grew more and more, making it incredibly difficult to understand his actions and keep his trust in him. And he was sure that there was more shocking information waiting for him. He closed his eyes briefly tried to prepare for what was to come, and when he opened his eyes again, he noticed that also Gabriel was trying to gather strength for the further discussion again. The chest of the Ancient One had expanded with the deep breath he took and Mick could feel a strange tingling in his temples._

"_If you say, he belonged to one of the families for whose sake you moved to Scotland," Mick began with a somewhat shaky voice, "does that mean that you knew who my grandfather's father was?" _

_Gabriel's nod wasn't surprising. "His name was Armand-Jacques-Achille Leroy de Saint-Arnaud, and he was an officer in King Louis' Life Guard and later the minister of war for Napoleon. Your great-grandmother met him in Paris. She wanted to visit her former fiancé. How exactly the affair between the two of them began I can not tell you. I only know that she broke the engagement, but was left by Armand pregnant and had to return to her family in Scotland depressed and despised." _

_Mick gave an incredulous laugh, in which his anger was clearly heard. "You know more about my family than I do!" _

"_Only about your ancestors Mick," Gabriel immediately replied in a soothing tone, and it was obvious that he was really worried about Mick's emotional state by now. _

"_Yeah?" Mick's eyes bored into those of the ancient vampire. "So, after you resettled my grandfather with his family, you were no longer interested in them?"_

_Gabriel inhaled, but then closed his mouth, lowered his eyes and pressed his lips together. That answered Mick's question as well as words could have._

"_Did my grandfather know who you were? I mean,_ what_ you are?" _

_Gabriel raised his head and held Mick's gaze, even if it was hard for him. "Not exactly. He only knew that I wasn't a normal human being, that I lived longer than any other man and had certain powers that others didn't possess."_

"_But he didn't know you were a vampire?" Mick asked further, with a strong doubt in his voice. _

"_No. There… were some agreements between us. One of them was not to ask about my past. But I promised to protect him and his family and his descendants as well as possible for me and to make sure that even in bad times they wouldn't suffer any hardships."_

_Mick remembered vaguely that there had been an old friend of his grandfather's, who had from time to time supported him financially and had helped him with other major problems. Mick's father had told him this when he himself had once turned to this man in a financial crisis. _

_Good God! Mick tried to breathe deeply and calmly, but with this information and all the worrying thoughts that surrounded it, it was really hard. He ran a hand through his hair, shook his head, because this was all just so incomprehensible, so earth shattering for him and he didn't know if he really wanted to learn more, really wanted to have answers to_ all_ his questions. And yet he couldn't stop, he just had to voice the things that caused this feeling of pressure in his chest, racked his nerves and enraged him so much against all the people who had deceived him so heavily._

"_My father…" He had to swallow because his thoughts began to choke him. "Did my father know about this all?" _

"_I don't know for sure," Gabriel admitted and it was enough to make Mick's intestines cramp once again. Even worse were the words that followed the first sentence. "I think he knew about his own genetic anomaly and that there were people in this world who followed him because of it, that they could threaten his life and that of his children which were born with the same predisposition. And he probably knew that I would protect him and his family if he demanded it." _

_Mick raised a hand in a breaking gesture, closed his eyes and pushed his anger about this unfulfilled promise back. "My father knew that Tristan or I… that one of us would be 'special'?" _

"_Or both of you…"_

"_Was it like that?" _

"_No. Your brother didn't have a rare blood type. He was never at risk." _

"_But I was," Mick added silently and still full of tension and this time Gabriel nodded. _

_Mick got up, like many times before in this nerve-wrecking conversation, and moved through the room, walked over to a window and then stopped in front of it. He crossed his arms over his chest trying to hold on to himself to give himself the support he needed not to collapse under the weight of his own feelings, closing his eyes. Lies on top of lies… Mick had known his father took many secrets to his grave, kept so many things from him. But to learn now, in hindsight, that these things concerned him, that they would have been important for him and his father had still concealed them, was unbearable. He felt so cheated, so let down, so betrayed… And it hurt incredibly, wounding him deeply in his innermost core. How could this man ever claim to love him? _

"_I've made some bad mistakes when it comes to your family, Mick," Mick now heard Gabriel say quietly and the regret in his voice was not an act, "I've broken my promise and I didn't take care of you, as I should have. But you have to believe me that I have always tried to protect your family at least from a distance. And your father not only had a contact address through which he could always reach me, but he always carried something with him, what should have prevented other vampires, or the Legion, from getting too close to you."_

_Mick heard Gabriel moved in his chair and turned around just in time to see the old vampire reach out to his side and bring the book they had stolen from the Legion out of a bag, which had probably been standing for quite a while unobtrusively next to his armchair. He opened it on his lap, flipped through the pages for a while and then put it on the table. Although Mick already dreaded what Gabriel would show him now, he felt compelled to walk over to him and take a look at the book. His eyes darted quickly over the page that Gabriel had opened and he froze. There, drawn in fine lines, was the image of the ring he wore on his hand, since his father had died. And suddenly the importance of this gift, its deep symbolism of love and connectedness broke into nothing._

Mick closed his eyes, sucked a deep breath through his nose and fought against the growing tightness, this feeling of deep sadness and disappointment that he was about to be overwhelmed with again. The realization that his father had not bequeathed him the ring, because he wanted to show how much he loved him, that he had forgiven him and had acknowledged him as part of himself, but simply to protect him from becoming a victim of a too well-kept family secret – that had been the insight that had finally brought Mick to the edge of his strength and nerves in his conversation with Gabriel. But he had not freaked out, had neither attacked Gabriel nor had he raged or moaned about. The shock and pain had been too great to be able to do _any_thing at all. It had rather felt as if his soul had retreated very far back inside his body and was hiding there, while his cool vampire side took the lead and banned his raging emotions from his thought and action. Only for this reason had Mick still remained calm, when Gabriel showed him the amulet that Marisa had always carried with her and that had also eventually ended up in Micks possession - an amulet that promised a similar protection as his ring, only it was to protect the people who were important to the _Legion_. It had been another bit of shocking information that cast a weird light on Marisa's family and thus on Guillermo and Alejandro. But it was an issue that Mick currently did not really want to face - _could_ not. He just had to handle too many other important things in addition to his immense concern for Beth and her future, which had unfortunately not been wiped out by his strange state of mind. He was also sure that neither Guillermo nor Alejandro still had anything to do with the Legion and were not a danger to any of them. He would feel it if they were the traitors – he was sure of that.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice brought Mick out of his brooding and when he lifted his eyelids, he looked into Josef's worried brown eyes. His friend had asked him the same question a few times now, and Mick wasn't sure if this was really concern for him or if it was connected with the nervous state Josef found himself in, and that he couldn't hide from Mick although he really tried to.

"Yes, I…" Mick shook his head, quickly took a deep breath and made an effort to give his friend a small, slightly failed smile. "It's okay. I think I just need a little more rest. Every thing's fine."

Of course, Josef didn't believe him, that was obvious by the critical gaze his friend examined him with briefly, but he didn't get a chance to say anything more, because Frank, who had just looked up from Logan's laptop with a deeply worried line between his brows, began to speak.

"The more recent values are not very good, Josef," he pointed out totally in the role of the physician and scientist. "They have, according to the documents this nurse has sent me, apparently deteriorated rapidly over the last few months…"

"That happens from time to time," Josef added quickly and yet the concern in his eyes grew immediately. "But it will eventually get better."

Frank looked at him silently for a few breaths, then inhaled deeply. "I just want to keep you informed of any risks. And to bring her back to life now, in this state, is definitely a risk. She has been in the coma for over fifty years and her body is not accustomed to working alone, to supply itself with nutrients and so on. And… if she should turn back into a human, her whole organism will have to change again. It's quite possible it'll collapse."

This wasn't great news and Josef closed his eyes, ran both his hands over his face and then nodded. "We'll do it anyway."

"And if we just take her along the way she is now?" Mick interfered. Sarah meant so much to Josef. He did not want to imagine what would happen with his best friend if she died. "Maybe she'll be okay for a while without the devices. It's not as if she's not breathing on her own."

Josef looked at him, seemed to really think about his idea.

"That would be another possibility," Frank said and Josef turned to him again. He began to discuss the ifs ands and buts of this possibility, while Mick's thoughts of course drifted to Beth again, and his own problem of choices. He was aware of the fact that it would break Beth's heart when he left her, when he again walked right into the hands of the Legion. And very likely she would try to free him and place herself in the same deadly danger that had cost Laelia her life. So he had to develop a plan to prevent that and to protect her from all possible angles - even in relation to Gabriel. The old vampire had been right. The revelation of his secrets had destroyed much of Micks confidence in Gabriel, although he understood why he had done certain things in the past. But to know that this man was basically to blame for all the bad things that had happened to him and now Beth was something that made it extremely difficult for Mick to trust him and to still be guided by his instructions and plans. Any form of instruction or restriction on the part of the old vampire triggered at the moment an extreme surge of disgust and anger inside Mick and Gabriel seemed to know that. Only this could explain why he had let him go with Josef without any protest. He had just informed him of the risks, but had granted his support to them and had not tried to fight against Mick's rebellious behavior. But maybe he was after his injury and the strenuous conversation simply too weak to do this.

Only concerning Beth, Mick had been plagued by his conscience and he had really reluctantly left her alone, not knowing how she was now. But he had had to do it. Precisely because there was, despite his worries about her, also this grudge against her that the images of Gabriel's bite had caused inside him. Also in respect to Beth his feelings were more than chaotic; nevertheless his continued concern for her safety outweighed the other feelings and made him again and again deal with this frightening approach to the solution of their problem.

Basically, he shouldn't even return to Beth after this operation with Sarah. It would be better to create a distance between them, so she wouldn't have the chance to change his mind, to confuse him with her words or just her presence so that he would give in to his own deep longing to be close to her. Perhaps Josef could take her and Sarah someplace safe. He had always had many connections in the world, knew of places where he could go into hiding for years. At least that's what he had told him. And maybe Mick would therefore get her to hate him - because only that could prevent her from looking for him and once again tangle with the Legion.

Get Beth to hate him… Mick's heart ached at that thought alone. He didn't want to, couldn't stand it… but he had to, just had to…

Somewhere a phone rang and everyone but Malik winced. Logan began to pat down his pockets frantically and then he fumbled the vibrating and erratically shrilling device from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Yeah," he answered shortly. But his first somewhat anxious expression transformed rapidly into a happily-surprised one. "Oh, it's you! How…"

He stopped, blinked a few times. "Yes, he is, but…" Again he paused, took a breath, but didn't get a chance to speak because the person on the other end of the line apparently talked without interruption and Mick felt tempted to turn on his vampiric senses to determine who it was - even though he had a suspicion… a suspicion that at once quickened his pulse, and aroused this deep longing inside him, he currently had no use for at all.

"Yes, I… yes - all right!" Logan stammered on and turned to Mick to hand him the mobile phone with an almost pitying gaze.

Mick's heart stopped briefly. But he instinctively reached for the device and brought it to his ear.

"Mick?" Of course it was Beth's voice and her tone held not only worry, but also a large proportion of anger. Nevertheless, the sound of her voice alone sent a pleasant shiver down Mick's back. Longing warmth spread inside him and immediately pitted itself against all these terrible feelings and dark thoughts in his mind.

He swallowed down the hard lump in his throat. "Yes," he replied very quietly, and tried hard not to let her hear what was going on inside him.

"What the hell are you doing there?" It still burst out of Beth annoyed. "You can not simply vanish without telling me and without planning this thoroughly in advance!"

"Apparently you're feeling much better already," Mick replied dryly, and a wave of deep relief seized him, as the meaning of his words also penetrated into his own mind. Beth was well again – well enough to be angry about his actions and to rant about his decisions!

He heard her take a deep breath and when she spoke again, she indeed seemed to be a bit calmer. "Yes, I…" A sigh. "You don't always have to worry about me so much, Mick. I'm tougher than I look like, and you could really have woken me up. Maybe I could have come up with a few ideas to help you."

"But I don't want you to help us!" Mick uttered without thinking and realized at once that his words were not chosen very wisely - not for Beth Turner anyway. But she surprised him. Rather than getting angry and complain about this dominant tone, she became very quiet - strangely quiet. Probably she had heard the slight tremor in his voice that betrayed his real state of mind so shamefully.

"Listen Beth," he simply began, before she could say something that would provoke a quarrel between them. "I… we just didn't have the time to think about our next steps. This is about Sarah, and if we do nothing, she will either fall into the hands of the Legion or die. And we can not allow that to happen."

"And what is it exactly you want to do?" she asked after all and he felt how hard it was for her as well to stay so calm, that there were long since other thoughts plaguing her.

"Frank says my blood might help her," he said quickly. "She also has a rare blood type and could be a descendant of the Nigong. And that could be the reason for her condition. Perhaps we can wake her with my blood."

"Perhaps?"

Mick took a deep breath himself, strained to banish all thoughts about a bad ending of this whole issue - even though the odds for that seemed to be over fifty percent.

"It could go wrong," he added softly.

There was silence at the other end of the line again. For a few seconds Mick only heard Beth's breathing, but still felt that the thought of Sarah and the possibility that Sarah could die, had brought Beth further into deep brooding.

"Mick?" This time her voice was even softer and more worried than before, and his longing for her, especially for this soft, so gentle side of her grew immensely. "Will you promise me something?"

He hesitated, not only because her question surprised him. "What exactly?"

She took a deep and slightly shaky breath. "That you'll come back to me - no matter how this whole thing turns out."

Mick caught his breath and his heart took a small leap. It was almost scary how well Beth knew him by now and how clearly, despite the distance to him, she seemed to feel how desperate and inwardly torn he was at the moment. His interior clenched painfully and the longing for Beth, for her proximity, the understanding, security and comfort she could give him became so strong that he could hardly bear it. Automatically he pressed the phone tighter to his ear, as if that would bring her indeed closer to him. He needed her so much…

"Promise me you won't do anything rash again and will return to me," she went on to demand in an audibly hoarse voice and he wanted to give in to her immediately, saying that he was with her, would stay with her - forever. But he couldn't… couldn't do this, instead he pressed his lips together.

"There's so much we need to talk about," he heard her say, "so many things that I need to tell you, so many things I just have to _know_… and you… you promised to fight for our relationship. You promised, Mick."

He closed his eyes and nodded, although she couldn't see him. He wanted to fight, yes, wanted to make sure that she was well… and, oh God, how great was his desire to return at once, to stay with her, to clasp her in his arms and never let her go. His resistance was melting with every word she spoke.

"Mick… do you remember the night when I found out that you were the one who saved me as a child?"

The pressure on Mick's chest was getting stronger and now even his throat corded up. It seemed to him, as if Beth was talking of another life that was so far back in the past.

"We were up on the balcony and you condemned yourself for your behavior," Beth simply went on. "You said I would have every right to be mad at you. And I explained that I wasn't. Do you remember why I said that?"

Mick swallowed hard. "You… you said you somehow always felt safe," Mick brought out only with difficulty, because the lump in his throat was still there and was now supplemented by this telltale tingling in his nose, this burning in his eyes.

"Because you'd always watched over me as my guardian angel, Mick," Beth added deeply moved. "You were always there and protected me. You still do this today and I only feel really safe when you're with me, because I know that nothing can happen to me then. So, please come back and don't take my guardian angel away from me. I need him - more than ever before. And Mick…" He heard a second time her halting breathing. "A guardian angel with broken wings is better than none. I need my angel… promise me that you will come back!"

Mick breathed in, out, and in again… 'Don't say it, don't say it!'

'But I want to, I want to! I need her to live, to be able to continue to fight!'

"Mick," he heard her choked voice, so full of fear and yet so full of love for him. He could not do that to her, he could not hurt her like that…

"I promise," he uttered softly, and meant what he said. Maybe it was really not too late to fight. Maybe there were other ways to save them both. Perhaps it was appropriate to continue to rely on Gabriel's experience and his strategic genius. And perhaps there was still a chance to spend the rest of his life with Beth. And even if there really was no being in this world that could fly with broken wings - he would try. For Beth, he would try everything and maybe angels could also accomplish wonders in this world.


	61. Limits

_Hi there! Here I am again with a new chapter. I don't have much time because my sister's in labor since last night and I want to go to the hospital to see her (hoping the baby will be born then)__. Just wanted to thank you all for your dear reviews! Love your support and the insight into your thoughts about my story! I'll try to be back next Saturday again and wish you all a great weekend and week! Yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**Limits**

* * *

"_Attention means, I set myself limits, so that others may live as well…"_

_Hans-Christoph Neuert and Elmar Kupke_

* * *

"And? Do you perceive anything suspicious?"

I brought Frank to silence, as I quickly raised a hand and narrowed my eyes, thus showing him clearly that his questioning wasn't particularly helpful but even more disturbing.

We had, only a few minutes ago, parked our car between two other vehicles diagonally across the street from Sarah's accommodation, and to my disappointment we had decided to first scan the area around us with our superhuman senses for possible dangers. Even though we were in a hurry, none of us wanted to run headlong into a trap of the enemy. And it was really amazing how my perception had changed since being turned back by Gabriel - in a positive way! I could tell exactly how many people were moving in the houses around us, what they were doing and what they were talking about. I could also hear, just as well, what was going on on the street, whether cars turned into the small, not very traveled street in which we found ourselves, or just drove past it. And I felt in the energy field around us that, in fact, everything was peaceful and relaxed.

The perception of a normal vampire was already enormous and brought substantial advantages to situations like these, but what I could see by being linked to Mick's and Malik's energy field, took even _my_ breath away and would have been an immense joy had the whole situation not been so tense. It was still overwhelming, but I couldn't think of anything other than getting to Sarah as fast as possible, unscathed, and then to disappear with her even faster. That made it difficult to really enjoy this more intensive form of perception.

When I lifted my eyelids, Mick was looking at me with raised eyebrows and Malik also opened his eyes.

"As far as I can tell, it's safe to get out and go into the house," Mick said, and Malik agreed with him with a silent nod. "So, how do you want to proceed?"

That was a good question. Since we had left the cabin in Munds Park, I had been determined to try and awaken Sarah by using Mick's blood. Now as we stood in front of this small, cozy-looking house in which I had placed her, and no real threat was in sight, I wasn't quite so sure anymore. Most of all, Frank's statements regarding Sarah's condition and him repeatedly pointing out that she might die in the attempt, had intimidated me greatly, and if I was being honest, my heart had pretty much dropped to my boots. Of course this wasn't the first time I'd thought about releasing her from this state. Over the years there had been times I had sat at her bedside, my hand on the switch of the machines that provided her with food that prevented her from dying or her circulation from collapsing. But I had never been able to bring myself to push it really. First, I hadn't been able to bear the idea of giving her up and letting go, and secondly, it always felt as if I'd be killing her myself, and I simply didn't have the heart to do it. Now the whole situation seemed different. To separate her from these devices was no longer necessarily a death sentence. If we injected her with Mick's blood, she would have a chance to survive - no more than a fifty percent, but it was still a chance and that had never been the case before. And the question was if this chance would ever be greater.

The others were still waiting for a response from me, so I took a deep breath and nodded at them. "Let's go inside first and see how she's doing," I said with a somewhat firm voice and opened the car door without hesitation to get out. My heart immediately began to beat faster and my legs became a little wobbly, as I crossed the street after everyone but Logan, and headed for the flat beige painted, house I had rented for Sarah. Somehow I felt, upon entering the house, like I was walking into a new stage of life - and basically I was. If I did indeed decide to inject Sarah with Mick's blood, she would either wake up and once more turn my life completely upside down or she'd die and leave an empty place in my heart from which I couldn't imagine ever being filled again. Whatever happened - my life would definitely never be the same.

"From what I see, you aren't that noticeable at a quick glance there in the car," I heard Mick say behind me as I reached the door and had just pressed the doorbell, and only when I turned to him frowning, did I noticed that he was speaking with Logan. He had put on the only headset that we had brought along, and made such a resolute and firm impression that even I gained more confidence automatically.

"So, keep your eyes open and warn us if you see anything suspicious," he continued, and I had to shake my head mentally in disbelief. It was really fascinating to see what a calming and restorative effect Beth had on my best friend - even if she wasn't there in person. Just a few minutes ago my worries about Mick had even outweighed those of Sarah, because I had started to get the feeling that these new revelations he had gained in his conversation with Gabriel were eating him up inside and he was beginning to develop some very stupid ideas. Now I suddenly had the feeling of almost having the old, highly focused and combative Mick St. John back in front of me. A good feeling, especially since_ I_ too no longer really had my feelings under control - the only question now was how long that would last.

I quickly turned away from him when I heard someone approaching the door and the unmistakable smell of a human woman entered my nose. Only seconds later the door opened a gap and a woman of about forty, with short brown hair peered out anxiously. Lisa Brown, Sarah's nurse. The relief she was overcome with when she recognized me, wasn't only obvious on her pale face, but even energetically palpable to me. If I wasn't mistaken, tears even glistened in her eyes.

"Oh, Mr. Konstantine, I'm so glad you're finally here," she cried out with a desperation in her voice that almost bordered on hysteria, and I feared she would fall round my neck sobbing. But she pulled herself together and instead babbled on without pause, while I quickly pushed past her, avoiding all physical contact, of course, and stepped inside the hallway of the house.

"This… this man just called again and said there were problems and that he would, by your command, send someone over within the hour to pick up Miss Whitley. Of course I didn't let on that I knew he definitely wasn't acting on your behalf, but I… oh, God, I'm so terribly afraid!"

"Stop!" I probably replied a little too loud and little too harshly, because the excited woman winced visibly, and even took a step away from me, cowed. "The man called _again_?"

She nodded quickly, but her gaze wasn't directed at me but slipped anxiously towards Mick, Malik and Frank, who had entered the house, with a brief welcome and a fleeting smile, behind me.

"And he said he's sending someone here?"

Again she nodded and this time she even looked at me, making it possible for me to not only perceive the great fear in her eyes, but also her excessive need to disappear from this place. But I couldn't let her go yet. There were too many important things left to be clarified.

"How long ago was that?" I immediately asked further.

"About… about twenty minutes ago," Lisa stammered nervously as her eyes slid over to a suitcase and travel bag, which were already close at hand near the door.

I looked at Mick, whose mind seemed to be working similar to mine.

"That means there's no more time to lose," he put my thoughts into words and my heart jumped into my throat. Nevertheless, I nodded nervously.

Mick seemed to sense my hesitation and took the lead. "Which room is she in?" he addressed Lisa who immediately set into motion with a quiet "Follow me!", and pushed past me and headed for one of the open doors. I followed her more out of an automatic response than a deliberate one. The first entry into Sarah's room after a long period of absence was always an emotionally difficult one and an incredibly stressful act for me, but now, with this dangerous plan in my mind, I found it even harder than ever. And had I known what awaited me inside the room, I probably would have stopped at the door or maybe even fled back to Logan as soon as possible.

It wasn't the sight of Sarah that shocked me so much. She was actually, as always, lying quite peacefully in her bed, still as young and as beautiful as ever, like a sleeping angel, just waiting to finally be kissed awake. No, the sight of her hurt endlessly as it always did because it jolted awake this longing for her, this deep love for this woman. But this time, these feelings didn't really have a chance to intensify, because they were immediately drowned by the shock that was brought about with my highly sensitive perception; for with Gabriel's blood, which was now flowing through my veins, and the presence of two energetically incredibly powerful vampires, it forced me to perceive things that I had always been able to avoid, to ignore in the past. Sarah was indeed breathing and her heartbeat was strong and regular - she lived, but I couldn't feel her. She wasn't really there. There was only a faint whiff of the once so vibrant energy clinging to her through the long time she had now been in this state.

For a moment my chest became so tight that I could barely breathe. For some time I had toyed the brilliant idea that I might be able to reach her through this new ability of creating a mental connection that Gabriel's blood had bequeathed to me, to ask her what I should do, what she wanted me to do and thus to make this important decision a lot easier on me. This thought had been so wonderful, had felt so right and now it burst like a bubble. Sarah seemed to be so far away from this place that it was doubtful she would indeed be capable of coming back when we tried to bring her back to life. And that was a difficulty I hadn't even considered.

I forced myself to remain composed, at least outwardly, to not show my pain and the fear that smoldered inside me, and stepped with trembling legs closer to Sarah's bed.

"Miss Brown, I don't think your help is needed here any longer," Mick gently addressed the nurse from behind me and something in his voice told me that he felt the same as I did and definitely knew what was going on inside me. "You should go. This will soon become too dangerous for you here."

Lisa didn't answer, she had probably only nodded, because just seconds later I heard her leave the room quickly. I couldn't turn to her. My gaze rested on Sarah's lovely face, looking for a sign of life, just a stir, telling me that my perception had led me astray just this one time. But there was nothing. How could there be? Her face hadn't shown any movement for decades now.

I felt Mick stepped up next to me. He put a comforting hand on my shoulder, and only with this contact, was I again able to break my gaze from Sarah and turn it towards him. Deepest sympathy and concern for me was written in his expressive eyes. I felt that he had wanted to comfort me, but still fought for the right words - words that he would probably never find.

"How… how could I have missed this all these years?" My voice was barely more than a whisper, sounding strangely hoarse. And there was this infernal burning in my eyes I hated so much, but still couldn't avoid.

"With the eyes of love you sometimes see things clearer and sometimes more blurred," I heard Malik's soft voice and realized for the first time, that he had approached Sarah from the other side and looked at her thoughtfully. The Assassin closed his eyes and I felt again that pleasant tingling in my temples, felt that he was now groping a little stronger for Sarah's energy.

"What… what's going on?" now also Frank intervened, looking confused from one to the other.

"Sarah is…" I had to swallow because it was so incredibly painful to voice the words. "She's… gone."

"Not completely," Malik corrected me and his eyes opened again. "A small part of her soul is still being held by her body.

There it was again - the spark of hope in me that just didn't want to die and promptly began to glow again at these words.

Frank looked at me shocked, his mouth opened and closed again. Only after a few seconds of concerned silence between us, did he find his tongue again. "And… do you still want to try it?"

I wrapped my arms around my midsection, trying to give myself the support I needed to make the right decision. A myriad of different feelings raged within me. Anger at my former ignorance of Sarah's condition, regret that I had held her so long in this world, even though she had long since been ready to go, despair over the fact that she had already slipped through my fingers so much so that I could no longer reach her mentally, but above all fear. Fear of so many things: fear that I would now finally lose her; fear that she might indeed wake up and wouldn't be able to cope with the situation around her; that I myself might be overwhelmed by her sudden return into my life; but especially fear of making the wrong decision, that I would now, at this critical turning point, hurt her more than ever before.

My eyes searched Malik's because I knew he could draw, out of those present, from the greatest experiences of life. "Do you think that it's still possible to bring her back?" I asked in a shaky voice and at the same time was angry at my own helplessness and insecurity.

Malik didn't have to think about my question for long. He nodded and his eyes wandered over to the clock ticking above Sarah's bed. "And if you're going to do it, we should hurry," he added.

My guts clenched. He was right, but this time pressure hadn't made it any easier to come to a decision. And so I did really insensitive, something that wasn't fair at all. I gave a little of my responsibility to someone who, although he currently gave a strong and composed impression, was at the moment actually emotionally too unstable to carry it - and I did it the moment I looked to Mick for help. A voice deep inside berated me for being selfish and weak, fought with all its might against me voicing the question that was on my tongue. But it wasn't strong enough.

"If… if this was Beth, Mick… what would you do?" I stammered, and didn't understand myself. "Tell me… What would you do?" I looked at my friend pleadingly, hoping he would answer me this question and help me find a way out of my dilemma.

He did. I saw his cheek muscles twitch briefly, and then he nodded. "I would do it," it slipped very quietly from his lips and I knew he was really honest. "I would try everything possible to bring her back to me."

I nodded uneasily and then turned to Frank. "Let's do it then!" I told him with a now fairly firm voice, simply ignoring the strange reluctance that arose in me at once.

The professor put down the bag with the utensils at the foot of Sarah's bed and brought out a syringe, while Mick, with now clearly growing tension, took off his jacket and rolled up the sleeve of his Henley. Oddly enough, my reluctance grew stronger and my stomach knotted, as Mick took the syringe out of Frank's hand and pricked the needle accurately into his vein. And then, suddenly the voice of reason that had been asleep for far too long, had tolerated and endured too many things around me, finally spoke up.

'What the hell are you doing?' it asked, alarmed. 'Take a close look at your best friend! Do you really think he's okay with this situation?'

My gaze turned to Mick's face. He looked highly focused and determined… well, maybe _determined_ wasn't the right word; perhaps 'desperate' was closer to the feeling behind his actions. Mick wanted to help me _desperately_ – this I felt strongly - not only because he loved me and knew how important Sarah was to me; he _desperately_ wanted his blood to be able to cure Sarah, that his blood really could achieve something positive, because if it did, he would not have had to suffer for nothing in this past year, his suffering would, at least in one respect, have made sense…

My own awareness caused my chest to tighten once again, made it hard to continue to breathe normally. Of course! It wasn't only our deep friendship that had made Mick decide to come here. He had wanted to see for himself whether his blood could indeed be a cure for others. And what a joy it would be for him to see Sarah in fact awaken! But what would happen if it all went wrong? How would Mick react if Sarah died? He would be devastated and would no doubt seriously blame himself. He would certainly not recover from this so quickly. Why had I not thought about this before? Had I really been that blind from all my fears and worries about Sarah that I had not seen the risks that could arise when I involved Mick personally in this situation? What had gotten into me?

Mick had filled the syringe now and passed it back to Frank and I couldn't contain myself any longer. Instinctively I took a hasty step toward the professor. "Wait!"

Frank paused, raised his eyebrows in bewilderment. "What?"

Good question. How was I going to put all my complicated thoughts into words so quickly now? "I… I…" I stopped, tried to collect myself, to rid myself off the feeling that I had to choose between the well-being of my best friend and the great love of my life. But that wasn't so easy, because basically that _was_ what this was really all about right now.

"We really need to see this through and quickly, Josef," Malik said to me, impatience audible in his voice. "For we should, if possible, not be here when that 'escort' arrives to pick Sarah up. Either we give her Mick's blood now or we take her with us in the state she's in!"

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. When I lifted my eyelids again, my decision was finally made. "We take her with us in this state."

"_What_?" Mick blurted out in disbelief and between his eyebrows, for him this so typical stubborn line emerged. "What's this about now?"

I simply ignored his question, and started to detach Sarah from the life-supporting devices. It was easier than I had thought, because somehow it felt like the right thing to do. I would not sacrifice my best friend's mental health for Sarah. If she survived the transport to another safe place, then it would be a sign that fate actually wanted us to start the tests with Mick's blood - in peace and well thought out – if she died, then it wasn't meant to be, wasn't the plan of the Universe to allow us, here in this life, to be happy together. I would take fate as it came… but apparently _it_ had totally different plans.

"Mick!" I was still close enough to my best friend to hear Logan's panicky voice and even winced a little. "There, there are two dark cars! They're moving pretty fast… and I…" He trailed off, and my tension grew with the pace of my pulse. "Wait… it's - I think these are vampires!"

Vampires? Had Max reached us before the enemy had? I wanted to heave a sigh of relief, but Mick confused me when he closed his eyes and once again concentrated further. I almost jumped as he tore his eyes open again and his excitement drove unabated into my body.

"Logan! Don't move from that spot! Do you hear me! They don't belong to us!"

My heartbeat skipped for a moment and I looked over at Malik, who in one smooth motion drew his sword, and thus confirmed the first thing to come to my mind: It had not been the Legion that had tracked down Sarah, but the _Cercle du Sang_.

* * *

This mixture of longing and sadness in his eyes and in his voice had been what betrayed to Beth, that decisive night on the roof terrace, that Mick wanted to retreat from her again. He had made such an effort to serve her this dinner, to give her a wonderful evening, but Beth nevertheless had immediately felt he wasn't only saying goodbye to his too short life as a human being by doing so but also to the thought of ever being together with her. She had been silent for a while and had just enjoyed the evening - despite this smoldering unease inside her. But then she had gathered all her courage and had carefully approached their common problem – this problem that weighed as heavy as lead on her soul, and of which she knew that if she addressed it, it could destroy or win her everything.

"A part of you must hate me", she had said and Mick had looked directly into her eyes as he had answered: "I could never hate you."

"You're back to being a vampire," she had added quickly and Mick had put down his glass of wine and then searched her gaze. She had been able to read the words in his eyes he had uttered then.

"I don't have any regrets, okay?"

And then it was out in the open, that one little word she had been able to draw him out with, had been able to make him voice his thoughts on their relationship with: "_None_?"

Mick had not surprised her with his reaction. She had expected these words, had known he was trying to withdraw once more from her life, and she had burst, had finally told him everything she had always wanted to say and in doing so had made Mick overcome his obstacles and take a step towards her. Ever since, their relationship had actually been like a little dance: steps forward and steps back, even small steps to the side or spins – that was at least how it seemed to her sometimes. But so far they had never lost the rhythm so badly, that it had been impossible to keep on 'dancing'. She knew Mick well enough by now to know which side steps and missteps he intended and sometimes she could read those signs, even better now than back then on the rooftop terrace, in time to react to them. Now she didn't even need to look him in the eyes - his voice was enough to tell her that he was emotionally not well and was dealing with thoughts that weren't healthy, thoughts she couldn't allow him to continue with.

Beth's throat corded up again, as she thought about how strange he had sounded on the phone, how strongly she had felt his despair, even at this distance. He hadn't wanted to return to her. Of that Beth was now sure. He had wanted to do something completely idiotic - once again to protect her, and besides all her other emotions, the shock, the fear, the grief and despair that had burdened her during the call, a small spark of anger had ignited, that now, once she was no longer on the phone with Mick and was sure that her words would really bring him back to her, had grown into a very imposing flame. As much as she loved Mick, he had to stop patronizing her, to quit going over her head when it came to making decisions that would determine _her_ future life as well. She was no longer the little girl he had to protect and who didn't know what it was like in the big bad world. She was a mature, strong woman with a will of her own and a fairly well-functioning mind. And Mick actually knew that. In addition to all the care, warmth and love that he needed right now, it probably was, once again, time to set him straight and show his protective instinct its limits. And they finally had to begin to talk to each other again - God damn it! They had previously only worked well as a team _because_ they had shared all the important things. Since Mick had escaped from the lab, they had indeed reawakened their love-life again, but this exchange between them, this participation in the thoughts and ideas of one another, had proceeded more than clumsily so far. That had to change if they didn't want to continue to be moved back and forth and used by Gabriel without knowing exactly what plans the old vampire was following. In Mexico they had had such a wonderful team, and somehow, with Josef as head of this group, she had never felt this insecure and nervous as she felt right now, after this very informative but also very frightening exchange with Gabriel. Maybe there was some way she could make sure that they all sat down together again in the old group - unnoticed by Gabriel of course - and then jointly gained a better overview of the situation. And hadn't it been Gabriel who had joined _them_, after the big battle? What had made them pass control of the situation without any resistance to the hands of a vampire they hardly knew? And when exactly had Josef given up his lead position? When Gabriel and Mick were still in Greece, the whole situation had still looked very different…

"Want some?"

Beth blinked slightly confused at the open pack of chewing gum that Seth was holding right under her nose.

"Helps with nerves," he added with a small, shy smile. "And will ensure that your nails survive."

Only then did Beth realize she still had her thumb nail between her teeth and had been chewing on while she had been thinking. She lowered her hand and quickly returned his smile, a little embarrassed, before she shook her head.

Seth shrugged his shoulders and then looked back at the monitor of his laptop, or rather at Logan's face, who now stood before them on the table connected with them via a webcam. Unfortunately, he had switched on the device only after Mick and the others had left the car so she hadn't been able to get any visual image of Mick's condition. But she didn't really need it in order to know that within this short contact, the few words they had exchanged had given him the necessary strength he needed to pull off this mission and then return to her. She could feel it somehow.

"You really don't need to worry," Logan said now. "It's deserted here. Only humans going about their daily routine. We'll be gone again with Sarah so soon the Legion will think they've been taken in by a scam."

These were indeed very reassuring words, but somehow Beth couldn't trust this peace. She reckoned that at any moment something unexpected would happen, that would endanger her friends again and that was the reason she jumped, startled, when the door of the room she sat in with Seth, was opened and Gabriel entered. Beth quickly avoided his gaze, instead stared at the screen. Somehow she was afraid he'd read in her eyes what kind of thoughts she harbored about him and his actions, but on the other hand she knew that she only raised suspicions with her behavior.

"And? Have they reached Sarah's yet?" she heard him ask, and she was sure she heard a hint of excitement in his voice. She raised her gaze a little, trying to look up at him inconspicuously.

He had leaned on the table on the other side of Seth, so as to be visible to Logan as well and his face had taken on this unpleasant blankness that could have almost been called hardness. There he was again, the uncompromising leader who pulled all the strings and decided where to go next.

"They… they just went in," Seth stammered.

"So far everything looks very peaceful," Logan added just as insecure.

"That means there are no suspicious looking vehicles or people behaving strangely and watching the house inconspicuously?" Gabriel asked further.

"We've checked everything," Logan immediately replied. "Currently no hazards can be identified."

Gabriel nodded slightly, but had nothing to add. Between his eyebrows a pensive wrinkle formed, and Beth could almost feel how hard his mind worked at the moment. Somehow, the serenity concerning this mission that he had radiated in their conversation had completely disappeared.

"Inform me if anything new comes up." He retired from his rigid posture, straightened and just walked out of the room. It didn't escape Beth that in doing so he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out something that looked like a cell phone. Her eyebrows moved toward each other with distrust. Was there something going on again, more than what he had betrayed to her about the mission? Of course it was also possible that Gabriel was phoning Max to inform him and his squad about the situation in which they would soon be involved, but somehow there were doubts gnawing at her and it made Beth nervous, made her heart rate increase and a queasy feeling rise in her stomach.

She winced a little again as a few seconds later another figure appeared in the doorway, a gentle smile on her lips, which stood in stark contrast to the resignation and sadness in her eyes: Coraline. Apparently she had just heard what was currently going on around her.

"Are they again only doing what _they_ think is right?" the brunette beauty asked clearly in her direction and was now moving towards her with this smoothness that was so typical of her.

Beth was somewhat confused for a moment, didn't know how to reply, while Seth beside her stared at the vampire with wide eyes and open mouth. It was really annoying how moronic males, who didn't know Coraline so well, behaved in her presence!

"They are so incredibly similar," Coraline continued and stopped at a distance that Beth could just tolerate. She had no real fear of Coraline - at least not as long as other vampires were nearby - but she found her approach a little strange still the same.

Coraline tilted her head a little and pulled her finely arched eyebrows together, as if she was thinking very hard. "I really can't say for sure which of the two is more insane," she wondered aloud. "But they both seem to suffer from compulsive checking and aggressive fits."

Coraline had a point with that one, but that finding did little to impress Beth, as she had been aware of this fact for quite some time. What she wasn't aware of was Coraline's strange behavior.

"And?" The vampire leaned forward a little towards the monitor and smiled at the now nervous looking Logan. "What kind of nonsense has Mick planned now? Death by heroic rescue of an innocent human woman? That's his favorite."

Although Beth was vexed about Coraline's remark, she couldn't blame her for her sarcasm and slightly irritated tone - especially since genuine concern also clearly resonated in her voice. Mick had never been all the same to her and that would not change so quickly.

"Nobody's dying here," Logan replied surprisingly harsh and between his eyebrows formed a strong crease. "They'll come out of the house with Sarah any minute and then we'll get the hell out of here!"

"Oh yeah," Coraline said and her look became just as stern as Logan's was. "It's all right as long as you make sure you keep your eyes open."

"What exactly are _you_ doing here?" The deep voice behind them made Beth wince one more time and she wasn't surprised to see an enraged Gabriel entering the room. Apparently his phone call hadn't lasted long and he had somehow heard that Coraline had joined them. "Didn't I tell you to stay in your room until I need you again?"

Coraline straightened up and raised an eyebrow provocatively instead of showing her usual submissive behavior towards Gabriel. "I just wanted to stretch my legs a little," she said calmly, giving him a false smile. "From what I understood, you just didn't want me rummaging through the house or bothering Beth."

"And who do you think _is_ sitting there beside you?" Gabriel said with a smile that even outshined Coraline's false one.

Coraline's head turned slightly in Beth's direction, and she raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. Then she looked back at Gabriel. "Oops," was all that slipped from her lips.

That was probably one provocation too much. Gabriel was so fast in front of Coraline that Beth nearly slipped from her chair in fright. His nose almost touched that of the female vampire and his at once silvery eyes, bored aggressively into hers.

"Don't push it!" he brought out barely audible, and the threatening flashing of his sharp fangs was really impressive. Coraline had at once tensed up completely, and fear flowed from every pore of her body. However, she didn't move back from the much taller and stronger man. Beth couldn't help but admire her for this.

Coraline took a deep breath, but didn't get much further, for suddenly Logan's voice could be heard from the laptop, excited, almost panicked. "Shit, there are cars! This doesn't look good! Mick…"Apparently, he immediately contacted the others, but that didn't help Beth at all. Her heart had long since convulsed vigorously and now pumped adrenaline through her body in an amazingly fast pace.

"There, there are two dark cars! They're moving pretty fast… and I…"

Logan's hesitation was working Beth's last nerve. He had to say what was happening there! God, she had known something like this would happen, had known something would go wrong!

"Wait… it's - I think these are vampires!"

Beth's heart stopped briefly. Was it good news or bad? Her fearful gaze darted to Gabriel. But the expression in the eyes of the old vampire made her even more nervous. Was that triumph, or even joy? And what did it mean? That these were friends who had turned up there? Hard to imagine…

"Shit… oh, shit, they've spotted me! I need to get out of here!"

Beth's heart stopped one more time and she caught her breath as the picture of Logan's Webcam began to waver, and finally blacked out. Then, the audio was gone as well.

"Logan?" Now panic resonated in Seth's voice. "Logan!"

Beth was on her feet, pressing her hands desperately against her mouth for a moment and didn't know what to do. She automatically looked back at Gabriel, but his face had again become a stony mask. And he seemed to not be interested in her at all but turned quickly and left the room once more. Beth's legs were moving all by themselves, as she clumsily and helplessly stumbled behind him. She could hardly believe that he had simply left her and the others.

"Wait… Gabriel!" she uttered with a trembling voice, because of her fear and concern for Mick and Josef she was hardly able to think clearly.

Gabriel only cast a defensive gaze over his shoulder at her and uttered a sharp "Not now!", before he called louder for Lance and August and disappeared into the living room.

Beth stopped, stunned, could barely breathe because of her despair and the helplessness that firmly held her in its tight grip. A movement behind her caused her to turn around again as if in trance and watch as Coraline stormed with an expression of vigorous determination into the next room, a faint "I'm certainly not going to sit around here idly!" on her lips. It was these words that again brought life to Beth's body, made her follow the female vampire against all common sense.

From the living room behind her the excited voices of the other vampires echoed over to them, but Beth didn't hear them properly. Her full attention was on Coraline, who came out of her room again, a travel bag in her hand.

"What… what are you doing?" Beth stammered, confused, as she reached her.

"I'm going to get Mick," Coraline replied with determination and the next moment her beautiful brown eyes won a very strange expression. "And you're coming with me!"

"But…" Beth began, but she didn't get any further. Coraline was moving so fast that Beth didn't really get what she was doing at all. She only felt the effect of her action, when everything suddenly went black around her.


	62. Dangerous Game

_It's Saturday again and here's the next chapter for all my dear readers! __I hope you'll like it! And thanks a lot for your comments (my motivating drug) again! I loved them all and am so happy about each single one of them. If everything goes well, I'll post the next chapter at Saturday again. Until then have a great weekend and an even better week, yours Jenna_

_P.S. My sister and the baby (girl) are well and I already love my niece so much – can't tell…_

_Translated by: Draco_

_Beta read by: Sg6169_

* * *

**Dangerous Game**

Two things were immediately clear to Mick as he felt the energies of the old vampires approaching them: First, that there was no one he knew among them, which meant no traitors either, and secondly, that they hadn't come for Sarah. Somehow they had learned who would be here today to save Sarah and were now putting all their plans into action without previously having thought it all out. Excitement, a little nervousness and a feeling similar to greed, were the emotions that spilled over to Mick as he opened his senses even further, focusing on the approaching threat and successfully pushing back the onset of shear panic. And yet it hadn't distracted him that much when he registered that Malik had walked to the only window in the room and opened it. The vampire looked out briefly then nodded back to Josef, who like Frank, had not yet shaken off his state of shock, but stood there rigidly.

"Take Sarah and disappear with her when they enter the house," Malik urged and then looked at Mick. "The same applies to you and Frank!"

"Surely that's exactly what they'll be expecting us to do," Mick replied immediately and then produced a loaded gun with silver bullets he had brought along for security reasons.

"It doesn't matter," Malik gave back tense. "You can handle it. Hurry up!"

Mick just stared blankly at the Assassin, while Josef reluctantly moved closer to Sarah again. He too wasn't so sure whether he should follow Malik's orders or not. The Assassin was one of the _Des Archanges_, but even _he_ wouldn't be able to cope with such a large group of hostile and certainly well armed vampires alone.

"And what exactly are _you_ planning to do?" Mick continued while concentrating on the still distant powers of the other vampires. Something was going with them. All at once there was such a feeling of pleasant surprise that Mick didn't care for at all and the discomfort in his chest and his excitement grew even more.

"I'll keep them occupied long enough for you to escape," Malik said, without looking at him. Instead, his gaze was now focused on the closed door of the room and he produced another sword that bore a striking resemblance to that of a scimitar.

They were coming. Mick could feel it as clearly as Malik. He shook his head and stood by his side. "Not alone!" he said firmly, raising his rifle and taking aim at the door.

Malik cast a look at him beneath furrowed brows that fluctuated between extreme confusion and annoyance. He wanted to say something, but the cocking of two other guns behind them and Josef's voice stopped him.

"It would be silly to think we couldn't handle a few pompous old vampires."

"E… exactly," Frank added, with a slightly shaky voice, and when Mick looked over his shoulder, he found that the second weapon wasn't in Josef's hands, as he had first suspected, but in the professor's. "Although I am a lousy shot - but they don't know that."

Mick couldn't help it - even though the situation was so terribly strained, his lips twisted into a small smile, mainly because Malik was looking at him and the other two with an expression of total bewilderment. Mick felt their behavior had touched something deep inside the Assassin and his dark, often so impenetrable eyes became a little warmer.

"I'm surrounded by lunatics," he muttered with a shake of his head, but then threw his second sword to Mick, which he caught neatly thanks to his fast reflexes. It was odd, but the sword in his hand actually gave Mick a greater feeling of safety than the gun did, which he immediately passed to Josef. And he _needed_ that feeling of security, because the very next moment they could hear the front door being blown open and foreign vampires storming towards their room. Even at the bedroom door they knew no mercy, slamming it just as hard as the other door against the wall, causing plaster to fly everywhere.

Mick took a step back and tore his eyes open in horror. It wasn't that these six vampires looked particularly vicious or had a dangerous aura about them - even though they had already spent quite a few years on this earth and had completely transformed by now, baring their teeth threateningly. No, they were far too nervous for that, had their guard up way too much. It was more due to the fact that they fought by unfair means, for they had not come empty-handed. They had a hostage: Logan.

The young vampire was hanging helplessly in the arms of a very tall, very strong looking, dark-haired man, who somehow seemed familiar to Mick, and could barely move because the man had a silver dagger pressed against his throat, that had already cut into his skin so deeply that a small trickle of blood ran down his neck and into the collar of his T-shirt. And despite the great fear written on Logan's face, his eyes spoke only one thing: 'Have no concern for me. Don't let them blackmail you!' He didn't dare shake his head though.

"If any one of you makes a false move, I'll cut his head off," growled the foreign vampire threateningly while his gaze wandered nervously back and forth between Mick and Malik, who he considered to be particularly dangerous - and rightly so.

The Assassin had been in forward motion, but stopped immediately like everyone else in the room had. Mick sized up the men before him quickly. None was younger than a hundred years and all were armed - mostly with firearms, but he also saw a few daggers flash. What was strange was that they had not just tried to overwhelm them, and instead resorted to this blackmail tactic. It was as if their respect for this little group was so great that they didn't want to attempt to engage them in a fight.

Malik uttered a noise that sounded like a laugh but wasn't really, because in his face there wasn't a hint of amusement to be found, there was only cold contempt. "Actually, I should have known you'd join the Cercle sooner or later, Ignacio. But that you actually dare to mess with us personally… I wouldn't have guessed you to have that much courage."

The addressee bared his fangs angrily and the pressure of the knife at Logan's throat seemed to increase again, because the young vampire let out a pained sound and grimaced. He really was scared to death - this Mick could not only see, but also feel.

"Hey, hey, calm down," he said, raising a hand soothingly, but inwardly he had to force himself to stay where he was and not jump at the man to bite his head off immediately. His anger and his lust to kill currently outweighed any other feeling inside him. No one laid their hands on his friends and have it go unpunished! "We should try to remain calm and not attack each other straightaway. Maybe we can come to some kind of an agreement, without bloodshed."

Ignacio examined him briefly, but very untrusting. "If you give us what we want, I see no problem with that," he finally replied. "Since that's the only chance you have of leaving here anyway. We've had the house surrounded for some time and only one of you must _absolutely_ stay alive."

"But if you cooperate, no one has to die here today," added one of the other vampires in the front.

Mick looked at him, frowning, pretending to think about his words, but in reality he was only probing for the hidden feelings in these men, looking for clues to what they were really up to, thinking hard, how to get them out of this situation without jeopardizing Logan's life. He needed some kind of leverage - preferably one that would unravel that of their enemies completely. And if he wasn't mistaken, he had already found one. People, that set conditions always betrayed, in doing so, that there was some way to blackmail them in return. After all, they were the ones that wanted something.

"Oh, that won't be a problem for us at all, especially with your friendly and clearly peaceful behavior," Josef, who seemed to sense that Mick needed a little space to develop a plan, joined the conversation. "And with all the good experiences we've gathered in cooperation with your friends from the Legion, we'd love to accept such a proposal from you!"

"We're not talking to _you_, Kostan!" a vampire with a thin face and long, curly dark blond hair replied angrily.

Josef tilted his head slightly and eyed the man up contemptuously. "And it appears you're playing the lackey once again, aren't you Sergio?" he asked in this overly nice tone. Mick didn't even have to turn around to know that his friend had given him this false smile with which he had already made more than one person furious.

"Okay, what exactly do you want?" Mick now intervened again and was happy that his vampire side had taken over so early, and shielded his own tumultuous feelings from all sides. It also gave him the calm he needed to come up with a plan. He just had to be fast, because Logan wasn't that great a value to Malik and Mick knew he would sacrifice him if this was what it took to get everyone else out of this situation.

"You," after a long hesitation, was the answer Mick had been waiting for. "Our mission is to take you out of here alive and bring you to Nicolas. And this we will do – whatever it takes."

Alive? That was exactly the condition he had been hoping for. Mick's mind was now in full swing. Apparently, Gabriel hadn't exaggerated in his assertion about his value to the other parties in this war. Perhaps he'd been right that he could use that assertion to put pressure on their enemies. This was _the_ opportunity to test that theory! Mick's heart began to beat faster at the thought and he tried hard to remain calm. 'For your friends… for Logan', he heard his inner voice say. 'You can't avoid it. This time you have to fight by other means.'

"That's how we'll do it," continued the other vampire with the gaunt face and seemed to be quite confident of victory. "You simply come over to us and let us tranquilize you." He pulled a syringe from his coat pocket that was filled with a silvery-reddish liquid. "And as soon as we have you in our car, we'll let your friend and all the others go." It was written all over his face that he was lying.

"And you need to decide quickly," Ignacio added with a false smile. "Times a wasting and your friend here…" He pressed the knife even deeper into Logan's throat, but the young vampire firmly pressed his lips together this time and uttered no sound at all. "… could become seriously injured by your hesitation."

Logan's look spoke volumes. 'Don't do it! Not for me,' he pleaded silently, but Mick's decision had long since been made.

Malik moved only minimally, but Mick noticed it immediately and sent him a mental 'Wait!'. The old vampire reacted immediately.

"I think I have a _better_ plan," Mick spoke out loud to Ignacio and his smile was just a fake, trying to conceal the fact that he turned back into a human. He knew he would shock everyone profoundly by what he did next - his friends even more so than his enemies - and that he was taking an incredibly high risk because he didn't really know his true value to the Cercle, but it was necessary, the only way he could save Logan's life without having to give himself up to the Cercle.

Mick moved fast, as fast as only the Archangels could, faster than a normal vampire could perceive, even though he was human already. And the slight movement was enough, for the sword was so sharp that it cut, even with the slight pressure Mick put on it, not only through the material of his Henley as if it were nothing, but also sank deep into his flesh, opening the main artery in his upper arm so rapidly that he only began to feel the pain as he held the sword, now smeared with his own blood, defensively in front of him again. It was a sharp pain that accompanied the onrush of blood, which gushed from the wound, running down his arm and began to soak the sleeve of his shirt.

"_You_…," he hissed through gritted teeth, while his blood, so precious to all parties, pumped in spurts from his body and was now even dripping audibly in a rapid pace onto the floor, "now have between one to five minutes to let go of my friend and disappear. Otherwise you can take me as a corpse to this… this Nicolas."

Mick knew he didn't need to add anything else since most vampires knew about blood loss and the risk of injuries to a main artery. That was obvious from the wide-eyed and totally bewildered faces of his enemies. They were completely paralyzed for a few seconds, didn't know how to react - just like Josef, who had been seized by pure horror. But his friend recovered the quickest, because Mick could feel he was moving behind him.

Mick used his vampiric powers a second time without transforming, and sent Josef a strict 'Keep out of this! I know what I'm doing' and his friend obeyed - reluctantly and full of concern, but he did.

One of their enemies was now also taking a worried step towards Mick, but stopped immediately when Malik stepped between him and Mick menacingly raising his sword. The nervousness and confusion of the vampires of the Cercle grew with every second that passed and significant unrest spread among them. Now _they_ were the ones who were under pressure - under immense pressure, as it seemed Mick's plan had worked.

"Tur… turn back immediately!" Ignacio spat out in a rage and grabbed Logan, who already had his eyes closed for fear of death, even harder.

"Not until he's free," Mick replied quietly, although he was slowly getting a bit dizzy. His blood pressure was falling rapidly and his heart was working twice as fast trying with all its might to compensate for the loss of blood. Even the vampire in him began to stir again, wanted to push to the surface in order to heal the wound, and bring himself back out of danger. But Mick wouldn't allow it, was still strong enough to win the battle against him.

"You're totally crazy!" screamed the other vampire. "You'll die if you don't turn back right now!"

"And? I couldn't care less!" Mick replied and knew that at least a part of him indeed felt like that. He had become strangely calm, almost relaxed. "There are worse things," he added. "And to be honest: Life isn't really all that much fun right now. Maybe it's better if you simply do nothing and watch as I die, and along with my blood all the effort and expense that it's taken to make me what I am, seeps into this carpet here."

In fact, a rather large puddle had already started to form at his feet, Mick noticed with a quick glance. He was really pushing his luck, but somehow he felt he would win. The only question was whether he really _wanted_ to deep down inside. It was such a strangely pleasant feeling as the warm blood ran down his arm, as his body slowly became numb, and his energies slipped away…

"Merde! He really doesn't care!" One of the other vampires in the second row uttered. "Let go of the man and then let's get the hell out of here! Nicolas will kill us if he dies."

"But if we return without him, he freaks out too," another one objected.

"Dead he'll be of no use to _any_one, ever," Sergio argued against his comrades. "Ignacio! We must disappear before he bleeds to death! Do you hear me?"

Ignacio's gaze rested on Mick's face. His cheek muscles were twitching visibly under his skin. He didn't want to give up yet, couldn't accept that he wasn't going to win this power struggle.

"Come on, take a chance!" Mick challenged him and lifted his eyebrows encouragingly. He knew exactly how scary that smile on his lips had to look. "Let me go through with it. We can do it together. I go first and then you follow - with a little help from Nicholas of course. But tell him he shouldn't take too much time with you. I'm not a very patient guy."

It took ten more precious seconds, before Micks opposite shook his head stunned. "You… you're totally insane," Ignacio blurted out with a trembling voice and the next moment Logan flew towards him and the vampires were gone from the room almost faster than they had entered it. Logan tried to avoid Mick, but he couldn't avoid brushing his shoulder. Normally, that wouldn't have knocked Mick over so quickly, but his blood loss was so great and his circulation about to collapse that he staggered back, stumbled and… was caught by Josef.

"Dam… you… bas… you…" Apparently, Josef was at such loss for words that he couldn't express what he felt. Instead, he only uttered a helpless grumble. Mick understood him anyway. He closed his eyes, focused and let his remaining energy flow in order to turn back. He had indeed succeeded in doing so quite quickly, but it was apparently too much for his weakened cardiovascular system because suddenly there was such a whistling in his ears, and he heard far too clearly the rapid beating of his heart and then it all went black around him.

It took a while for Mick to hear other sounds from outside again. Beside the swooshing in his ears and the rapid pounding of his heart, he also heard the low hum of a car engine, quiet music on the radio and next to the beating of his own heart, that of another person very close to him, only a bit slower and quieter. And then all at once there were voices, Josef and Frank if he wasn't mistaken.

"I don't understand this. How could they have snuck up on us without us noticing them?" Josef said now, and besides surprise, also indignation and anger was clearly audible in his voice.

"No idea," Frank replied. "Perhaps it's simply because we weren't expecting humans to intervene here. And apparently the Cercle hadn't as well."

Wasn't that a touch of malice in Frank's voice? And if so, what was the reason for this? What humans had interfered in this fight? The Legion? Then his friends wouldn't have been alive anymore.

"Perhaps they were here earlier," Logan said now close to Mick and his voice still sounded a little thin and shaky. "It's possible they were waiting for the Cercle in one of the other houses."

Mick heard a contemptuous sound. "That's exactly what I had thought," Josef replied with growing anger in his voice. "It just fits so wonderfully with Gabriel's previous course of action. And that Malik didn't want us to go outside with him, and instead instructed us to take care of Mick, also speaks to this theory. It's the same old secrecy we've known so well. But I'm no longer going to put up with it. This was about Sarah. I have a right to know, what's really been going on. I'll simply give this Graham a proper talking to, when he comes back in here. They owe me some answers!"

Graham? Who was that anyway? Even though Mick still felt terribly weak and tired, he forced himself to open his eyes, blinked against the bright daylight, which shone right into his face. He noticed with amazement that he wasn't in a car, as he had previously thought, but still in Sarah's room. Apparently he had just hallucinated and had not been unconscious as long as he had believed. Josef stood, with his arms folded across his chest, in front of the open door and looked with an incredibly stubborn expression out into the hall where something seemed to be going on and Frank and Logan knelt beside Mick, but weren't looking at him but at Josef.

Mick tried to blink away the haze that still enveloped his perception and took a deep breath before he tried to sit up. Frank and Logan turned almost in sync around to him, but it was Logan who grabbed Mick's shoulder, without thinking, to help him sit up. It was necessary, because somehow his body just didn't want to cooperate with him right now, even though he was still a vampire. The blood loss had shaken him more than he had planned. His head was spinning for a moment and the painful throbbing in his upper arm told Mick that his wound had not fully healed yet as well.

Mick only realized that he had closed his eyes again, when he raised them and looked directly into Josef's worried face.

"Are you all right?" His friend asked and Mick nodded slightly, but stopped when he noticed how quickly the expression of deep concern in Josef's eyes turned to almost palpable anger. "If you ever do something like that again, Mick - I swear, I'll put you in two, no, _three_ straight jackets myself and throw you in a padded cell for a few days! Have you any idea how much you fucking scared me?"

Mick grimaced, because Josef's voice had become much too loud and echoed uncomfortably in his head, and raised a hand soothingly. "Calm down. It was just a bluff."

"_A bluff_?" Josef repeated angrily and pointed to the large red stain on the carpet not far from Mick. "You lost at least two liters of blood! And don't you dare start with this, 'I'm not a normal human, it didn't harm me' crap! There's a reason why you're lying here on the ground!"

"I had everything under control," Mick countered his friend, now a bit louder as well, and felt the anger growing inside him. Why was Josef so furious? It all worked out well and the other vampires were gone. "And nothing really happened to me. This little fainting spell is hardly worth the riot!"

Josef let out an angry sound and got up shaking his head. "Now you're probably going to sit there and tell me you knew exactly how valuable you were to the Cercle and that basically there was no risk involved…"

Mick inhaled, then let the air escape again unused. Even if he was angry about Josef's behavior, he had to admit he was right, at least in this regard. His tactic _had_ been dangerous and if he was honest, he would probably be just as upset if Josef had pulled something similar.

"Have you any idea how it feels when your best friend causes injury to himself in front of your eyes, an injury so sever he could bleed to death in minutes?" Josef added a little quieter now, but definitely still reproachfully. "When he risks his life like that to save others?"

Mick's now quite down trodden expression and the absence of any further resistance seemed to be enough to appease Josef somewhat. His chest expanded with a deep breath and then his gaze wandered over to the dark red spot of blood on the floor, lingered there for another long moment. He shook his head again. "Not to mention the whole mess here in the room, for which _I_ most certainlywill have to pay for again!"

Josef's remark implied that he was slowly calming down, and Mick really didn't know what else to say. He still couldn't bring himself to apologize for the shock he had put Josef through so he turned to Logan and examined him briefly. The wound on his neck was already completely healed, and the only thing that seemed to be left from his hostage-taking was a little nervousness and uncertainty - Mick could see this in Logan's pale face.

"Are you alright?" Mick asked nonetheless, and the young vampire nodded quickly.

"Yes, I… I'm so sorry, Mick," it eventually burst out of Logan, full of remorse. "I should have paid more attention and not let myself be taken by surprise like that. But they were so fast and I…"

"Logan," Mick interrupted him quickly, putting a hand on his upper arm reassuringly. "It's okay. It could have happened to any one of us." Mick simply ignored the gentle, contradictory cough from Josef's direction. "And perhaps it was even better this way than if they had attacked us directly."

Logan looked at him doubtfully. "Do you think so?"

Mick nodded, grabbed Logan's arm a little tighter and tried to get to his feet. He struggled quite a bit and finally managed to only with Logan and Frank's help. So much for the 'He hadn't been harmed'. At least the damage was only temporary.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea to be walking around just yet, Mick," the professor now pointed out with deep lines of worry on his forehead. "You've lost a lot of blood, and even your vampiric organism needs a little rest in order to recover. You shouldn't always ask so much of yourself."

Mick had already stopped listening. The sounds outside their room had become much louder. There were steps and voices of unknown men, but that didn't seem to concern any of his friends, only him.

"Who's that?" Mick turned to Josef frowning and only then remembered that his friend had just spoken to Frank about humans who had interfered in their problem with the Cercle.

"Friends of Alejandro's," Josef said with undisguised irritation in his voice, "that 'surprisingly'" - he drew a few silly quotation marks in the air – "have shown up here."

Mick didn't know what to think. The statement had dumbfounded him, and the thoughts triggered by it, were anything but pleasant. Unfortunately there wasn't time to understand the inconsistencies, because just seconds later one of these 'friends' stepped out of the shadows of the hallway and into their room. It was a tall man of African-American descent, who was dressed in the same dark colors as the men of the Legion and was equipped with a protective vest and heavy weapons, from which the pungent smell of liquid silver rose. He was somewhat startled when he noticed that Mick was on his feet, but approached him with a friendly smile and immediately reached out his hand to him.

"Graham Spencer," he introduced himself as Mick took the offered hand, more out of a reflex than voluntarily, and shook it. "I've been working with Alejandro for a while now. It's nice to finally meet you in person, Mr. St. John, and I'm glad to see you were able to recover so quickly."

Mick nodded, knowing full well that confusion and skepticism was clearly written all over his face. "You… you're working with Alejandro?" he repeated, not particularly witty, and the smile on Graham's face mutated into a broad grin.

"Exactly. My team and I are always called in when it's going to get particularly tough for Alejandro's clients and when dealing with truly vicious organizations."

"Like the Legion," Mick added and Graham nodded.

"Or the Cercle."

Mick's assumption was confirmed by another nod, and he had to really work hard to breathe calmly and fight against the rising anger inside him and the depressing feeling at having been deceived again.

"So this probably means you've been engaged more than once in the last few weeks regarding the Legion or the Cercle," he simply concluded, and this time the nod came a bit more hesitantly.

"And this here? Was this planned in advance as well?" he asked a lot more forceful than he had originally planned.

Graham furrowed his eyebrows, seemed to be considering exactly what was going on here. Apparently it was also a surprise to him that Mick and the others hadn't known about their action. "No one told you that we would be here?" he finally voiced his surprise verbally.

"Does that mean you've _been_ here for quite some time?" It now burst out of Mick angrily. "Even before we showed up?" This couldn't be true! That sneaky, lying…

"We arrived here two days ago and lodged in one of the neighboring houses, just like we were told," Graham said now, his amazement still audible in his voice. "Our mission was to protect the women in this house and to overwhelm and subdue any approaching suspect…" Graham's eyebrows wandered even further towards each other, as Mick uttered a stunned laugh and Josef audibly gasped for air.

"I don't understand," he added, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder to the door. "That guy out there knew about everything."

'That guy out there' was probably Malik, because Mick was sure he was one of the few people who was in on even the most secretive of Gabriel's plans and it took a lot of control for him not to storm out of the house and vent all of his anger, his frustration and disappointment about Gabriel's behavior at least on one of the persons responsible. But it was more important to learn everything he could beforehand, to get an idea of exactly what had happened here.

"So, does that mean everything's gone basically according to plan?" Mick asked tense, subconsciously hoping he was wrong, that Gabriel hadn't used them like that, had not risked their lives as arbitrarily as it appeared right now.

"No," Graham replied soothingly and indeed Mick immediately felt somewhat relieved. This information brought him a big step away from the danger of freaking out. "We had no idea when or even _if_ anything would happen at all. I think it was more of a protective measure and that you arrived here, complicated the whole thing a bit, but in the end it all went well. We caught the bad guys and none of the good guys were killed."

Mick's eyebrows moved towards each other automatically. "What do you _mean_ you caught the bad guys?"

"Well, yes, we were able to overpower them. Four of them are even still alive. But we had a little help."

Mick didn't have time to process this new, startling information, to ask more about the help Graham was referring to, because the next moment he could already feel it for himself, felt the familiar energy approaching him quickly. They had arrived in the end, the other vampires that were actually supposed to have supported them. He had just been too exhausted to detect them outside in front of the house, but now that they had entered, it wasn't that hard anymore. Guillermo was the first to enter the room and profound relief was shown in his eyes as their gazes met, even brought a minimal smile to the young Mexican's tense face.

"I _felt_, that you were awake again," it immediately burst out of him with a chuckle, but Mick's tension and anger still simmering inside him made Guillermo slow his approach. "Is something wrong?"

"Did you know about it?" Mick immediately growled at him, but it wasn't the Mexican that answered his question this time, he was too surprised to, but Max, who had entered the room shortly after him.

"No, but _I_ knew," he replied with his typical coolness. "And that it all went a little haywire, you only have yourselves to blame. You really should have stayed out of this."

"Come again?" This time it was Josef, who now couldn't control his anger. "This is _my_ house, _my_ girlfriend and _my_ business! And _if_ somebody had illegally interfered here, it was Gabriel!"

"This isn't just about you or your comatose friend, Josef!" Max replied unusually grumpy. "It's about finally catching the traitors and reducing our enemies enough so they can no longer harm us. So your personal interests will simply have to take a backseat!"

"Let me tell you something!" Josef hissed through gritted teeth and took a menacing step towards Max, who acknowledged this with a scarcely perceptible raising of his brow. "I've had enough of these secret plans and actions! We're not puppets you can play around with and then put aside when you no longer need them!"

"Then prove it and stop hiding in the second row, Josef!" Max countered just as angry, and for the first time since Mick had met Max, he felt that there was more than just a business relationship between him and Josef. Normally, no-one spoke to Josef Kostan like that and lived to tell the tail.

"This is _so_ not your style!" Max now added.

Josef gave an indignant snort, but before he could say anything else, a loud "STOP!" echoed through the room.

All eyes focused on the slim, old man, who had suddenly stepped between them, angrily. "Calm down – for heaven's sake! This is getting us nowhere!"

It indeed became silent in the room and even Mick was suddenly able to get a grip on himself and push back his anger.

"I… I think we… we are all just a bit overwrought," Frank, whose own courage now seemed to shock him somewhat, stammered more timidly. "And I don't think any of these people here, who are on our side had any bad intentions with their involvement. Because basically, we got off quite lightly. As Mr. Graham has said earlier: the bad guys have been caught and none of us has died. All we need to do now is pack our belongings and get out of here before the neighbors call the police. We can discuss everything else at our new hiding place, when all other parties to this action have gathered there as well."

Mick was searching for Josef's gaze and his friend finally nodded, even though it was obvious that his anger was far from gone. The same was true for Mick's fired up feelings and raw nerves.

"Good. How do we want to proceed now?" his friend addressed, with visible reluctance, Max and Graham.

"We'll take the prisoners, at any rate," Max said and Graham nodded in agreement. "I don't think we have the same destination as you."

"And what exactly do you mean by 'we'?" Josef asked unnerved.

"Graham's team and mine – all but Guillermo. He wants to go along with you. I think its better that way, and Malik will come with us."

Mick gave an angry laugh and added an ironic "Of course!" that caused Max to furrow his eyebrows slightly again. But he had nothing to add, and Mick felt no desire to get worked up even further. Frank was right. It was pointless at the moment, because the person who was being informed about _every _decision was absent once again.

Josef also seemed to have no desire to verbally confront anyone anymore, for he nodded silently, then turned away and went over to Sarah, who was still lying peacefully in her bed and because of her condition certainly hadn't noticed all the commotion around her.

His behavior didn't bother Max. He simply turned to Mick. "Alejandro will be contacting you soon to let you know where the next destination is. Logan still has his stuff in the car and if needed, Guillermo also has a cell phone and a number the others can be contacted with at the moment. And Frank's right - you shouldn't stay here much longer. It's quite possible a few of the neighbors noticed something and have informed the police."

Mick limited his response to a wordless nod, and it seemed that was enough for Max to turn and leave the room along with Graham and finally also the house.

"This probably means we're not going back to Munds Park," Mick said as he turned to Guillermo, whose face immediately brightened a little when he noticed that Mick had spoken to him. Apparently he had thought that his anger was directed at him as well.

The Mexican quickly shook his head. "The others are no longer there," was his surprising explanation for this new plan and Mick raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Why?"

Guillermo shrugged his shoulders a little hesitantly. "No idea. It seems there was an incident no one was expecting and now everyone's back on the road."

Mick's stomach clenched, because it was immediately clear to him that Beth had somehow been involved in this matter. Maybe his idea that she'd be safer with Gabriel rather than somewhere else hadn't been the best in the end. For quite a while he had felt deep down that Gabriel would never hurt her and would protect her from any danger, but the old vampire was currently weakened and had his hands full with quite a few things simultaneously - as they had just learned again - because of this, it was possible Beth had somehow escaped him, had done something very stupid to try and help them here.

Guillermo seemed to feel what bothered Mick, because only a few seconds later he raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Don't worry, nothing's happened to her. Alejandro said during his last call that she was on her way to our new meeting place."

The cold claw that had gripped Mick's guts loosened again, but it didn't want to let go entirely. It wouldn't until he had Beth in front of him again to see and feel for himself that she was really okay. Currently, she was just too far away to be able to feel whether she was all right.

"Then… we should really get going," Mick said after a few seconds of thoughtful silence between them. His gaze wandered briefly to an already nodding Frank and then roamed quickly to Josef.

His friend had sat down next to Sarah on the bed and looked sadly at her pale face. Mick focused his senses a little more on the young woman and quickly understood what had brought Josef back into this depressed state: the short time she had been spent without the equipment had already taken its toll on her body. Sarah's heartbeat had slowed and her breathing had become shallower. The risk of losing her on the way to the new hiding place had increased significantly.

The unpleasant pressure in Mick's chest and abdomen was back again, as he quietly approached his best friend, along with this huge need to help him, to help prevent the loss of his great love in this already difficult enough time. But he could only do so if Josef allowed it.

"And? Are you sticking with your decision?" Mick asked cautiously and his heart immediately began to beat a little faster in the hopes that Josef had perhaps changed his mind.

Josef's cheek muscles twitched beneath his skin and he raised a hand to skim, in an unusually affectionate gesture for him, a stray curl out of the young woman's face. Then he nodded bravely, while his eyes filled with tears that he for sure hadn't wanted to shed. "I… I think it's what she wants, has always wanted: The possibility to leave, an option I've never given her…"

"How do you know?" Mick whispered to Josef and looked at him, deeply moved.

"I just feel it."

Mick held his gaze for a while, looking for a trace of uncertainty in his best friend's eyes, a sign that he had doubts about his decision, yet there wasn't a thing. And so Mick finally nodded sadly and turned away from him, granted Josef a moment alone in order to prepare himself for the possible consequences of his actions.

It was Guillermo who prevented Mick from getting carried away by Josef's grief and sorrow, and thinking about how it would feel to make such a decision for the woman you loved. He had quickly stepped up to him, for it seemed as if something important had occurred to him and Mick wrinkled his forehead suspicious. "We should exchange shirts before we get out of here, Mick," the young Mexican said and began to unbutton his own, "or Beth will have a heart attack if she sees you like this."

He pointed with his chin in the direction of Mick's arm and Mick only now noticed that someone had bandaged it, however, that didn't detract from the completely dark red sleeve of his Henley. Mick unconsciously gave him a short nod, because his thoughts were no longer with his own wound or on what he was doing. They wandered immediately to the one person whose welfare was most important to him: Beth…

Unreasonably as always Mick's heart took a little leap of joy at the thought of seeing her again so soon. Before, he had considered the idea of not returning to her at all, and was now well aware that he simply _had_ to see her - just to regain his strength and come to rest completely and not freak out in Gabriel's presence because of the latest happenings and to make everything even worse than it already was.

And he had to agree with Guillermo, the way he looked right now, he could hardly let her see him this way if he didn't want her to be terribly upset again. It was good, that at least one of them stayed sane in the next two hours, for he wasn't sure whether he would really be able to do so.


	63. Conversions

_Hi there! It's me again with a new chapter! The week was quite stressful but we (Draco, SG6169 and I) managed it to get the chapter ready right in time. So a big __**Thank You**__ to my dear helpers! Feel hugged you two! And also hugs to my dear review writers. Great to see some of you keep on giving me feedback although I have no real time for answering personally. I really appreciate and need this – so thank you a lot! I'll try to get the next chapter ready until next Saturday. Wish you much fun with the reading and a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

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**C****onversions**

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"_There's nothing in the world that doesn't change, nothing remains as it once was."_

_Zhuangzi_

* * *

It was the noise of a moving car that called Beth back into the real world that drowned out her own rhythmic heartbeat and that of her baby: the hum of an engine, the friction of the tires on asphalt and the soft music of a car radio.

Her heart began beating faster at once and her stomach clenched, because it was immediately clear to her that Coraline had to have abducted her, _had_ abducted her again. Images from the past flashed before her mind's eye: Coraline's gentle smile, this large child's room in the basement, the darkness that brought about this terrible fear… Beth ripped her eyes open violently, sat up panting in panic and looked around frantically. She was inside one of these plain, dark cars they had often used while traveling to a new hiding place. The barren landscape flew past her window at an alarming speed, which meant Coraline drove pretty fast - Coraline, who was now observing her through the rear view mirror with a strangely benevolent smile on her lips.

'You're not a child anymore. You can defend yourself!' Beth said to herself and sought her gaze boldly. "Stop this car _immediately_!" she ordered and her voice trembled only slightly.

"Nice to see you're awake again, Beth," Coraline replied gently. "I was a little worried I'd pressed too hard."

"I said stop the car!" Beth repeated emphatically, without responding to her remark.

The vampire let out a chuckle. "I'm sorry, that's the one thing I currently_ can't_ do for you."

"As if you want to do _anything_ for me, anyway," Beth said back ironically, as her eyes scanned the interior of the car. Perhaps there was something here she could use to overwhelm Coraline with, without risking a terrible accident. But unfortunately the car was totally bare.

"_Everything_ I'm doing is for you and Mick," was now Coraline's harsh reply and as Beth lifted her gaze again, she noticed that the matching, energetic fold between Coraline's fine brows had already formed. "You should be grateful to me rather than insult me."

"_Grateful_?" Beth repeated, and disbelieving laughter slipped from her lips, which had been tickling her throat the entire time. "You kidnapped me!"

"Oh, no!" Coraline shook her head in defense against the accusation. "What I've done is saved us a long discussion and thus prevented Gabriel from becoming aware of us. And in the end you would have come with me anyway."

Beth had a spiteful 'I don't think so' on the tip of her tongue, but she bit back the words. She didn't want to start a real argument with this woman. Currently, she was superior to her, at least in terms of strength and so it was better to remain cautious.

"You mean you're driving to Mick?" Beth asked instead, without really believing it.

Coraline hesitated for a moment and then let out a low, resigned sigh. "No, but he'll soon join us and we'll hide somewhere together where no one will find us," she replied and the seriousness in her voice caused Beth's eyebrows to wander a bit higher. She closed her eyes trying not to be confused. Surely Coraline was just playing one of her sneaky games with her. She couldn't allow herself under any circumstance to fall for it.

"Mick is in trouble, Coraline," she eventually said calmly and tried not to think about what was happening to him right now. "I don't think he'd be able to follow us that quickly – wherever it is that you want to take me right now…"

Again that strange laugh of Coraline's could be heard. "Mick is most definitely not in any trouble. First, we'd both be able to feel it if something serious were happening to him, and secondly… do you really believe Gabriel would have allowed him go to Sarah's if he thought there was a risk of him being captured or killed? You've seen Gabriel. He looked almost pleased. So once again, everything has gone exactly as he planned it._ If_ anything unexpected, even for him, happened or if he lost control of a situation, he'd have a completely different look and behave totally different. Believe me…" She paused for a moment, seemed to be contemplating. "I can just imagine he's in this state right _now_. Too bad none of us can experience that…"

Beth stared at Coraline in bewilderment through the mirror. "You… you do realize you're playing with your life, don't you?"

Coraline avoided her gaze, and looked back towards the road. "What kind of life is that?" she said softly. "I think this is worth it."

Beth didn't know what to say. Her panic and anger towards Coraline was slowly dissipating. Even if she didn't trust the woman, she slowly got the feeling that this time there was no malice behind her actions, but rather despair and wariness… and, unfortunately, a little bit of insanity. The important thing right now was to ensure that this insanity didn't get the best of her and thus became a threat to her and her baby.

"So you think Gabriel planned this whole thing happening with Sarah?" she picked up the issue Coraline had just mentioned, that was causing her a great deal of anxiety. "Does that mean he's using Sarah and Mick and Josef to lure the Legion into a trap?"

Coraline didn't answer and her gaze became strangely absent. Then a minimal smile appeared on her face. "Actually, I admire him for his callousness," she said softly, and Beth had trouble for a moment, following this change of topic. "For his ability to ignore his own feelings and needs when it really matters, and to do the things that are necessary to avert the greatest damage for the good of the majority. He always keeps the big picture in mind and every time he goes _against_ his own feelings and _chooses_ reason, _chooses_ the many, a little part of him dies and yet he does it again and again."

Coraline was quiet again for some time, staring out at the highway, while Beth fought back this feeling of dread that Coraline's words had evoked in her; this feeling that she was telling the truth that she wasn't so sure anymore whether Gabriel would protect Mick until the end from the Legion and wouldn't just turn him over after all.

"He'll do it this time too," the vampire now added sadly. "He'll choose in favor ofthe majority and against the individuals who mean so much to him. He's always done this. He even gambled with the lives of his _Des Archanges_ there in the lab, with Josef's life and Mick's. Some vampires died down there, Beth. He accepted that, hadn't even mourned them. Sarah doesn't matter to him. He uses her at his leisure, and if she dies, it's another loss he can accept, because she has no special value to him. Just like Josef. With Mick it's different and he only let him leave because he was prepared for an attack by the Legion or the Cercle, probably wanted to lure them in and knew nothing would happen to Mick. Otherwise he wouldn't have done it, because Mick _has_ tremendous value to everyone - even for him. He needs him to end this war. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't sacrifice him for the big picture. He will manipulate him and exploit him, like he's done with so many of his other protégés, and then he'll drop him – right into the middle of this greedy pack of hyenas." Coraline's grief had turned into such a rage and excitement while speaking, that she now had to take a deep breath through her nose to calm down a bit. "I… I can't let him do that, Beth. I'm not going to sit idly by and allow him to take Mick away from me as well. Not Mick. He doesn't deserve this; especially after all he's been through already."

Beth swallowed hard. She was feeling pretty nauseous by now and she suddenly felt so terribly alone and threatened from all sides. "And so… what exactly do you want with me?" She brought out with difficulty and had to force herself to look at Coraline again through the rearview mirror. Surprisingly, Coraline's gaze had softened and she even smiled.

"You don't need to fear me, Beth." Her voice was surprisingly soft and warm, had almost something maternal in it. "I'd be lying if I said I'd never thought about getting you out of the way. I was consumed with jealousy for a time, and would probably have done anything to separate you and Mick and make him return to me. But that's all changed." The expression in the beautiful eyes of the vampire had become much sadder now and deeply touched. "When you were lying injured on the roof and Mick gathered you up in his arms… and during our drive up to Munds Park…" She broke off, had to gather herself once again in order to express what she felt.

"He… he can't live without you right now. And that's not just some silly, romantic saying - he just can't. If you die, he'll die with you, maybe not immediately, but very soon thereafter. He needs you to find his way back in life. And that's why _I_ need you too."

"And… what exactly does that mean?" Beth asked timidly. Somehow it was all pretty scary.

"I'll lure him to us with your help and then we'll go into hiding together," Coraline said simply.

Beth immediately shook her head. "Mick will kill you if he finds out you've kidnapped me. He won't listen, won't realize that you only want what's best for him."

"He _will_, because_ you'll_ reassure him, Beth," Coraline contradicted her immediately. "Even the beast inside him can be soothed by you. I know that now."

"This is crazy," Beth replied. "Even _if _Mick calms down, even_ if_ he agrees to go into hiding with us somewhere - which I don't believe he will - do you really think Gabriel won't look for us and find us?"

"He's not as powerful as everyone thinks," Coraline said and she really seemed to be convinced of that fact. "I've tricked him several times in the past, and I've also successfully hidden from him before. And _I_ too have some connections here in the States and the ability to make myself and others almost invisible for quite a while."

"And what then?" Beth just had to dig deeper. "I mean, how do you imagine our lives will be on the run? If you want to protect us, is it also your plan to stay with us?"

Coraline didn't respond immediately to her question, and Beth knew perfectly well that she was correct in her assumption. This was insane!

The female vampire finally shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps we could even become friends as time went on, Beth. I'm really not the monster Mick has made me out to be. And… we're already almost there. We… we could be the family to each other that we've never had… that protects each other."

Beth couldn't help it; she once again let out an incredulous laugh, which Coraline immediately punished her for with a furious look.

"A family with Mick in our midst?" Beth brought forth still stunned. "You're his ex-wife, Coraline! Do you seriously want me to believe that it wouldn't bother you for Mick and I to live together as a couple right in front of your eyes?"

Coraline took an audible breath through her nose and straightened her shoulders. "You don't understand," she stated coolly. "I _love _Mick, more than anyone I've ever loved before. And I will do _everything_ in my power to keep anyone from ever causing him pain again - whether it's physical or mental pain. I want to make up for what I did to him. And I don't care how much I have to suffer myself in order to achieve that. I only have this one person left in my life that means something to me. I won't allow anyone to take him away from me. I've learned from my mistakes!"

Beth said nothing more. She was speechless, about Coraline's openness, the honesty in her voice and especially about her deep feelings for Mick. She would never have thought it possible, but this woman really had seemed to change. Something had happened during the fight down in the station, something that had shaken her awake, had made her see that love knew no selfishness, that it was selfless and sometimes even required sacrifices for which you had previously never considered yourself capable of.

"I want to protect you, Beth," Coraline added now much quieter and tears even shown in her eyes. "From the Legion, from the Cercle _and_ from Gabriel."

Beth now took a shaky breath herself, trying to get her troubled emotions under control and back to thinking rationally. After all Coraline was only human. She might be completely wrong with her assessment of the situation, which could put Mick and her in even more danger rather than 'saving' them. Of course, she had gained her experience with Gabriel, had known him longer than most of the people with whom they worked, and was therefore allowed to have a certain opinion of him and his character. But she could also be quite bias, could, out of her disappointment over the broken relationship with him, cast him in a poorer light than he deserved and evaluate his actions completely wrong - apart from the fact that this woman herself wasn't really trustworthy. As honest as she might seem to Beth right now - there was always a possibility she was playing one of her treacherous games with her and had something completely different in mind. And deep down, Beth really wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving Gabriel's circle of protection and running from him - even if Coraline was right with her assumptions concerning this whole operation around Sarah.

"Do you really think now is the right time to disappear?" Beth asked timidly after another moment of silence and brooding between them.

"When better?" Coraline gave back a little irritated. "Mick is separated from Gabriel, can make his decisions freely and Gabriel himself is too weak from an injection of poison to really start an intensive search for us."

Beth gasped. "Poison?" she repeated in a thin voice.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't there when it happened," Coraline remembered. "I didn't personally see it happen either, only felt it and found out about it afterwards. Gabriel had 'heroically' thrown himself in front of Mick during the fight in the station and caught a bullet that probably contained a mixture of things vampires like him and Mick can't tolerate that well."

"Are you talking about this altered cure?" Beth asked, but somehow knew it couldn't be. Why should that make Gabriel sick? His own blood had been part of this cure.

Coraline smiled again in this arrogant way that Beth couldn't stand, and some of her suspicions concerning this woman returned. "Oh, child, what would Ritchcroft have gained by shooting Mick with _that_? It may have had a temporary effect on him, but nothing more. No, I'm sure there was something else in the cannula, something really dangerous only the Legion has the cure for…"

"… so Mick would have been forced to go to them voluntarily, if he didn't want to die," Beth finished her sentence shocked and her stomach made a nasty turn.

"Anything else would have been pointless," Coraline added dryly.

"And Gabriel probably knew that the moment he threw himself in front of Mick," Beth added, and was deeply impressed by this selfless act. Coraline was wrong - the old vampire had to care for Mick deeply.

Coraline seemed to sense immediately the direction in which Beth's thoughts had drifted, for she quickly added, protesting "I wouldn't be so sure of that!"

But Beth _was_ sure, it didn't matter what other possible reasons Coraline might still dish up as an explanation for Gabriel's behavior. No one risked his life for someone who wasn't important - to him_ personally_. Maybe Gabriel _did_ have certain plans for Mick, perhaps he was torn between his duties to the vampire society and the Legion and his personal feelings for Mick – but these feelings were there and couldn't be turned off so easily. And Beth had always been good at strengthening these kinds of feelings in other people, even in difficult cases such as Mick and Gabriel.

"Will… will he die from it?" Beth interrupted Coraline's explanation about how manipulative Gabriel could be at times and the vampire paused, frowning.

"From this… poison, I mean," Beth added affirming her concern for the ancient vampire which grew with her own question.

Apparently Coraline hadn't even considered the possibility, because she now became a little paler and began to stammer. "I… I don't think so. I… he… August is with him now, and when this Peterson returns, they will surely find an antidote without the help of the Legion. And I could be wrong. It may indeed only be the altered cure and Gabriel will recover very soon."

"And what if he doesn't intend on getting healthy again?" Beth voiced her next terrible thought. "Maybe he's planning on doing something he thinks will save us all, like sacrificing himself. Perhaps that's why he's been so concerned about keeping all of us out of his plans, because he knows there are some people around him that would want to prevent it, like Lance for example."

"Lance would never threaten Gabriel's plans," Coraline vehemently disagreed with her. "Even though he acts tough, he always bows to Gabriel's will. Gabriel found him and nursed him like a puppy when he was a child - a bastard who was pushed around and tortured in his village, filthy, starving and blind in one eye. Gabriel helped give him a kind of life most people can only dream of. Lance _adores_ his foster father. He would _never_ deliberately oppose his will!"

For a moment, Beth was at a loss for words. The surprising information about this arrogant, so elegant and noble looking man almost knocked her over. Lance a street urchin? A bastard?

"Besides, Gabriel _wouldn't _sacrifice himself," Coraline continued, shaking her head, but Beth was able to read in her eyes that she wasn't as confident as she let on. "He's not like that, at leastnot what_ I_ know of him. And I simply can't imagine it."

Beth put her thoughts of Lance's and Gabriel's shared past quickly to the side. "I do think it's possible…" She thought, knowing how great Gabriel's longing for the end of his life was. "And if Lance really loves Gabriel as much as you say he does, then it's very possible he _would_ go against his will would try to stop him. And who knows how many of the other ancient vampires would stand by his side. Maybe it would even lead to a small rebellion and…"

"Have you even been listening to me?" Coraline interrupted her now angrily. "_Gabriel_ is the one who manipulates everyone around him, as much as he can - even you! He reduces us all, over and over again to simple puppets. He's always done that. With us vampires and also the families, which he allegedly only wanted to protect. Whether it was your family or Mick's – _you've_ also suffered as a result of that."

Beth caught her breath once more and this time her heart made a small jump. "He… he manipulated Mick's and my family?"

"Don't you think it's strange that both you and Mick had an important caregiver disappear, just like that?"

"Who… Who are you talking about?" Beth murmured, even though she knew exactly to whom Mick's ex-wife alluded, and her heart was already beginning to beat a lot quicker.

"Your father and Mick's brother," Coraline said far too calmly.

"They both had an accident!" Beth replied with vigor. "My father died in a car accident and Mick's brother in a plane crash!" But the strange expression showing in Coraline's eyes alone contradicted her statement. Beth's chest suddenly tightened. But she didn't have time to ask any more questions, to deal with her fears, because all at once Coraline winced, alarmed, and tore her eyes open in terror as she looked in the rearview mirror. Beth instinctively threw a glance over her shoulder and knew immediately what had caused her panic. Behind them a dark car had appeared and was rapidly gaining on them.

"Who is that?" Beth asked scared and sent a silent prayer up that it wasn't the Legion.

Coraline didn't respond to her question, simply sped up even more. Beth grabbed the seatbelt on her right side and rapidly buckled it to at least try and feel a little safer. "Coraline, who is it?" She repeated the question a little more urgently.

The naked fear in Coraline's eyes didn't sit well with Beth as did the repeating shake of her head. "He must have noticed really quickly," the female vampire answered strained. "Far too quickly!"

"Gabriel? Is it Gabriel?" Beth asked excited.

The nod was so volatile that it could hardly be described as such and Coraline took the next bend in the road at such a high rate of speed that Beth was thrown to the side in her seatbelt and her arm began to throb painfully.

"Coraline, you need to slow down!" Beth replied now a bit panicky herself. "The road is too curvy! If we go off the road, we'll over turn and end up somewhere in a field! And then it'll all be over anyway!"

Coraline shook her head and her hands grabbed the steering wheel so tight now that her knuckles stood out white. "He's going to kill me. This time he will kill me Beth!"

The tires squealed loudly as they took the next turn and Beth's whole interior cramped up. "There will soon be no need to if you don't slow down!" Beth tried desperately to appeal to Coraline's sense of reason, although she wasn't sure if this was still within reach. She cast another glance through the rear window again, and found that the other car had gotten a good deal closer despite Coraline's efforts.

"Coraline, stop the car!" Beth pressed once again and it hadn't bothered her one bit that her voice had taken on a pleading tone. "I will put in a good word for you with Gabriel. I swear I won't let him kill you - but please slow down! Please!"

Coraline's brown eyes looked at her through the rearview mirror with fear and Beth leaned in a little closer towards her. Her instincts told her she had reached the vampire somehow.

"Do it for Mick," she added urgently. "If anything happens to us, he'll snap. And you_ know_ that. You… you said you didn't want to harm him anymore."

Coraline's eyes turned back to the road. She gritted her teeth visibly and the miracle happened: the car really did seem to slow down. It didn't take long before the other dark car passed them, drove ahead of them a short distance then braked, skidding to a halt across the road forcing Coraline to also hit the brakes and stop their car with screeching tires. Beth was thrown forward into the seatbelt and struggled for breath for a moment, because the belt not only put too much pressure on her chest, but also a sharp, hot pain jerked through her injured arm. A loud whistling sounded in Beth's ears and for a few seconds darkness enveloped her, so that she only vaguely perceived the figures that jumped out of the other car. And they were simply moving too fast to identify who they were, even too fast to allow Coraline, who had removed her seatbelt rapidly, the opportunity to flee. Beth was still trying to sit up and take a deep breath, when the door on the driver's side was ripped open with such force that it not only torn it from its hinges but was also thrown a few yards into the field. Coraline recoiled in horror, trying to kick and beat at the monster with the white-blue eyes, that grabbed her neck a split second later with a threatening grumble, but she didn't stand a chance. Her fingers, which had dug into the seat left deep gashes there, as she herself was now the one being drug from the car and thrown through the air like a ragdoll. Beth couldn't see exactly where she'd landed, since the dark figure in front of the car had blocked her view, but it didn't matter anyway. She took off her seatbelt with wildly trembling fingers and a franticly beating heart, flung herself against the door and fell rather than stepped out of the car.

"Nooooo!" she cried hoarsely and stumbled behind the tall, menacing figure rapidly approaching Coraline, who had just gotten to her feet. But Beth couldn't really keep up, as the old vampire was simply moving too fast. Within a few seconds he was on Coraline again and struck her face with the back of his hand with so much force that the female vampire not only went down a few feet away from them, but Beth also thought she could hear the breaking of her cheekbone. It was only now that Beth saw Gabriel's profile and what she saw, terrified her. This wasn't just a completely transformed, dangerous vampire in front of her - this was a vampire who was beside himself with rage, a vampire who had come to kill. He proved that now, when he reached into his coat and took out a long knife.

"This… was your last time to try and harm me or one of my protégés, Caroline!" he pressed through gritted teeth growling and now moved towards the much weaker-looking woman, scuttling away from him on the ground.

Beth automatically set into motion again. She had promised her she would prevent Gabriel from killing her… she'd promised. And then there were these things about her father that she desperately needed to know about. Coraline couldn't die! No matter what she had done to her and Mick in the past. They still needed her!

Beth summoned all her strength and courage and began to sprint; threw herself in front of Coraline with her hands out stretched in defense the moment Gabriel tried to grab the vampire again.

"Don't do it!" she uttered strained and her heart pounded almost painfully in her chest. This boiling anger, this murder in the bright eyes of the old vampire scared her terribly. She had never seen Gabriel this upset. His chest rose and fell in a much too rapid pace and in his panting breath an underlying and continuously threatening growl was audible.

"She wasn't going to hurt me," Beth added quickly and quite shaky, since the old vampire had indeed paused. "She was just afraid you were using Mick for your own purposes and would then let him fall."

Gabriel took an audibly deep breath through his nose and the threat in his eyes wasn't to be overlooked. "Get… out of… my way!" he growled and Beth's stomach dropped again. Part of her wanted to run; the other knew that if she did it would be a death sentence for Coraline and she simply couldn't let that happen.

"No," she replied in a trembling voice.

Gabriel gritted his teeth, shook his head in disbelief and pushed her aside. But Beth reacted quickly, bravely clung to his arm, ignoring her own pain.

"I promised her she would not die," she cried out and dug her feet into the ground, trying to hold Gabriel back with a vengeance. "I promised her, Gabriel!"

All of a sudden the face of the old vampire was right in front of her, his white eyes bore into hers. "You shouldn't have done that! Some promises can't be kept!" he hissed through gritted teeth.

He had wanted to turn away from her, but she grabbed the collar of his coat with the other hand, pulled him to her with a force she hadn't thought herself capable of. "She's a Sangsujet," she spoke out moved. "Just like Mick. Has this really lost all meaning to you the moment you no longer benefit from them? She's a descendant of one of the bloodlines you swore to protect forever! Prove to me that this still matters to you! Prove to me that you've not forgotten _your_ promise!"

She could see something change in his eyes, that her words had triggered something inside him that his mind was working again, letting him fight against his unbridled rage. But the words that came from his lips were not those she had hoped to hear: "Let go of me!"

Beth swallowed hard, but once again shook her head bravely. "Not until you've put away the dagger," she added quietly. She registered that they had been approached by two other figures, but didn't dare resolve her gaze from Gabriel's eyes for she feared he could then pounce on Coraline again, who lay on the ground not daring to stir.

The inner struggle taking place in Gabriel had his jaw muscles twitching and she only stared at him in silence. But then he broke loose a little from his tension, took another deep breath and in fact put the dagger away rather than pushing her away angrily, which is what he wanted to do. He gave a nod to one of the figures behind her, and only when this person stepped directly up to Gabriel, did Beth dare to let her gaze wander over to him. She looked into one brown eye and one completely black that examined her briefly with an expression that was difficult to gauge, before Lance turned to Gabriel.

"Get my bag!" were Gabriel's brief words and Beth furrowed her brows in confusion. There wasn't time to do anything else, for Lance was already gone, and her eyes fell on the other man, who approached them now with deep concern in his warm eyes: Alejandro.

Beth's heart gave a little leap, because at once all the wonderful memories of her time in Mexico and Alejandro's warm-hearted family came welling up inside her, of the small farm that for a while had come close to what you would call a home. How simple and clear everything had been back then and her desire for a little more normalcy, for love and security grew in this moment so much that tears came to her eyes and she let Alejandro come up to her and embrace her. She buried her face in his shoulder and closed her eyes, forgetting for a moment about the world around her.

"Now everything will be all right again, Beth," she heard the Mexican's soothing voice close to her ear. "We'll take you to Mick now and then we'll see to it that you both get a chance to breathe for a while and rest."

Beth swallowed hard, because the lump in her throat had grown so much, and bravely fought against her strong desire to once again have a good cry. But this wasn't the right time, and Alejandro definitely wasn't the right person – as much as she liked him and his family.

It was Coraline's panicked voice that reminded Beth they weren't alone and that there was still a pretty angry vampire behind her, who needed to be kept in check. "No! No! Not that! Gabriel, please!"

Beth rapidly pulled herself out of Alejandro's embrace and turned around in time to see Lance grab a now standing Coraline, holding her while Gabriel, with a syringe ready in one hand, grabbed the arm of the violently struggling woman. Good God! He wanted to do the same thing to her that he did to Henry!

Beth set into motion immediately, wanting to intervene, but didn't get far. Alejandro grabbed her good arm and held her back before she could even reach out for Gabriel. The old vampire, who had noticed her movement towards him, of course lost no time ramming the syringe into the arm of a screaming Coraline, emptying its contents completely.

"NO!" Beth cried out in despair and broke free, stumbling over to Gabriel. But it was too late. Lance had already let go of a gasping, panic-stricken Coraline and the female vampire staggered backwards, stumbled and eventually fell to her knees sobbing. She was trembling and her eyes had widened, anxiously waiting the onset of a painful death.

"Why… why did you do it?" Beth turned to Gabriel in shock and all the positive thoughts and feelings she had ever had about this man vanished into thin air, leaving behind only the depressing feeling of disappointment and irrepressible rage inside her.

Gabriel didn't respond to her. His icy white eyes were still focused on the trembling, weeping woman in front of him on the ground, looking at her as if she were some kind of insect he wanted to crush under his boot.

"No one deserves to die like that!" Beth added in a trembling voice. She was incredibly angry with herself, that she had allowed herself to become so distracted, so weak and careless, and she hated Gabriel for using her distraction for this purpose.

Gabriel now lifted his head again, but still acted as if Beth wasn't even there, searching for eye contact with another person, who had remained standing in front of the car. August, Beth noted, as she looked in that direction. The doctor came up to them immediately, rummaging frantically in his pockets and then handed something to Gabriel, who now swayed almost imperceptibly to the side.

Beth frowned in confusion, another syringe? Had the first injection not been enough? Did they want to repeat this cruel procedure? But the syringe was much larger, and looked as if it were filled with blood. What was that? Amazingly, it was taking a surprisingly long time for the effect of the modified cure to have its effect on Coraline. It almost seemed as if she was slowly calming down, was even showing a healthier complexion.

Beth's feelings and thoughts became even more chaotic when Gabriel unbuttoned his own shirt, bared his chest and rammed the long needle of the syringe without hesitation directly into his own heart. The old vampire closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while he slowly injected himself with the liquid under Beth's widening eyes. When he raised his eyelids again, his eyes had finally reverted to a normal color. But still he didn't seem to be doing that well any longer, for he had significant problems staying on his feet, swayed to the side and was quickly caught by August. Deep concern was written on the faces of the doctor and the other two men and suddenly everyone else was forgotten around them.

"You better sit down," August said, while Lance let out a low, resigned "I knew this would happen" and Alejandro tried to support the old vampire from the other side.

Beth didn't know what she was supposed to think or feel anymore. She was deeply confused and somewhere deep inside her a little concern for Gabriel also stirred. Coraline had spoken of poison, poison that had been intended for Mick. Beth's eyes wandered over to Mick's ex-wife, who stood up slowly, stopped swaying and briefly closed her eyes, probably to get a grip on her circulation. She didn't seem to have suffered any convulsions nor to be in any kind of pain, just looked more vulnerable, insecure and somehow more human than before. And suddenly Beth knew exactly what Gabriel had done to Coraline. He had turned her back into a human, had literally 'defanged' her in a way, and had allowed her to remain live. He had not given her the aggressive cure, but the normal form. Of course she hadn't known this at the time and had really feared for her life - but this form of punishment had been necessary.

Shame rose inside of Beth - not for her actions but for her feelings, the hatred, the disappointment and the anger towards Gabriel. In the end, the old vampire hadn't deserved it and she really hoped he hadn't felt it, hadn't noticed what had happened inside of her.

"Lance…" Gabriel now said breathing hard and narrowed his eyes, shook his head, as if to rid himself of the dizziness. "Get Coraline."

It was really incredible: The man could hardly stand and was still barking commands – that were even being followed! Lance walked over to Coraline with fierce determination and grabbed her up roughly by the arm. The female vampire didn't struggle anymore, let herself be lead away by him. All she had left for Beth was an apologetic glance.

"And _you_…" Gabriel looked at Beth and she winced inwardly a bit, "… get back in the car. Alejandro… will go with you…" He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply in and out a couple of times, and Beth's concern for the ancient vampire was back again, accompanied by a terribly guilty conscience.

It took a few seconds before Gabriel had enough strength to open his eyes again and look at her sternly. "If… if Mick should somehow succeed in reaching you mentally, transmit to him that you're okay and that nothing really bad has happened. He… he has to calm down and find himself again… and he can't do that if he's worried about you…"

Beth nodded. Even though she had finally made up her mind to no longer dance to Gabriel's tune, just this once she would do it again. It made no sense right now to be confrontational, and she didn't want to weaken the old vampire even more. _He_ too desperately needed rest and relaxation.

"We'll drive together to the new location… and then discuss everything with the others," Gabriel added.

"Does that mean Mick is all right?" Beth had to ask now and her heart was once again beating a little faster.

It was Alejandro who replied with a quick nod. "They have all made it through and are already on their way to our new destination. It wasn't as dramatic as everything seemed."

Beth nodded again. This explanation was enough for now because she saw how important it was at the moment to get Gabriel into the other car. He had become incredibly pale and could hardly keep his eyelids from closing.

Alejandro didn't seem to expect any more questions from her, because he nodded to August and the two sat into motion with the weakened Ancient One, gently guiding him over to the car in which they had arrived and Lance had already opened the door in preparation. Beth followed them with a queasy feeling in her stomach, which grew even stronger when she realized how difficult it was for Gabriel to get into the car, even with the help of the others.

"Can… can I do anything?" she stammered a bit helplessly.

"Yes," Lance replied coolly, "get into the other car and drive off!" He gave her a false smile and Beth furrowed her brows angrily. But she had no time to reply because Alejandro, at that moment, stepped up to her, put an arm around her shoulders and turned her towards the other car.

"Come. He's right," he said in a soothing tone and pushed her forward easily. "We should really get on the road."

Beth didn't contradict him, but couldn't keep herself from casting a dark look at Lance which he acknowledged with a short lifting of an eyebrow. By then they had reached their car and got in, after Alejandro had opened her passenger's door.

It felt really good to sit down again and she felt even better, when Alejandro took the seat behind the wheel. Finally someone she could really trust. Finally another human being! And yet, his presence couldn't drive away her concerns and fears concerning Gabriel completely. But maybe he could help her to at least understand what had happened.

"What… what exactly is going on with him?" Beth asked timidly, as Alejandro had started the engine and drove off. She was almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't know exactly," the Mexican admitted with audible concern in his voice. "When I arrived together with Tony and Simone in Munds Park, Gabriel wasn't doing well at all. And it wasn't only because he was so terribly upset about your disappearance. Of course, all this has made it even worse, but even there, he had to take a syringe of blood and amphetamines to even be able to follow you."

"He… he was upset about my disappearance?" Beth stammered and her guilty conscience grew even more.

Alejandro nodded affirmatively. "I've never seen him like this. He didn't expect Coraline would do something like this in this situation and he had been incredibly afraid she would do something to you. I think he was well aware that if she had, it would kill Mick."

"Oh, God, Mick doesn't know about this does he?" Beth exclaimed horrified.

"God forbid!" Alejandro uttered appalled. "We told Guillermo something had happened, because we weren't sure how strong Mick's connection to you was, despite the distance, and whether he had already sensed something, but we told him that we had everything back under control and that Mick is going to see you again soon at our new shelter. I'm sure he's passed this on to Mick."

"You told him this, even though you still didn't know how this whole thing would turn out?" Beth blinked at him in astonishment.

"We had no choice, and Gabriel had sensed pretty quickly that nothing had happened to you, mainly through his connection with Coraline. But I think this mental effort has cost him a lot of his strength."

Beth really had to force herself to ask the question one more time she had already upset Coraline with. "Will he die? Coraline suggested it was poison the Legion injected him with."

Alejandro thoughtfully furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her from the side. "I always thought vampires could fight _any_ kind of poison in their system…"

"Gabriel told me he wasn't like other vampires," Beth protested. "Perhaps this is the reason, or maybe the Legion was able to concoct something diabolical between the cure and some kind of poison, which seemingly vampires can't handle."

Alejandro moved his head from one side to the other pondering. "I don't know. Earlier it sounded to me as if Gabriel already knew what was working in his system. August had talked to him quietly about it and was very worried but Gabriel told him he knew how to deal with it and how much he could withstand in this state. August said something like, the medications he had come up with in a hurry would only help him temporarily and he urgently needed to rest and that they needed to sit down to find a real cure for him."

Beth swallowed hard trying to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat. "And… then what did Gabriel say?"

Alejandro let out a soft sigh. "He said he knew what he was doing and that there were more important things he had to worry about right now."

Beth glanced behind them, over to the other car following them in which the old vampire was now sitting with Lance, August and Coraline.

"He didn't look well at all when he climbed into the car," she murmured softly, the unease growing inside her. The thought of losing Gabriel, in the midst of all this chaos and with Mick by her side who was totally out of it, was unthinkable. This couldn't happen. No way! Someone had to force the old vampire to be reasonable and to allow himself enough time to rest and become healthy again - if that was even possible.

A noise from the hands free speaker of a mobile phone caused Beth to turn around. Her heart was instantly beating faster, but it wasn't a familiar voice she heard as Alejandro pressed the accept button.

"Okaay, so… I got you some accommodations in Barstow. Take route 40, that'll get you there pretty quickly."

"What does 'accommodations' mean, Dexter?" Alejandro asked a bit irritated. "No motels, I hope!"

"No, I stuck to the terms," it came back instantly. "You'll be pleased, I think. I'll send the exact address of your next meeting point to you later."

Alejandro nodded, although his caller couldn't see him, and then ended the connection.

"Are you really sure Mick will be meeting us there?" Beth asked full of hope and immediately the familiar warmth that always overcame her whenever she thought about Mick and he wasn't in her immediate vicinity, spread through her stomach.

"I think so," Alejandro replied slightly distracted, since he had already pressed another button on his cell phone. It rang briefly, then a deep, this time very familiar but still exhausted sounding voice answered with a short "Yes". At least Gabriel was still conscious.

"Dexter just called," Alejandro said quickly. "Our next destination is Barstow."

"Okay, go there and make sure Mick and the others really rest this time. We'll postpone the meeting until tomorrow."

"Does that mean you won't be there until tomorrow as well?" Alejandro asked in amazement.

"Yes, I… I think it'll be better this way and we still have to consider where to bring Coraline," was the tired reply.

"Good," now Alejandro said. "Then we'll see you tomorrow." And with these words their conversation was ended. Beth raised her eyebrows quizzically, as Alejandro uttered a faint sigh and relief became visible on his face.

"I think he's finally given in to August's and Lance's urging to rest a bit and will allow them treat him," her old friend explained his behavior.

Beth narrowed her eyes a little and looked at Alejandro critically. "And that's all?" she kept on asking.

Alejandro avoided her gaze, stared straight ahead at the road instead.

Beth's eyebrows moved toward each other and she tilted her head assessing. "What exactly will be discussed at the meeting?" she tortured him further. "Something unpleasant for you?"

Alejandro pressed his lips together tightly, then briefly closed his eyes and shook his head. But it wasn't a denial to her question, as it turned out with his next words. "I… I don't think I'll be able to avoid it coming out, what I've done all this time along with a few others from our team. And as a result, a matter I've concealed from Mick for a very, very long time will finally come to light … and I fear this could mean the end of our friendship."

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise. "It's that bad?"

Alejandro nodded depressed.

"Do you want to tell me?" Beth asked cautiously. "Maybe it would be better if you did so I can be prepared to calm Mick down. And I think we now have the time."

The Mexican took a deep breath through his nose and clung to the steering wheel even tighter, as if he needed something to hold on to. "Has Mick ever told you the story of how we came to know each other?"

Beth had no choice but to shake her head.

Again her older friend took a deep breath. "Maybe I better start at the beginning," he said softly, and Beth now took a deep breath herself before she nodded, because she felt this well-kept secret was somehow going to be quite hard to take. At the very least their trip to Barstow would be anything but boring.


	64. Leaderless

_It's Saturday and the next chapter is ready again! Thank you so much for your great comments again and feel hugged and kissed. You're the best! I will be back with the next chapter at Saturday again. Wish you a great weekend and week, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by SG6169_

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**Leaderless**

* * *

"_If all else fails, someone has to keep holding the strings in his hand."_

_Walter Ludin_

* * *

I had always thought losing Sarah would mean the death of my humanity, would turn me cold, callous and cruel. It had affected me this way, at least to some degree, when she fell into this coma back then; that was until Mick had stepped back into my life and pulled me, without realizing it, out of the dark hole in which I had fallen. Still, I had cloistered myself away from other people a bit more, had become cooler and more distant and allowed very few people to approach me, trying to hide my emotional side from the world so I would never be hurt like that again. I had known that if I were to lose Sarah one day, it would make it even worse that it would pull the rug right out from under me. But I had been wrong.

After we had left Three Rivers behind, her body had hung on for some time without the devices but her soul had stayed away, and the longer I held her in my arms, the clearer it became she didn't _want_ to come back, that she had given up on her old life a long time ago, like I should have done as well. But that feeling hadn't made me distraught. Of course I had been shocked and terribly sad, but instead of allowing myself to fall into this sadness, I started to remember the things we had experienced, had let the wonderful time we had spent together, as short as it was, play back in my mind and for the first time in a long, long time I had been able to keep the pain of those memories away and enjoy them. Sarah had enriched my life and changed me. She had shown me that there were people in this world who could still touch me, from whom I could still learn something, could give me everything I had always dreamed of: friendship, affection, love and security. She had once told me that I was walking, despite my superhuman senses, blind and deaf through life, that if I didn't open my heart to the world, I couldn't enjoy it, that I wasn't truly living. She had put into words what Mick had previously shown me with his way of walking through life and yet I hadn't followed the wisdom of these two people, had let the cruelty of fate, that had taken my Sarah away from me, scare me, and had not opened myself up to the world as maybe I should have. I hadn't _wanted_ to understand Sarah's words then, but I understand them now.

I now understood that by clinging to her lifeless body all these years, I had also been clinging to a past life, a dream that was never meant to be. Clinging to the past itself. All my life I had pretended to be a person focused on the future - and I _had_ been in some respects. But I had always been guided by my decisions, my way of life, my experiences, experiences that I had had in the _past_ and that justified my behavior, was sometimes even the reason for it. In itself, this wasn't all that unusual, since most people's behavior are a result of their past, from their experiences. My problem had always been that with the past behind, and my sight always set on the future, I had often forgotten about the importance of my decisions in the present, had not examined my behavior, and I had not made any effort to change that. And there had been too few people in my life that had challenged me on it. Who pointed out my mistakes, forcing me to look at my behavior critically - people like Mick, who had time and time again forced me to stop and reflect.

That 'pausing' and 'reflecting', that perceiving of the present, had been missing lately. Instead, the past suddenly played a major role anew; mine, Gabriel's, Mick's… and old mistakes came to the forefront, distracted me and put a strain on me, had even tempted me to want to bring back the past… until Sarah had stopped me. She had talked to me without even stirring.

'Let go of the past!' she told me by merely leaving. Inside the helicopter that had flown us to Barstow, her heart had simply stopped beating. It was there she had taken her last breath. 'Care about the present, for the people who've been by your side for years, who love you and who you need so much. Don't give them up for a dream you were never meant to live. Save them before it's too late.'

I had almost heard her words, had seen them in Mick's deeply shocked expression, and had felt them in his effort to convince me to still allow him to give her his blood. My friend had almost been more distraught than I was and even my own firm, "It's for the best – it's her will," had not entirely reassured him. He was still a nervous wreck and ultimately his nervousness and anxiety and my own fear of his overwrought state forced me to walk out onto the small, shabby porch of the house where we were temporarily located. Even though I didn't feel as bad as everyone may have thought, I still wasn't strong or steady enough to deal with Mick's questionable behavior right now - even though I knew exactly how important that was.

I was so… confused - confused about my own surprising feelings. Of course there was sadness, this deep pain inside me that would flare up anew every time I remembered that I had now lost Sarah forever, causing this burning and pulling, this tightness in my chest. But I was still here. I was still myself and I could still feel, perhaps even more deeply than I ever had before. And not all the feelings I had were negative. There was this warmth and gratitude that I felt when I thought of Sarah, and - although I didn't want to admit it - relief. Relief, that I had finally come to a decision regarding Sarah and had probably made it because of what I had sensed in her. I could finally close this chapter of my life and move on, could look after the people who were still living, who still needed my help… could take care of Mick, because his current behavior and what he had done to save us was almost as upsetting to me as the loss of Sarah. Of course, it had been an incredibly smart and selfless act, but as he had stood there, letting his blood drip onto the carpet, I had seen something else in his eyes that had shocked me profoundly: a weariness of life.

I still wasn't sure how to deal with this knowledge, what I needed to do to pull Mick back into the bright, beautiful side of life - because I was sure this is exactly what Sarah would have wanted from me if she were able to talk to me one last time. I would do it somehow but I just needed a little time to recover first, needed to deal with the loss of Sarah and gather new strength to do what I had long intended to do: protect my family from everything and everyone who wanted to hurt them - even from those who were allegedly on our side.

How I would regain the strength I needed, I still wasn't sure, because inwardly I felt so worn out, was at the end of my rope, and longed for a light to show me the way, for a force to somehow grab me by the hand and lead me in the right direction, a direction in which I actually already wanted to go. I felt so old, and so tired I wasn't even able to move away from the porch and go inside to meet the task I had imposed on myself. Instead I just stared blankly into space and let the chaos of feelings continue to swell inside me.

At some point I heard the noise of an engine not far away and a car turned onto the relatively lifeless street where our house was - one of these dark cars we had often used lately and I soon realized that there were two very familiar people to me in this car: Beth and Alejandro.

It was strange, but my heart immediately jumped, while the tightness in my chest grew and my throat closed up. The sadness had returned, now stronger than ever, as if it needed to be noticed by someone, wanted to be freed from the chains of my self imposed control and I turned my gaze away from the now motionless car, gritted my teeth and again stared into the distance.

I heard my friends get out and approach me. When they were too close for me to continue to ignore them, in order to keep my emotions under control, I finally looked at them, and nodded silently, as they stepped up onto the porch. They had probably already noticed from a distance that something was wrong, because Alejandro's smile was a bit cramped and Beth didn't even try to smile, but immediately approached me with a worried look on her face, even though I knew she had to be longing to finally embrace her Mick in her arms again.

"Are the others inside?" Alejandro asked somewhat uneasily, as he started to open the door, and I nodded. He gave me a worried glance, but then reluctantly entered the house.

Beth was still looking at me, but already on her face, awareness and deep compassion showed, before we had even spoken a word. I avoided her penetrating gaze quickly, and blinked, vexed, because my eyes had started to burn and my nose to tingle. And this overwhelming need to talk to her about everything, to let her pull me into her arms and comfort me became almost unbearable yet…

"Sarah?" she asked softly and that one word shook my self-control with such force, that my chin began to tremble treacherously, even though I had pressed my lips together.

"Oh, God, Josef, I'm so sorry!" There they were, the arms I had longed so much for, they went around my shoulders and pulled me against the warm, comfort conveying body of the second person in my life, who had become an indispensable part of my existence. I gave in to my urgent need for comfort, pressed my face against her shoulder and held onto this small and yet so incredibly strong person, even had a few tears roll down my cheeks. But I didn't collapse. Beth's strength kept us both upright, made it possible for me to bear the loss of Sarah with composure and to not feel as alone and lost in the world as I had feared I would. And it felt so good, to have her so close to me again, to feel that our friendship was still there, that the feeling of connectedness between us had not weakened after I had neglected it so criminally.

After a little while, her arms broke away from my neck and she pulled away from me, eyeing me up sympathetically. "What… what happened?" she asked cautiously.

I shook my head very slightly, wiped, with one of my hands, the wet traces of tears from my cheeks. "She… she was already gone, had been for a long time. I just hadn't noticed it. Now her body has followed her soul."

"Couldn't Mick's blood help her?" Beth asked gently and really made an effort to not make me feel that she was now worried about Mick. I felt it anyway, and shook my head silently. "We… didn't even try it."

Her eyebrows wandered upwards a little. Her surprise about this was visible on her face.

"It… it just would have been wrong," I explained my decision before she could say anything. "Not only because she probably wouldn't have wanted it but also because of…" I glanced over to the door to make sure that my friend could not hear my words. "… because of Mick. It would have devastated Mick if his blood hadn't had any effect or had even killed her. I couldn't do that to him. He and you… you are the only bit of family I have left. He wouldn't have been able to cope with that."

Beth looked at me touched, lifted a hand to my face and caressed my cheek with an expression of deep gratitude and affection in her so deep, blue eyes. Then she stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss on my other cheek.

Actually I had planned to avoid it - not because I couldn't endure her presence, but because I felt that Mick was approaching us - but I wasn't quick enough and she still had one arm wrapped around me and was falling back on her heels, when my friend stepped out onto the porch.

Immediately, it was there, flashed up in his eyes, this mixture of surprise and annoyance that rarely meant anything good with him, and between his eyebrows this strong line appeared, that spelled trouble. I could even understand it. In the last few weeks he had rarely seen Beth and I deal with each other so familiar, almost lovingly. He had not witnessed our growing friendship and was not accustomed to this affection between us – he had also not really noticed it in Mexico. It _had_ to bother him, considering he had always shown such a strong propensity towards jealousy. But he pulled himself together, at least tried not to look quite so disturbed when Beth turned to him in surprise.

"Mick!" she exclaimed with joy and moved towards him, but my friend's reaction made her pause, because he not only took a step backwards but also sought eye contact with me instead of her.

"Did Gabriel not come?" he asked, irritated and completely ignored a surprised Beth.

Even _I_ needed a moment to recover from his reaction, and finally stammered a belated "No…"

Mick gave a mirthless laugh, and shook his head bewildered, and then disappeared into the house again, leaving not only an unpleasant pressure in my stomach behind but also a deeply upset and hurt looking Beth next to me.

"He… he doesn't mean it like that," I stammered, not able to get a hold of my feelings and my annoyance with Mick turned to boiling anger when I realized that he had brought tears to Beth's eyes that she held back bravely. This time it seemed she couldn't accept Mick's behavior so easily. Just too much had happened in the last few days for this. I wanted so much to comfort her, explain to her that it wasn't her fault, that certainly it was only what had happened to Sarah that had unsettled Mick so much he couldn't control himself, again. But the loud voices that suddenly erupted from the interior of the house divested me of this job, for one of them clearly belonged to my best friend. Beth and I set into motion simultaneously and stormed into the house prepared for the worst, ready to extinguish the source of the fire as quickly as possible.

Mick had threateningly planted himself in front of the visibly intimidated Alejandro and not only seemed to boil with rage, but to be on the verge of turning into a vampire. Logan and Guillermo seemed to have noticed this as well, because the two had stepped up on either side of Mick so close, they could intervene at a moments notice if needed. Frank just sat open-mouthed and wide-eyed on the couch and was petrified with horror.

"I'm not going _anywhere_, until I know exactly what happened there with Sarah and what the hell Gabriel is still planning behind our backs," Mick snapped at our old friend. "I want to know what's going on here right now – God damn it!"

"You _will_ know, soon," Alejandro replied in a strained soothing tone, and yet he couldn't hide the fact that Mick's behavior frightened him badly. He was sweating, his heart was beating too fast and he had raised his hands defensively. "Just not today," he added the words that Mick couldn't stand right now. "Gabriel will be here tomorrow and I…"

Any further words were drowned out by Mick's loud, deeply frustrated growl and the next moment my friend kicked the table next to him with such violence, that it not only broke it in half but it flew passed Guillermo, who recoiled in horror and crashed into the living-room wall in pieces.

So the time had come. Mick had finally lost control and we were left to deal with the crap Gabriel had created with his secretive tactics and shady behavior. Basically it had just been a matter of time before this happened.

"THEN CALL HIM!" Mick yelled at Alejandro and his next, threatening step towards him caused the Mexican to even back away from him ducking. "Tell him to get here this _instant_! I must see him_ now_!"

"Mick, that's completely…" Guillermo began soothingly, but the next second flinched, as Mick's finger shot towards him, as if he wanted to impale him with it.

"_You_ keep out of this!" Mick hissed at him and his eyes lit up brightly in doing so. Mick had never before shown so clearly who had the upper hand in their relationship and it worked perfectly. The old Sire-Fledgling-connection ensured that Guillermo humbly withdrew, at least for a moment. Even after such a long time, the submissive instinct of a fledgling still wasn't so easy to switch off.

"I… I can't make Gabriel come here, Mick," Alejandro admitted now depressed. "I don't have that kind of control over him…"

"And _I _don't think that would be such a good idea," Beth now interrupted, who had silently pushed past me and was now bravely approaching Mick. Her disappointment at Mick's previous behavior seemed to have vanished into thin air under this stress and had made way for her old fighting spirit and her truly admirable courage.

Mick looked at her briefly, but couldn't hold her gaze. There was something else going on inside him in terms of Beth - something I didn't like at all. But at least it distracted him enough that his anger began to subside a little.

"We are all far too exhausted and agitated to discuss anything in a reasonable way," Beth simply went on and Logan nodded hastily.

"The woman, who was here when we arrived, left us some keys and envelopes containing the addresses of our overnight accommodations." He pointed to the envelopes, which were still on the dresser to the right of us. "How about if we just make our way there and…"

"If Gabriel isn't coming here today, then perhaps _you_ can tell me what's been going on behind our backs all this time," Mick simply ignored Logan by again addressing Alejandro with palpable hostility. "Or better yet: What were _you_ doing all this time, when we were fighting in the laboratories? Where were you?"

"I… Mick…"

"Where - were - you?" Mick repeated now much more threateningly and I too now stepped closer to him. Somehow it didn't have the effect I was hoping for. My friend just didn't want to calm down!

"I've been working with Tony and Elizabeth and a few others, planning missions, and establishing contacts…"

"Contacts with whom?"

Oh, oh, this wasn't good. This was moving dangerously in the direction of our little secret.

"Mick, this makes no sense," Beth raised her voice again, but the look Mick threw at her was so dark that even she fell silent again shocked.

"With… with people who work for me," Alejandro stammered and I could see he was thinking the exact same thing I was and yet didn't dare oppose Mick's will.

"What people?" Mick probed immediately, and the line between his brows had become dangerously deep. "And why are _you_ planning missions with the others?"

"I… I…" Alejandro stopped. What could he say? It was already too late. Even if the information he offered was vague, Mick was smart enough to draw the right conclusions and that's exactly what he did, I could see it, on not only his face, his widening eyes and the open mouth, but also feel it. Again there was this crackling energy that conveyed his shock, his disbelief and his deep displeasure to me and finally caused him to take another step towards Alejandro, who immediately backed away from him.

"Did you belong to them?" Mick's voice almost cracked and the anger that pushed in front of all his other feelings, made it almost look as if his eyes started to glow from within. "Did you at some point belong to the Legion?"

Alejandro was paralyzed, only looked at Mick mutely but he couldn't prevent his fear and remorse from becoming visible in his face immediately. Even Mick's expression changed, took on something clearly desperate. "Say _no_!" he uttered pressing, almost pleadingly. "Just say _no_!"

I was hoping to God that he did, that he would lie one last time, for Mick's sake, and ward off the disaster we were all heading for. But he didn't, he just couldn't lie to Mick any longer.

Tears shot into our old friend's eyes as he shook his head, silently asking for Mick's forgiveness. But that was too much for Mick. With one step he was on Alejandro and seized him by the collar of his shirt to pull him up to him.

"YOU HAVE TO SAY _NO_!" he shouted in his face and shook the scared man so ruthlessly that I was afraid I'd soon hear the breaking of his neck. Guillermo and I reacted at almost the same time and in no time were with the two, grabbed for Mick to pull him away from Alejandro. But it wasn't that easy - not with such a strong vampire as Mick. Guillermo went flying a split second later towards the back of the room and slid another good piece across the floor. I myself was now grabbed by the throat, and Mick rammed my back painfully up against the nearest wall. I gasped for air for a moment - not only because the impact had been so hard but also because Mick had leaned with all his might against me, nearly crushing my larynx and trachea with his firm grip. I could now see in his white colored eyes that he knew I had been informed of Alejandro's work within the Legion, that I had betrayed and deceived him - and that was the last straw, he'd lost his temper completely.

"Mick! What are you doing?" I heard Beth scream while my fingers tried to free his from my neck to at least say something to explain my behavior. But Mick was just too strong and too angry, just squeezed even harder with bared teeth.

"It's not Josef's fault! Just mine," I heard Alejandro cry in horror as I watched him grab Mick's shoulder, tried to warn him not to, but my vocal cords were suffering too much under Mick's vice like grip. Only seconds later I was free, gasping for air and stumbled against the dresser, holding on to it thankfully, because my legs were much too wobbly to support my weight alone. I had no power left to stop Mick and now could only watch as Alejandro flew across the room, banged his head against a cupboard and then went to the ground with a loud thud. The smell of fresh blood rushed to my nose, telling me he had been seriously injured, but Mick didn't seem to care. He was now so consumed with his rage, that he pursued the poor man instantly. Guillermo bravely threw himself in his way and I stumbled after him, because I knew that Alejandro would not survive another attack by Mick. He was already having a great deal of difficulty getting up again. But Guillermo was again thrown like a rag doll to the side and Logan, who had come from the other side, found himself in a distant corner of the living room only a split second later. I knew I wouldn't reach Mick in time. It was Beth, who was suddenly pulling at Mick's arm, trying to turn him around and I could see the huge disaster that was just waiting to happen when Mick turned around to her with gnashing teeth and his body tense, preparing to free himself with a vengeance from her. A delicate woman like her certainly wouldn't survive such a blow unscathed - this was immediately clear to me and I prepared to jump forward, to somehow catch her and prevent her from receiving serious injuries. But it hadn't been necessary, as Mick paused at once, stopped, before she could even guess what he had wanted to do. The beast had at once recognized, whom it had in front of it, and - what was more important - what harm it could cause her, and froze, breathing hard and visibly struggling with itself. Actually we all did because no one had expected that this petite woman could stop the beast inside Mick and no one really wanted to disturb the connection between Mick and her that had saved us so surprisingly from the worse.

"Alejandro is now one of us, Mick, that's all that matters," Beth produced very lowly Breathing heavily, she doggedly held eye contact with him, although her heart was racing and told us all, how great her fear was as well. "He regrets his foolish behavior and has been doing everything in his power to help us. He loves you and Josef genuinely and would never betray you! You simply have to believe me and him!"

Mick's chest expanded with a deep, uncontrolled breath and again this strenuous twitching of his cheek muscles under the skin betrayed how hard it was for him to pull himself together.

"No one here wants to do evil to us," Beth continued. "We are all just over-excited and exhausted. And we really need to rest first before we can resolve _any_ problems between us - okay?"

Mick only breathed deeply in and out for a while and I wasn't so sure if he had actually understood Beth at all. But then he nodded, still quite tense.

Beth looked at him for a long moment, moved, anxious and scrutinizing. Then she inhaled. "Okay… Frank?" She didn't even turn to the frightened looking professor, but only stretched out a hand imploringly in his direction. "Give me one of the envelopes!"

The professor, who had previously only sat, stunned, had in fact now moved, was soon at the dresser, took an envelope and then approached Beth and Mick far more cautiously.

"You… you want to leave with him alone?" he asked with great concern in his voice when he handed her the envelope and my stomach clenched. I shook my head at Beth, but she disagreed, and nodded in agreement.

"Beth, this…" I began, but she gave me an admonishing glance that told me clearly: 'I know what I'm doing'. Actually I wanted to contradict her, but a renewed flash of unbridled rage in Mick's vampire eyes as he watched Guillermo help Alejandro stand up, held me back. There was no way Mick could stay here right now in any case - Beth was right. Right now she was probably the _only_ person he didn't consider an enemy, and he certainly wasn't going to turn back in our presence, let alone calm down. They _had_ to leave. So I nodded with a small sigh.

"Mick," she placed a hand on his cheek, in doing so forced him to avert his eyes from Alejandro and look at her again. "We go now. Okay?"

She didn't even wait for confirmation to her question, just turned him around with difficulty, and pushed him towards the exit. Mick balked against this a little, again and again threw suspicious glances over his shoulder at us, but eventually she had shooed him out of the door, leaving all of us behind with our disbelief and our concerns about both of them.

I couldn't help it - I just had to follow them, against all reason. My concern for Beth was just too great. Perhaps she _had_ tamed the vampire, and even had him under control, but Mick the human could also be danger for her. He certainly wouldn't harm her physically, but mentally you could hurt someone just as badly, enough that it could be hard to recover from. And something deep inside me told me that the human Mick was currently more dangerous for Beth's soul than Mick the vampire was.

As I stepped out on the porch, the two of them were already on their way over to the car and I only needed to examine Mick briefly, his gait, his posture, the grimness that spoke from each of his movements, to know that he had already turned back. He was no longer pushed forward by Beth, but walked ahead of her.

"Beth!" I quickly called, before she could enter on the driver's side of the car and she turned to me in surprise. I caught up to her quickly under Mick's suspicious, angry glare, just tried to ignore him and quickly pulled a cell phone out of my pocket.

"Take this," I said and pressed it into her hand, looking at her intently. "If something happens, call me - no matter when."

I waited until she nodded and gave me a little smile, then I lifted my gaze and looked at Mick, who had already opened the passenger door but had not yet been able to bring himself to enter the car. His anger with me and his mistrust regarding Beth's and my relationship had not disappeared yet and as a consequence, hostility was the expression in his eyes.

"We still need to straighten this out between us, Mick," I said in an unintended strict tone.

My friend looked at me coolly for a few more seconds and then wordlessly got in the car. Beth gave me an apologetic smile, but I waved her off before she could say something about it.

"Rest and tomorrow things will look quite different," I said to her, sounding more optimistic than I actually was. She nodded, put the phone into the pocket of her jacket and then got into the car as well. She didn't feel that easy about being alone with Mick, I could feel it, but for the moment, no one had a better solution and we all had to accept this for now.

My heart beat a little faster and the queasy feeling in my stomach was reinforced when Beth started the engine and drove off. Inwardly I prayed that everything would be fine, that Mick would finally calm down and not balked at Beth's closeness and hurt her and allow it to happen that they gave each other the warmth and strength each of them needed so much. Only then would it be possible for all of us to meet again tomorrow and together built up a strong but also reasonable opposition to Gabriel. But if Mick didn't get a grip on himself again… actually I didn't even want to think about that possibility. His outburst had really scared me. But it also had had a positive effect: Josef Kostan had finally woken up - the Josef Kostan, who took his fate and that of his friends into his own hands and finally became active again. Gabriel had wielded the scepter of power long enough in this war. His temporary departure from our little group had indeed made us leaderless for the moment, but this wouldn't last long. I would take care of that. It was time for me to resume my old role, to once again fight for goals_ I_ thought were right. And it was best to start this immediately!


	65. Torn

_Hey there! Here I am with the next chapter and I must admit that it was one of the most difficult to write. Not because it didn't flow – it did, even very well – but because of the things Mick is saying to Beth and doing. Won't tell anything more but please don't start to hate him. This had to happen I think and I promise everything will get better soon._

_And a big thank you to all of my dear review writers. My muse is hardworking at the moment – and you are the reason for this. Feel hugged! I will be back next Saturday. Have a great weekend and it would be sooo nice, if you leave me a little comment for I really want to know, what you think about this chapter! Best wishes, yours Jenna_

_P.S. The second part of the chapter was strongly influenced by the wonderful and so fitting song 'Pieces' by Red. If this was a movie I would play it the moment when Beth walks up the stairs again._

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_Translated by Jenna/Lilith_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

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**T****orn**

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"_Sometimes tears can free you because they are able to flow forever, even if all feelings are frozen long since. The flow is it, that keeps us alive and sometimes it may consist of many tears!"_

_Petra Speth_

* * *

So many times in his life Mick had had to struggle with anxiety, with fears of all kinds: fear of other people, fear of loss, fear of his own feelings, even the fear of death. He had suffered through that now so often he was almost used to it - especially now after this year spent in the laboratories of the Legion with this constant life-and-death struggle. The fear that was now pressing in on him was in some ways familiar to him as well, but it was stronger than usual, and grew with every minute, every passing second: the fear of himself, of what he had become and of the animal that lay dormant deep within him. The first time he had felt this way was when Coraline turned him into a vampire, when he had felt this new animal side of himself. But with his progress in understanding it, and the control he gained little by little over himself, it had become more tolerable.

His hybrid-existence and the emergence of the uncontrollable beast associated with it, had brought all that fear back - stronger than ever before, had almost pushed him into despair, with the wish to be locked away and never ever let out again to protect the people he loved from himself. Beth had been able to reassure him and Gabriel had showed him that with training he could control the animal within him. But his fear had not been completely quelled by this. Too often the beast had slipped out in recent weeks, had too often caused him to worry about whether he could get himself back under control - even today. But if he was honest, it wasn't the human in him that worked this miracle, but his cool, vampiric side, which was capable of turning off all of his feelings. It was exactly this side of him now that frightened Mick once again, because it had taken control of his body, to protect him from all the confused and painful emotions, basically to protect him from losing his mind - but with that, it also brought along something else he feared: Emptiness. A void that, far too quickly, spread throughout his whole being, making him feel as if he weren't himself anymore, not a part of this life, as if he were watching his own actions from the outside. It felt as if a stranger had taken over his body and reduced him to a helpless spectator, making him watch as this stranger continuously hurt the woman he loved so much, who was determined to help him with all her might.

Mick had been silent during the short ride to their overnight accommodations in a new family estate and at first Beth had left him alone, probably to give him time to calm down again. She had not known that this had already happened by the time he had climbed into the car. Because the stranger, this other side, this third side of his being had already taken the lead, the one who didn't care, to whom any feeling whether positive or negative was a threat, who tried to suppress them with all his power. Only _he_ was able to prevent Mick from becoming a dangerous lunatic or collapsing when everything became too much for him and the panic flared up again. He was the lifeline that had kept him from a total crash; allowed him to continue to function. And this time he had appeared just in time to prevent Beth from tearing down his walls once again, and letting him completely break down.

There had been a moment outside on the porch, a moment in which he had looked into her eyes and his need to open up to her, to reveal to her all his confused feelings, his anxieties and fears, which had grown so immense he could hardly breathe at the time. She had held his gaze, moved, and full of compassion, touched his arm and gave him to understand that she would be there for him, would listen to him when they were alone and his longing to pull her into his arms, to cling to her and finally let go, had been too much to bear anymore. But he had pulled himself together again, had instead, consciously reached out for his cool, vampiric side and had opened all doors to it - doors he could now no longer lock anymore. Instead, this stranger had started to act on its own, had merged with his body and soul, had bound and gagged all his other sides along with their fears and concerns, and thus rendered them useless.

Beth had noticed the change in him, just as Josef had, but she kept quiet and calm, had only spoken the bare essentials to him and even now, here in this fresh, newly furnished apartment, had left him alone for now. He knew it wouldn't stay that way for long, and he dreaded the moment she decided to wage the struggle with him. He feared that in the state he was currently in, he would indeed try to carry out his old plan - to destroy his relationship with Beth, not only to protect _her _and push her back into a normal life, but also to protect himself from a total collapse that was closer than it had ever been before. He couldn't afford to break down, not after he had freaked out like he did with his friends, attacking and injuring them. No one knew how dangerous he could become with a complete loss of control. And most definitely it shouldn't happen while he was alone with Beth. Unfortunately, she was precisely the person who could bring about the collapse of the last of his walls. He could not allow that, could not allow that to happen…

Mick caught himself suspiciously following Beth's every move with his eyes. She had walked into the bedroom to view it and now sought the bathroom, which she soon found and disappeared into it. She made Mick totally antsy in doing so and he unconsciously moved in that direction until she appeared again, and then stopped in front of him undecided, clinging onto the keys to their new dwelling a little uneasily.

"It looks quite nice, doesn't it?" she announced her verdict on the apartment and tried on a smile that didn't work so well. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards a little, but her eyes still showed great concern and now a little discomfort as well.

Mick breathed in audibly through his nose and then turned away from her with a half-hearted nod, now acting as if he too were thoroughly looking over their home. A frustrated sound from Beth's direction led him to turn to her against his will again. She had closed her eyes and was lifting her eyelids again, giving a slight shake of her head that fit perfectly with the resignation in her eyes.

"How long do you intend to go on like this Mick," she asked him directly and put her hand to her hip.

He avoided her eyes, gritted his teeth and looked at the couch to his left, as if there were currently nothing more interesting in the world.

"We need to start talking to each other again, about everything," Beth continued after a brief moment of silence between them. "Otherwise it will only get worse. And you need to talk to Josef, before Gabriel gets back. You have to clear things up between you two."

Mick gave an angry laugh. "I don't _have_ to do anything," he uttered. "And I'm certainly not speaking with Josef! The man lies just opening his mouth!"

Beth immediately shook her head. "That's not true and you know it. Maybe he hasn't always kept you informed abouteverything, but he hasn't continually lied to you…"

"He knew about Alejandro!" Mick cut her off roughly. "He… he knew he belonged to the Legion once, even _before_ I knew this organization existed!"

Beth didn't say anything right away, even though Mick felt certain she wanted to. But she probably didn't want to choose the wrong words, didn't want to further upset him - because she had actually already succeeded in that. Not even his cold side could defend itself against her attacks on his feelings.

"Well, in that regard, he may have made a mistake. He kept something secret from you that you really needed to know about," she said, now much softer. "But who doesn't? You… you didn't tell me about Marisa and Guillermo either."

Mick sucked in his breath for a moment and his stomach clenched unpleasantly – how quickly Beth could throw him off guard, could reach his human side that was so susceptible to her. "You… you know about that?" he stammered affected.

She nodded, went up a little closer to him. She didn't look angry, not even vexed, just concerned and deeply moved. "You should have told me, Mick. I… I would have understood some things so much better."

Mick dared to breathe out only now, ran one hand over his face and turned away from Beth. He just couldn't be that close to her right now, not with these painful memories and feelings radiating out in waves from his interior. Where had the vampire who was above it all gone? His walls started to waver again dangerously.

"You already told me that from time to time you had taken a Freshie as well," he heard her say, and he turned back around to her, so suddenly that Beth even winced a little.

"She wasn't just some Freshie to me, Beth," he uttered, knowing he was hurting her in doing so. "She… she meant something to me!" He looked past her, searching for the right words. "And if I had not drunk her blood, if I had not used her like that… she would probably still be alive."

"You don't know this," Beth protested hastily. "She just tangled with the wrong people and you…you saved her brother in the end. You've made up for it…"

"You can't make up for the death of a human!" Mick flared up indignantly. "There's nothing in this world that can do that! And Guillermo…" He had to stop because the memories now came rushing back with such a vengeance it was really difficult for him to think.

_Guillermo, lying in his own blood next to him on the floor, reaching out for him with a shaking hand, begging him with this pain in his eyes for the only favor Mick had never wanted to do for anyone._

"He had lost his sister because of me and he… he would have died because of my need for revenge and my own rash behavior - I owed it to him." It had taken all of Micks' strength to say this. He had not ever wanted to deal with this black day in his life again - just as Guillermo. It had worked so well between them. They had both buried this terrible incident, had never wanted to talk about it again. And now the memories were suddenly back, even pushed between him and Beth. He didn't want to talk about it and yet he did, feeling like he had to explain himself somehow. "Basically, he somewhat turned himself and if anyone ever tells you otherwise, he's lying. Except for us, no one else left the room alive where the transformation took place. It was anything but an optimal turning… the things that happened there…" There she was - the woman, Guillermo's first victim. She was back, haunting Mick, him, the one who hadn't been able to help, hadn't been able to let her die in peace. Mick shook his head, pushed back the images, the memories of the horror in this woman's eyes with a vengeance. He couldn't talk about it. "I… I don't want this…"

"What do you not want?" Beth now additionally had to dig deeper.

"To talk about it! Why… why do you always insist we have to talk about everything?" He knew himself that he sounded like a defiant child, but everything inside him struggled against Beth's attempt to delve deeper into him, to approach the things he previously could only hold inside of him with difficulty. He was not allowed to truly open up. He wasn't strong enough at this moment to reveal these things, these feelings. He couldn't break down… simply couldn't, not as long as there was this war, as long as he had to protect Beth. He had to stop her – somehow…

"Because it's important, Mick," she said softly now, with this compassion and this understanding for him in her expressive eyes. "Because it will do you good."

Oh, how he longed to give in to her, to follow trusting her lead, and at the same time his fear of that, so desperately pushing its way inside of him, grew even more… so many horrible emotions. He couldn't allow them to come out, were not allowed to…

"Do me good?" It burst out of him now, almost aggressively. "Do I look as if I feel well with your digging around in my past?" He immediately felt that his choice of words had hurt her. Part of him felt the pain, wanted to immediately apologize, take her in his arms and stop fighting against her, but his fear of loosing control was stronger, let the cold vampire inside once again regain its strength. Maybe she'd leave him alone if he further hurt her. And hadn't he intended to get her to hate him, to leave him and go to safety anyway? Wasn't that now, more necessary than ever, after this outburst against Alejandro and Josef? He had to protect her from the sick lunatic inside him, he couldn't continue to resist her in this proximity anymore…

"There are things that don't need to be dug up," he continued enraged. "Some things are best forgotten and buried."

"Not if they continue to gnaw at you inside, to fester there and poison your soul, Mick!" Beth argued bravely. "And there are some things I _need_ to know only because I can then fully understand you."

"The thing with Marisa happened _before_ I saved you," he gave back upset. "And you understood me without knowing about it!"

"Yes, but back then we were not yet in relationship, Mick," Beth replied quite upset as well. "When you start a relationship, you also begin to talk about things in your life that weren't so pleasant, but that still changed you somehow. This is what building a relationship is about, what makes relationships possible at all. Or maybe you never did this with Coraline, maybe you both had your secrets from each other, and in the end it didn't work out between you!"

"Keep my relationship with Coraline out of this, Beth," Mick growled angrily at her now. "You have no idea how it was between us and it certainly has nothing to do with us!"

"It probably _does_," she contradicted him with vigor. "You can also learn from the mistakes of others, Mick. And the thing with Marisa is as important for me as… as…" She broke off, but he knew exactly what she had wanted to say.

"… what was done to me in the lab," he said through gritted teeth, not because he was mad at her, but because he was gripped by another wave of fear and he had great difficulty keeping his memories under tight wraps with this emotional pressure. "Why is this so important? They did experiments on me, okay? For a whole year, until at some point Gallagher got the idea to torture me more thoroughly. Is that good enough? Want more details?"

Beth had long since begun to shake her head and the look in her eyes had quickly changed from shock to torment.

"Is this what you want?" he still probed. "What details do you need Beth? The ones about the experiments that were done on me or the ones about Gallagher's favorite method of torture. What do you need to know? _What_? Do you want to know how often they broke my bones, what equipment they used to cut into my flesh with and how deep? How it feels when they burn your skin or run hundreds of volts of electricity through your body? Is _this_ what you need to know to understand me better?"

"Stop it!" it now burst out of Beth and she was breathing in, trembling, could not hide how deeply his words had affected her. "It's not about this, Mick!"

He had to breathe deeply in and out a couple of times to get himself back under control, to push back these terrible memories. "What then?" He brought out with a slightly shaky voice and crossed his arms over his chest, trying to somehow build a physically barrier between himself and Beth.

"I only want you to finally realize that you can talk to me about_ anything_," she said again more calmly, but still very concerned. "I want you to know I'm here for you, that I can support you when these things inside you come up again and that I'll always listen to you, no matter how cruel the things are you're telling me. Because someday you _will_ have to face what happened to you. Eventually, it will surface by itself, and give you a harder time than you might suspect, because you've overlooked something important in your recent processing of all these terrible events, Mick. You've forgotten to mourn the loss of your old identity, your old life; you've forgotten how to cry for yourself. And without that, you'll never really be able to accept your new life."

Mick shook his head vehemently, trying to shake off this tremendous urge to open up, to give in to Beth, trying to push back the burning in his eyes and tingling in his nose and, above all, this tightness in his chest.

'Fight her! Push her away - as far away as possible! She ruins everything! It will be better for you both that way! It's too dangerous for her if you lose control. You're dangerous to _all _who's around you. You've just seen that again!' the cold vampiric side chided him as his desperate human side strove with all its might to take hold of his body and turn to Beth, wanting to finally give in to her.

'She can free you, she _can_! Trust her!' he begged him. '_She_'s the way out of this dark hole into a new and better life. Don't push her away. Together you can do it!'

"Life always has its bad sides, forces us to experience things we desperately want to forget," she continued. "This is normal and good. But to not talk about them at all, to turn them into secrets, leads to nothing but mistrust and anger on the part of those who love you! And I don't want this for our relationship! I don't want anymore lies and secrets between us."

There it was the keyword he'd been waiting for, that could save him from her, from loosing control. "Yeah?" Mick gave back almost warily, leaning provokingly towards her, despising himself for his behavior. "So this means you have no secrets from me?"

She stopped and blinked, confused, but he immediately saw her discomfort, the slight horror in her eyes. He waited a moment, waited for the lie that would play into the evil stranger's hands. But she didn't do it.

"I wish it weren't true," she finally responded with a hoarse voice, and Mick's heart cramped painfully, as he noticed the first tears begin to glisten in her eyes. "I don't know why and when we stopped talking with each other, stopped telling each other what's going on inside us. But I don't want to go on like that anymore. I want to tell you everything - _everything_ and…"

"And the thing with Gabriel?" the stranger just interrupted her, now really being unfair, fed by his almost pathological jealousy and the images of Gabriel's memory that didn't want to let go of him. "Did you want to talk to me about this as well, about the fact that you allowed him to drink your blood?"

Beth compressed her lips, blinked against her tears and nodded. "I just wanted to know what was happening to me," she uttered barely audible, and with genuine regret in her voice, and the human in Mick, the side of him that loved her so much, forgave her instantly, could hardly bear to see her suffer so.

"And why couldn't you talk to me about that earlier?" the cold vampire probed further, mercilessly, and even Mick was terrified of his own cruelty. And yet he didn't stop. "Why have you made such a secret of it if it was so harmless?" His heart began to beat faster and the pressure in his stomach increased. He knew full well that he was going too far, but he couldn't stop… just couldn't…

"I guess _he_ was willingly given you something I've always denied you, what I'm not ready to give to you. Was it good?" He raised his eyebrows provocatively, stood up to the shock, the deeply hurt expression in her eyes with great difficulty. "Or is it better with Josef? You became so close to each other in my absence and one year of abstinence _would_ be a little too much to ask for, wouldn't it?"

Mick saw it coming. He knew what she would do even before she lifted her hand, but he didn't fend her off, stood there and let it happen that her hand struck his cheek with such force that he even staggered slightly aside. The pain felt good, felt so right, was so necessary and yet he took a menacing step towards Beth, who was completely paralyzed with fear because of her actions, and only minimally backed away from him. For a moment they only stared at each other, Beth still shocked and terribly hurt and he with played anger in his eyes, while his soul writhed and squirmed, screamed out loud to leave her alone, to not be so cruel to her anymore. But he had to… _had_ to… He had seen Laelia in Gabriel's arms and Sarah in Josef's, both dying because of their love for a vampire. It could not go well and he would not sacrifice her, would not allow her to fall to the same fate as these two women.

"What… what are you doing, Mick?" Beth brought forth now stunned, in a trembling voice, and the first tears broke away from her lashes, rolled down her cheeks, across her trembling chin. "That… that's not me… Why are you breaking us apart like this?"

"I don't break us," he replied quietly and felt the power that he needed to stay hard and cold, slowly fade away under the protest of his other sides, his own pain and his dismay about his behavior. "_I am _broken. I didn't want to admit it to myself. But I know now. I will never be the Mick St. John you once fell in love with again, Beth." He swallowed hard, fought against the lump in his throat, against the cramping in his stomach and the panic that wanted to seize him. "I will never again be the guardian angel who has given you so much security. I can't fill that role anymore…"

"But I don't demand this from you, Mick!" Beth uttered in a choked voice and blinked against her tears. "_I_ want to help _you_! _I_ will protect _you_!"

"It's too late for that!" Mick now blurted out. Why did she have to keep on fighting? Why couldn't she just go so he wouldn't keep hurting her so deeply? "You can not save me, Beth! You and Josef - you came too late. I'm not myself anymore. I'm deader and more uncontrollable than I ever was before! And I'm… I'm dangerous, Beth. For all those who are close to me. Even for you. Precisely for you! For I…" He breathed deeply in and out because his chest felt so terribly tight, because everything inside him started to hurt and even the beast began to rage, tried to prevent him from finishing this sentence, from voicing this lie that would destroy everything – Beth's love for him, their relationship, his whole world. But the monster was too weak. "I can't stand your love anymore. You… _you_ are the one driving me further into madness, with your ideas of a better life, with your belief that I'm still a good person and can find my way back to myself. Your presence, your hopes are making me crazy. I… I cannot bear this any longer, Beth. And if you're not… not completely blind, then you'll see that too, then you'll know what you have to do… So do it, before I force you to, before I become really dangerous for you. Get out of my life! Please!"

Beth had become ashen; she was breathing heavily, wasn't able to breathe properly anymore, while the tears now shot with might and main into her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She shook her head with a trembling chin, totally distraught and so deeply hurt that she wouldn't again recover so easily, and the sight of her so upset, made something break inside him, pressed his whole interior together painfully and gave him the feeling that he'd now completely become the monster he had always fought so hard against. But he still said nothing; just waited for her response, waited for her to do the one thing he had always feared the most. And so it happened - without a word, fast, incredibly painful. She turned around and stormed out of the room, out of the apartment out of his life - forever.

For a moment Mick couldn't breathe, his legs suddenly became so shaky that he doubled up, had to hold on to the dresser beside him to keep from falling to his knees. He felt as if an iron claw had pierced through his chest, grabbed his heart and rip it out, taking all his energies, all the positive feelings, all the hope along with it and left him alone in a black void filled with only painful memories and feelings.

She was gone, really gone… and she wouldn't be coming back, not after all these things, these lies he had told her, these wounds he had inflicted on her soul… It was good that way… was the right thing to do. She would now be able to step back into life, back into the light, could finally escape the darkness that encompassed his life.

'That's what you wanted. That's it,' his subconscious mind whispered gleefully to him. 'Actually you should be happy. Your plan worked and now she's safe. Hold on to this - come on!'

He couldn't. There was only emptiness around him, nothing he could hold on to that would help him get back on his feet. Without Beth there was no light, no hope. Without Beth there was no sense in continuing to fight, to go on living anymore. Over, everything was over. Mick St. John was dead.

He took a few wavering steps across the room, fought against the whistling in his head, the pressure in his chest, still fighting for air because it was so terribly hard for him to breath, and eventually he had to support himself against the wall, because his legs still couldn't carry all his weight alone. His heart was racing and a dangerous mix of self-hatred, panic and desperation surged through his interior. His body felt so tightly stretched, was tortured by such an enormous pressure from within, he had the feeling his skin would burst at any moment. Somewhere close to him, he noticed a figure and looked up, looking into his own reflection, at his own hideous face, met his own worst enemy… He'd taken everything away – everything; any joy there had still been in his life, any feeling of security and belonging… he had taken away his Beth, had hurt her so much, this monster, this despicable creature…

Mick clenched his fist, pressed his teeth together so tightly that a crunching noise was heard and then he struck with all the strength he still possessed, smashing this vision, making the glass shards fly towards and past him, crushed the monster into a thousand pieces, not even feeling the deep cuts left behind on his fist. And even when the glass was gone and the frame of the mirror fell from the wall, he didn't stop, because with each stroke the pressure inside him seemed to ease a little more, almost seemed to be pulled from off his body from the blood red coloring left behind in the deep dents in the wall, until this pressure was gone. Emptiness was all that was left, black, numbing emptiness… and a heat in his trembling body, the throbbing of his own pulse…

Mick stopped breathing heavily; let his bleeding hand fall to his side for a moment, watching indifferently as the red life giving blood dripped onto the bright floor at his feet. So meaningless… it was all so meaningless… empty… and this heat… He looked up, looked over to the bathroom. Cold water that was what he needed now. He had to cool down, wash away all that was left of his old life, wash away all the memories, the bad ones, the good ones, and the blood. The blood had to be washed away, this disgusting, so precious blood that everyone wanted so badly. He didn't want to see it or feel it pulsing through his veins anymore. He would simply wash it away, away from his body, from his heart, from his sick mind – all, all the better. So that no one could lay their hands on it again. And the void in him would be gone as well. Everything would be gone… including himself… one less monster in this world…

* * *

Beth had never felt such pain, such as the pain that had seized her now - so breathtaking, so stunning, so deep. She felt as if she had lost everything that had ever meant anything to her in one fell swoop, as if someone had ripped her heart out of her chest alive and shredded it before her eyes. Her legs were heavy as lead, yet soft as pudding, and made it so incredibly hard to even move forward. Added to this, she could hardly see through the veil of tears running constantly, was struggling to breathe and her body was shaken violently by her own sobs. But it really didn't matter, for she didn't even know where to run to… this was completely foreign to her and for the first time since her fourth birthday, she felt defenseless against this world and completely alone. It almost felt as if a part of her had died, as if only a half of her was still here - and it was the most horrible feeling anyone could possibly have. It hurt so much… hurt terribly… these things Mick had said to her… nothing could have been more painful, could have hurt her as deep. And she had no strength to bear this kind of pain anymore. She could not fight for a relationship Mick did not want, that tormented him so much…

Another deep sob came from her throat and she staggered to the side, held fast to what looked like a jungle gym. She had probably stumbled into the small playground, which was part of the settlement they had caught a short glimpse of on their arrival. A newly built housing complex for families… families with children… The pain now burned even stronger in her chest, caused her body to quake under more desperate sobs. She couldn't endure this alone… just couldn't… her trembling fingers sought her pocket, felt for the phone Josef had given her, and pulled it out. She blinked away the tears as best she could, found only one stored number and dialed it.

After just a few seconds a worried "Yeah?" was heard at the other end of the line and instantly any self-control Beth might have had was gone. She wanted to say something but only sobs came from her lips and the tears were running again more quickly, as she almost clung to the phone, as if this small thing could give her the support she needed so much.

"Good God, Beth, what happened?" Josef sounded deeply concerned. "Did Mick do something to you? Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, tried to pull herself together, to at least be able to get out a few intelligible words. "Nn… no… I… Mick…" She breathed in and out haltingly. "It… it's… over…"

"What's over? Beth, where are you? I'll come and get you. Tell me where you are."

"Ou… outside."

"Outside the house? Where's Mick?"

"In… side…"

"Alone? What did he do?"

"Break… up…"

"He broke up with you?" One could hear he didn't believe this. "What nonsense! This…" Beth heard Josef inhale deeply. "This idiot, this…" She knew he was shaking his head, trying to gather himself. "But he didn't attack you?"

"No…" She ran the back of her hand shakily over her face. For a few heart beats, it was quiet at the other end of the line and Beth could almost feel Josef's concern grow.

"He wanted you to leave him?" was his next question.

Beth nodded. "Yes," she got out barely audibly and held the next sob back only with difficulty.

She heard Josef breathe in and out again. "Listen, Beth. I know what I'm about to ask from you is a lot, but you… you have to go back up there again. You have to go back to him!"

She shook her head almost in panic, even though she knew Josef couldn't see her. She couldn't do that, couldn't bear to see Mick now, couldn't expose herself to the cruelty of his words again. "I… I can't…"

"Beth, please!" Why was there now such desperation in Josef's voice? "Mick loves you to death - no matter what he just said to you. You are the meaning of his life… you _are_ his life. You must believe me! To lose you also means for him to lose his mental health."

She shook her head again, trying to keep Josef's words from reaching her - the pain was still too strong. And yet she felt a spark of concern for Mick glimmer inside her.

"He only did it to protect you, Beth," Josef added quickly. "He probably thinks he can push you out of this whole mess with the Legion by making you hate him. That he can save you this way. But he forgets that he himself will become so overwhelmed, that he's hurting himself so much that he'll break down and will no longer be able to stand up again after you're gone. And about the things he might have said…" Josef was looking for the right words. But he didn't need to anymore. He had long since reached her. His words made so much sense, defused bit by bit these terrible things Mick had said. It was just like him, fit so well with his recent behavior, his thinking and actions. And she had fallen for it, had been too unstrung and exhausted to see through it.

"Whatever it was – I'm sure he didn't mean it," her friend went on full of concern, and his fear for his best friend slowly transferred to Beth. Instinctively, she turned back to the house, looked with fear up to the apartment from which she had just come.

"I have no doubt he only wanted to get you to leave him," Josef said with such conviction in his voice that she simply _had_ to believe him. "And he's still not in his right mind yet. It's only been about two months since we freed him. How can he be expected to behave like a normal person under such stressful situations? You… you've even looked it up yourself, these behaviors traumatized people lean towards, Beth. Depression, personality changes, aggressive behavior, attachment disorders, dissociative disorders… weren't these the things you've read to me? And of course he's trying to hurt the people who mean the most to him. But basically, he's only harming himself. And what he has just done to_ you_ is only the beginning. Mick will go nuts without you, Beth. If he loses you, he loses himself, and he'll probably do something really stupid. He's always been much harder on himself than he has anyone else. He'll be that way now. You've got to go back up, Beth. At least until I get to you!"

This time she nodded, unseen by him, and hurried forward, now wiping tears from her face much more vigorously. Josef was right, Mick wasn't really sane and he couldn't be alone in this state - no matter how much he had hurt her, right now there was simply no one else who could take care of him.

"And you must never think that he doesn't love you, Beth," Josef continued now and her heart immediately contracted painfully, "for in my whole life I've _never_, _never_ known anyone who has loved someone as much as Mick loves you. You have to believe me! And we're talking about four hundred years of life experience!"

Beth inhaled haltingly and her stomach twisted. Suddenly there were Coraline's words in her ear: _"He can't live without you right now… If you die, he'll die with you… He needs you to find his way back in life…"_

Gabriel had said something similar as well and all of a sudden she also heard Mick's voice in her head, she heard the words he had whispered into her ear a few days ago, after her first serious crisis: _"__No matter what happens… no matter how strange and terrible I sometimes behave… You must never believe that I don't love you, because if there is anything that will always be there, then it's my love for you."_

She had felt that night that his words had come from deep within him. They hadn't been a lie, a mistake. Mick loved her and whatever had happened up there with him, it hadn't been him who had spoken out and hurt her so much.

"Beth?" Josef's voice sounded a little pleading, but she could hear he was moving, was really on his way to her and this gave her strength.

"Yes… I… I'll go up again," she replied this time much firmer.

Josef breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'll try to get to you as quickly as possible. And I'll take the phone along. You can reach me any time."

"O… okay," she brought out, somewhat out of breath, because she was now hurrying up the stairs to the apartment, dragging the house keys with numb fingers out of her pocket. She didn't even take time to really say good bye to Josef, simply cut the connection and put the phone back into her pocket. Her heart had already started to beat faster as she approached the house and it was now hardly controllable anymore. She had thought the pain had completely severed her connection to Mick, but now that she was closer to him, she knew this wasn't true anymore, she understood at once that a part of her pain, her deeply depressing feelings, the unbearable despair, had not come from within _her_, but from _him_. This feeling of having lost everything that made up her life, what made it all worth living , was mostly his, and it now ensured that this evil premonition, this fear, this deep concern was spreading inside her, making it even more difficult to breath and caused her stomach do small somersaults. As she reached the door her hands were shaking so badly she could hardly get the key into the keyhole. At the same time she reached out mentally for Mick, searching for his spirit, searching for his feelings. But there was nothing. Only a dark, lifeless, apathetic void… He had given up, had ceased to struggle, tried to escape from life.

Beth opened the door and didn't even bother to close it behind her. Panic had gripped her, made her frantic and nervous. Something was wrong - she simply felt this.

"Mick!" she cried out in a trembling voice and her eyes flew tormented through the living room, noticed the strange, reddish holes not far from her in one of the walls, the remains of a mirror, the shards of glass on the ground. She ran towards them and stopped there in horror with bated breath. Blood - large and small spots on the bright floor and splashes distributed over a large area on the wall… Oh God!

Beth's heart was not only beating faster by now, it was racing and her whole innards cramped painfully under the weight of her anxiety and worry. "Mick?" She cried out again, followed the trail of blood drops with a tightening throat, over to the bathroom of the apartment.

'Please don't… please don't,' a voice pleaded deep inside her as she stopped just outside the door preparing for the worst, because from the interior she could hear the noise of the shower. 'Don't do this to me, Mick… don't do this to me.'

Her throat constricted and the fear tightened her chest, let her feel the rapid beating of her heart much too clearly, as she pressed her fingertips against the door and in doing so opened it far enough to take a good look into the bathroom. She held her breath once again, now feeling the pounding of her heart even in her temples. Mick was sitting in full gear in the bathtub, with a completely absent expression on his face and letting the cold water of the shower rain down on him. He didn't seem to notice that she was back again, was completely absorbed in his dark world of pain, despair and hopelessness, this she could feel now. He was out of it - physically and mentally, was in the process of dying emotionally and it almost tore Beth apart to see him like this.

Mick looked up at her now, had finally perceived her and Beth's own pain immediately vanished. It was a broken man who looked at her, a man who had completely lost his will to live and was just waiting for death. And yet something in his eyes lit up when he recognized her and even though it was only very weak, Beth felt immediately what it was: longing and deep love. And all of a sudden she knew for sure that all his hurtful words had been nothing but a lie, a lie to finally give her the protection, in his eyes, he owed her.

Beth pressed her lips together, and suppressed a sob, pushed back her tears as she set into motion, rushing up to him.

He shook his head dully, uttered a barely audible "No", in which so much desperation was heard, that Beth knew that Josef had been right with his theory. And Mick's next words confirmed this theory once again: "You have to… you have to leave… You shouldn't… be here…"

She gave no heed to his words, simply leaned over him and turned off the shower. Her eyes fell on his hand, the deep, still heavily bleeding cuts that ran over his fingers, the back of his hand and his wrist and her innards contracted once more. She reached for a towel that hung near her and grabbed his wrist, carefully wrapping the towel around his injuries in order to stop the bleeding.

"No… don't… don't do that," Mick uttered with a broken voice, but no longer had the power to really stop her, to struggle against her vicinity. He was trembling all over, not only because of the cold water that had driven into his body, but also because he fought with all his might against the feelings inside him, against his longing for her, against the approach of an emotional collapse.

"Don't… don't…, " Mick stammered on and tried to avoid her, but she held him and shook her head, wiping the tears from her cheeks angrily that had taken on a life of their own. "You have to go… you… you can't be here…"

Beth still didn't respond. Instead, she slipped out of her shoes and climbed into the bathtub to him.

Mick grimaced almost tortured, backed away from her as far as he could to the edge of the tub. "Beth… don't… don't do this. Don't… don't do this to me…" The sound of this pitiful plea and the desperation in his voice caused a painful drawing in her chest, made her eyes burn and her control crumble. However, she didn't respond to his entreaty. Instead, she sat down facing him, pushed her legs to either side his hips and slid so close to him that she was able to put her arms around him and wrap him in them tightly.

She felt him breathing in haltingly, felt him writhing, trying to escape from her embrace, but she held on to him for dear life, caressing his back. "Ssh ssh, every thing's going to be okay," she whispered in a choked voice and Mick doubled up in her arms as if he were in pain, fought so hard against what was now inevitable. "Everything will be well again… I'm here…"

Mick writhed even more. She felt his forehead pressing against her shoulder, his breath blowing intermittently across her cleavage. And she just held him tighter, showed him in doing so that she was strong enough to catch him, to carry him in his collapse. "Let go," she whispered, "let it go…"

He did, not voluntarily – this she felt - but he couldn't stop, couldn't fight it any longer. The sob that burst out of him came not only from his throat, it came from deep within, from his badly wounded soul and touched her so deeply that she had to compress her lips so as not to weep with him. It came from the memories he could no longer push back anymore, from the deep sadness over the loss of his old life, from his fear of what had become of him and from his terrible worries about the future and her. It shook his whole body; let him sink powerless against her. And Beth caught him, held him as tightly as she could, as more desperate, heart-wrenching sobs followed the first, and his arms reached for her, frantically searching for her support. He buried his face in the hollow between her neck and shoulder and he let go, let go at last, finally began to cry over all the terrible things that had happened to him, over his lost life and for himself. His whole body trembled and shook under the onslaught of emotions that finally burst forth with a vengeance from him and Beth still held him, caressing him reassuringly, cradled him in her arms. And even though she had started to cry herself, quietly, calmness and a deep sense of relief spread through her. Mick had finally opened up, had finally allowed her to support him and lead, to let her protect him and pass her strength and confidence on to him. It was so important for him, for them, for their relationship and it was the first step to a new beginning. She just knew this, felt it with every fiber of her being.


	66. Radical Change

_Here's the next chapter for all my dear readers! I so loved your great feedback and hug you all. This was so motivating and helpful and the muse is jumping up and down with new energy although I have so much to do in real life at the moment. But I could still write nine new pages for my next German chapter and that's because of the great feedback! I will post the next chapter as always at Saturday again and wish you much fun with this one. Have a great weekend and feel hugged again, yours Jenna._

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**R****adical change**

* * *

„_We see the flowers fade and the leaves fall, but we likewise see fruits ripen and new buds sprout. Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes."_

_Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_

* * *

"I knew this would happen… I just knew it…" Alejandro winced a bit when Frank dabbed the iodine-impregnated compress to the deep, bleeding wound on his forehead. "We should have told him a long time ago Josef. Actually, years ago…"

"Yes, we should have," I admitted grudgingly, and handed Frank another compress. "Above all, _I_ should have confided in him more. But that can't be changed now. What's more important at the moment is what we're going to do about this dilemma we find ourselves in - and I don't just mean Mick's outburst, but this whole standoff with Gabriel and the Legion."

Of course Alejandro pressed his lips together, and avoided my gaze. He knew full well that I, in order to come up with my own plans and win back the lead, needed information about Gabriel's plans and also knew _he_ was currently the only one who could provide me with it.

"This also means each one of us needs to start sharing all the information he's collected over the last few weeks with everyone else so we can give our own thought to the future," I still continued unabated.

"Hadn't we better wait until Gabriel and the others are here?" Guillermo asked, frowning, and almost backed away from me as I swung around to him on the couch.

"Absolutely not!" I growled at him and got up from my seat at Alejandro's side. "Basically, _he's _the one to blame for Mick's outburst, with all his secrecy! And to be honest,_ I'm_ just as fed up with it. Its obvious Gabriel's not going to change his tactics. He's either going to react with anger to our demands for more openness or just put us off again with more half-truths."

"But he's had this all under control quite well so far," Guillermo now stuttered a little intimidated. "He's such an old and experienced vampire and…"

"_Under control_?" I repeated flabbergasted. "Sarah is dead, Mick is nearing a total breakdown, we're fleeing from one shelter to another and some of us have barely made it out alive from all these missions. You call that 'having the situation well under control'?"

"It depends on what his personal goals are," Logan, who sat opposite me on a chair, added lowly.

I looked at him angrily, took a short breath, but didn't use it to voice what I really had on my tongue. I took a few seconds, and then nodded with a bitter smile on my lips. "You're right," I agreed with him. "Maybe this is all going perfectly for him; maybe it's exactly what he wanted and he's already on the home stretch. The point is: We just don't know. And we also don't know whether these great plans of Gabriel's include that we'll _all_ survive this, that the vampire community in L.A. will continue to exist and if indeed the Legion will be defeated. We're not even sure if in the end Gabriel's plans include returning Mick to the Legion to restore peace between vampires and humans!"

"I don't believe this," Alejandro now said, whose wound was finally cared for. "He really cares for Mick and wants to help him and Beth."

"How would you know?" I asked at once and the light lurking in my voice could not be misread.

"I… I just feel it," Alejandro replied, but I wouldn't let him off the hook so easily.

"What, while taking a whiz?" it burst out of me angrily and from Logan's direction a slight snort was heard. Alejandro however closed his eyes stricken and shook his head.

"There's just something in his eyes when he talks of Mick, in his voice and facial expressions and gestures," he tried to explain. "Sometimes there's something so loving, almost fatherly in his gaze - I can't really put it into words…" He let out a soft sigh. "I just think he's really trying to gradually eliminate all threats to Mick, to give him a life of peace in the end."

Now it was getting interesting. "In what way?" I pressed further.

Alejandro looked at me in silence for a few breaths, seemed to really be fighting with himself to reveal his information. His gaze even wandered over the faces of the others now. "You have to promise me that none of this will leave this room. You can tell Mick and Beth about it, but no one else – okay?"

The others nodded, partly confused, but also partly with the same curiosity in their eyes that was tingling in my interior.

Alejandro hesitated again, but was finally able to sweep the last of his trepidation with a little sigh out of the way. "As you've probably already noticed there are, besides yourselves and the different teams that belong to you, other troops that Gabriel uses every now and then for his missions. What neither you nor these other troops know is that some of their leaders are a part of a special team that has not only been mandated to eliminate the militant side of the Legion, but to also spread rumors and false information that will enrage the two parties and set them against each other. This is possible on the one hand through Gabriel's spies in the Legion - some of whom don't even realize they're dealing with vampires – their enemies so to speak – and on the other hand, through the traitors and… and… me."

"Through you?" I repeated somewhat surprised, picking the most startling information out of his words. "What do you mean?"

"Gabriel was never sure how many traitors there really were and how they were working together," Alejandro explained quickly, "but he soon found out that even _they_ don't know the other's identity so that they can't betray one another. The only certainty is that they are all somehow part of the _Cercle du Sang_ and not directly of the Legion, and that their collaboration doesn't always work so smoothly. Take Talbot for example, quite a lot went wrong with that meeting and there's even been some information passed to the wrong side of the Legion."

"Wait!" I lifted a hand commanding a stop, shook my head a little because an unbelievable thought came to mind. "Does this mean the _Cercle_ is manipulating the Legion with its information, and is using them against us, as they please?"

Alejandro nodded hesitantly. "At least that's what Gabriel suspects at the moment. He believes the _Cercle_ has infiltrated the Legion even more than we previously suspected and, above all, more than the Legion itself believes."

"This means all this time we've been fighting against the_ Cercle_ as well," I noted with horror. "Can these two even be separated anymore?"

"It's still possible," Alejandro said. "The _Cercle_ is certainly not making the decisions for the Legion – it's only influencing them through their intrigues and its handling of internal information. And we've been able to intrude on that flow of information the traitors have with the Cercle _and_ the Legion."

"Through you," I simply concluded convinced.

Alejandro nodded. "It wasn't difficult for me to step in as an alleged informant and spy. Since I have so much information about their methods and the construction of the Legion, everybody just assumed I was anyway. And so far there's been no real reason for me to appear in person, so I could anonymously contact one of the real traitors."

"Via Internet, you did this via Internet, didn't you?" Logan now asked excited and another nod from Alejandro confirmed his guess.

"Shit, I think I know who one of these traitors is," our little geek added in a slightly pained tone, and I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "It's Kurt, isn't it? I mean, he's pretty good in that area. He has the knowledge to hack into my laptop and get information unnoticed and we… we even worked together, closely, when Mick was still out of the country." He shook his head, shocked by this fact.

I blinked a few times, not because I couldn't believe what Logan was saying, but because I couldn't understand why I hadn't come to that conclusion much sooner myself. Kurt had indeed not been present when Mick was rescued – something had suddenly come up for him - but he had known, had known where we were about to go and may very well have informed the Legion about it. With Talbot's kidnapping and this mission with Ritchcroft he _had _been present, but had never put himself in any immediate danger. And – hell – _he'd_ been the one to fly Ritchcroft away by helicopter later, _the_ helicopter that Paul had then equipped with a transmitter by which the Legion found us in Mexico.

"I'm right, am I not?" Logan now turned excited to Alejandro who uttered another faint sigh.

"Yes, but you have to keep this strictly to yourselves. You can't let on that you know about this in his presence. We still need him to find the other, the more important traitor, because he's the one who has more direct contact with the _Cercle_ - maybe even with Nicolas."

I gritted my teeth. Just the idea alone of having to face this man and not be able to tear him to pieces immediately almost drove me mad. It would probably be best if his path and mine never crossed again.

"Well." I closed my eyes for a moment to repress my anger and hatred of Kurt again and to focus on more important issues. Then I looked back at Alejandro. "So somehow you've been able to inject yourself into this exchange of information…"

"Yes. To Kurt I'm the other traitor, the one superior to him, and to the other traitor, I'm Kurt. I discussed all the information I was given with Gabriel and then partially modified it and passed it on altered. Gabriel is a genius when it comes to influencing things that way, where no one notices it and as a result even makes his enemies work for him. It's really incredible!"

I could not really share in his enthusiasm, because I immediately realized that Gabriel had not only applied this tactic to our enemies, but had also certainly done this often enough with us as well. And another idea had shot glowing through my mind. "Does that also mean the information about Sarah was passed on intentionally?" I asked sharply and the apologetic expression that immediately appeared on Alejandro's face could not prevent the anger from flaring up in me again. Slowly, I could understand Mick's outburst. Some things were just too difficult to accept.

"We never would have allowed anything to happen to her," the Mexican said hastily. "I really wanted to prevent Kurt from getting this information the moment we noticed Logan had logged onto the Internet through an unprotected line, but Gabriel said we should wait and see what happens."

Oh, how I hated that old, manipulative vampire sometimes!

"He did however immediately send Graham and his team to her location in order to provide for her safety," Alejandro added quickly, as he seemed to feel that my anger and tension was heading towards a new peak. "And they would have taken her away in time if the Legion or the _Cercle_ had appeared. That you would learn of it and would get involved, none of us could have foreseen."

"And why the hell didn't Gabriel let us in on all this?" I snarled at Alejandro indignantly. "If he had, we might not have even driven over to her!"

Alejandro shrugged his shoulders a little hesitantly. "I don't know exactly, but I think he assumed there might have been some kind of dispute between you and the whole mission would have been endangered. At the time of your intervention we already knew it was the _Cercle_ that was interested in Sarah. And Gabriel didn't want to pass up this opportunity to catch a few of its members."

I let out a stunned laugh. "Well, he no doubt succeeded. And who cares that Sarah is dead now?"

Alejandro grimaced tortured. "I'm so sorry, Josef. None of us wanted that, you _have_ to believe me and…"

I raised a hand defensively and looked down to collect myself again, breathing deeply through my nose a few times. To let my grief for Sarah surface again would do no good in this situation. Just as it wasn't helpful to allow my anger with Gabriel to grow even more, and make working with him later quite impossible. I couldn't continue to allow myself to become so distracted by my emotions. If we were going to take our fate into our own hands again, it was more important to know all the facts, to be able to see through Gabriel's great plan and see to it that we protected ourselves better against his unilateral action. He was alone - we were many! Why shouldn't we be able to come up with a much better plan than he had?

"Exactly what strategy is Gabriel using with the traitors, the_ Cercle_ and the Legion?" I addressed Alejandro now far more composed.

"As far as _I_ understand it, he's trying to play the three opposing parties against one another so that in the end only one will remain, which he believes he can then negotiate with for the best conditions for us vampires and, above all, for Mick," the Mexican explained willingly. "He has, for example, in some of the attacks on stations of the Legion, left behind evidence that the_ Cercle_ was involved or that one side of the Legion has passed information on to us about the other. He handles the _Cercle_ the same way, by spreading rumors among their spies that the Legion is not sticking to their end of the bargain and is deceiving them. Only this has become a little harder to do now because we now know Nicolas himself hides within the Legion and is probably well informed about what's going on there - at least in the party he's hiding among."

"And do you know which party that is?" Guillermo asked further.

"We suspect he belongs to the research side, the one that held Mick captive, that Nicolas even initiated and drove forward," was the expected answer.

However, I was already a step ahead with my thoughts. "Okay, let's suppose Gabriel succeeds in this strategy - and as I understand it, proceeds to actively try and eliminate the militant side of the Legion and actually does wipe them out - what exactly does he want to negotiate with the other side about if they're really open for negotiations? And what exactly does he want to offer them?"

"Certainly not Mick," Alejandro repeated his previous statement. "He wouldn't do this."

I just looked at him silently, reading in his eyes that he simply didn't _want_ to think about something like this, but that was no guarantee, could not protect Mick if the time came.

"Well," Logan hesitantly piped up again. "Maybe it would help to know what Gabriel will tell Judge Ruthers. Perhaps he's even negotiated with him already."

I furrowed my brows a little confused, really had to work at sorting my thoughts again. I had almost forgotten about this fourth party in all the excitement and with all the new developments. "What are you driving at?"

"I think one could extrapolate from the information on that CD, many things with regard to Gabriel's grand plan," Logan explained. "I mean, he didn't make it for nothing. He must have had a good reason to want to involve this man and I think that _that _is definitely part of the master plan."

"Of course," I replied thoughtfully. "But as far as I know, this CD has already been passed on to Talbot."

"That's right," Logan said with a small smile. "But Mick first forced me to make a copy of it."

Silence. All eyes were directed at Logan full of amazement and stayed that way for a few seconds, without a single word being spoken.

"You… you have the contents of Gabriel's CD on your computer?" I repeated, not believing my own words.

Logan nodded and looked a little intimidated from one person to another. "Of course everything is encrypted, but I think with a little time and patience I could crack the code."

Very slowly, the corners of my mouth began to rise into a wicked grin. My dear friend Mick had apparently had a very lucid moment at the time and in doing so had unexpectedly slipped a trump card up our sleeve against Gabriel's covert action that was really critical. Apparently the old vampire had put too much faith in the obedience of his 'employees' - or he had unconsciously _wanted_ us to catch on to him. Whatever it was, we simply _had_ to use this trump card.

"Okay, then _your_ job is it to crack this code, and let me know the minute you've managed to do this," I turned to Logan and then looked back at Alejandro.

"And you, please answer me one question," I said sternly. "Who owns your loyalty? Gabriel or Mick and I?"

The Mick-card was good. I could immediately see that in Alejandro's eyes, because his feelings of guilt had grown even more after Mick's outburst. Not even a powerful vampire such as Gabriel could compete with that.

"You, of course Josef," he instantly folded ruefully. "But I always thought I was acting on your behalf when I worked with Gabriel; that by doing so, I could somehow make up for my misconduct with the Legion…"

"I know," I replied much more soothing. "If I had really felt betrayed, I would not have held Mick back in his rage." My eyes flew over the faces of the others now as well. "You must not think I want to instigate a rebellion against Gabriel - because that would be suicidal in our situation. We need him and his experience. It's just that I'm no longer going to passively sit by and rely _solely_ on him. We can and should develop our own plans to protect ourselves from being sacrificed like pawns in this power struggle between Gabriel, the Legion and the _Cercle_."

"And what exactly _are_ our goals?" Guillermo asked, still not really convinced. To rise up against old and powerful vampires such as Gabriel had always been harder on the younger vampires among us.

"To get things straight concerning what's really going on with the Legion and the _Cercle_," I began to list. "To develop an escape plan once again in case anything goes wrong or we don't like what Gabriel has come up with for all of us, and to get Gabriel, with more action and opposition from our side, to work more closely with us. Above all, we need to protect Mick better from everyone else. He is continuously overwhelmed, used, and exposed to stresses he _cannot_ be expected to cope with, especially with his previous history. This has to stop. He and Beth have to at least be allowed to come to rest for a few days, away from all the excitement and pressures here."

This time Guillermo nodded without hesitation. Apparently he was just as receptive to the Mick-card as Alejandro was.

"Does that mean you… you're going to send them away and hide them somewhere?" Logan asked with wide eyes. "_Before_ talking this through with Gabriel?"

I nodded vigorously. "Exactly!"

Logan looked at me for a few heart beats with his mouth open and from my other friends, no further words were spoken. They all knew perfectly well that there could be really bad consequences for anyone who had participated in such an act. Gabriel didn't like it when someone interfered in his affairs like this. He had made it perfectly clear in our first big meeting what the likely consequences would be with this kind of action against him. But my decision was made. For me this was the only way Mick was going be able to regain any kind of stability in order to save him from himself and the others. I would give him and Beth as much time as I could to recover, and never tell anyone where I had taken them.

Logan pressed his lips together and nodded, his expression showing a commitment I had not often seen in him before. "If you need help with that – I'm in!" he said firmly and in doing so indeed brought a gentle smile to my lips. "And that goes for anything else…"

From the corner of my eye I saw Guillermo and Alejandro nod almost in synch and a sense of warmth and gratitude came over me. It felt good to know you could rely on your friends in times of crisis.

"This is a really good idea," Frank added. "It's about time, and I think Mick needs emotional care much more than medical care right now."

I nodded a little distracted, because my thoughts had drifted again at his sight. "The two of us urgently need to talk as well," I said. "I really need to know what's taken place around you in recent weeks within the Legion and if you've learned anything new that could be of importance to us."

"O… okay," the professor stammered somewhat surprised.

Almost immediately I heard the hum of a cell phone and Alejandro winced violently beside me, reaching into his jacket pocket. But he didn't get the chance to answer the call, because only a fraction of a second later I had his cell phone in _my_ hand and squeezed it breathless to my ear, uttering a tense "Yes?" I knew immediately it was Beth, even though all I heard was her faltering breath. What struck me hard was the fact she hadn't said anything, just sobbed heartbreakingly into the receiver. Everything in me cramped and the worst scenarios played out before my mind's eye: Beth, laying in her own blood on the ground, seriously injured and with the last bit of her strength reaching for the phone. Or Beth, who had locked herself in somewhere after fleeing from Mick and now, needed my help - help I couldn't give her so quickly.

"Good God, Beth, what happened?" I brought out in deep concern and the others who were with me in the room, now looked at me with wide eyes, as well. "Did Mick do something to you? Did he hurt you?"

She didn't respond right away, tried to regain her composure, making me even more nervous. "Nn… no." I felt a whole mountain range fell from my heart. And with that the _worst_ scenario was thus ruled out. "I… Mick… It… it's… over…"

I frowned, trying to make sense of her confused words. She couldn't mean what she was saying. "What's over? Beth, where are you? I'll come and get you. Tell me where you are!"

I took a step towards Guillermo, stretched out my hand to him and nodded at him impatiently, thus letting him know that I needed the car keys and my Mexican friend responded immediately, reached into his pocket and pressed the keys into my palm only seconds later.

"Ou… outside," Beth had stammered in the meantime and the crease between my eyebrows deepened even more.

"Outside the house?" I asked, but didn't wait for her answer. "Where's Mick?"

"In… inside…"

"Alone? What did he do?"

"Break… up…"

I stopped, could not believe what I was hearing. "He broke up with you?" It was so absurd, so harebrained… and yet _this _was exactly the reason why I believed her. "This idiot, this…" I trailed off, shaking my head. "But he didn't attack you?"

"No," was the reassuring answer and I could hear how Beth had to strain to keep from sobbing uncontrollably. I felt so terribly sorry for her and yet I couldn't really be angry with Mick, because I knew exactly what kind of enormous despair had to have raged within him to be able to do something like this to his Beth. And this knowledge scared me, caused this feeling of pressure in my chest, this premonition that something terrible was going to happen unless someone intervened in time. And this someone would have to be _me_ - I knew the moment I breathed in deeply and then continued to speak: "Listen, Beth. I know what I'm about to ask from you is enormous, but you… you have to go back up there again. You have to go back to him."

I didn't need to see her to know she shook her head. It would be a struggle - an exhausting, emotionally stressful struggle. But I would win it – I _had to_ win…

* * *

To act prudently and thoughtfully, as you died with worry over your best friend, was almost an impossible task and yet I had mastered this with the help of my friends in flying colors. Actually I was, after Beth had disconnected from me, determined to immediately storm out of the house and race over to where my two friends' were staying, but Alejandro had stopped me and together with the others forced me to first explain what had happened. Everyone had been of the opinion that it would not have helped Beth if I just set out headless, without a plan in mind, and could make Mick even more furious than he already was, and with that, finally talked me into staying until we could consider what to do for our friends.

Our plan was made quickly – even quite sound. The things we needed to implement our plan were organized and packed up in no time so that I found myself only forty-five minutes after Beth's call speeding through Barstow in a blaze, reaching the family estate in which Mick and Beth were housed in a record time of ten minutes. My heart muscle was doing double time, as I hurried up the stairs to my friends and the tension I was under as I stood there concentrating my senses on the apartment was nearly unbearable. But I couldn't feel a thing. No crackling energy that told me the air was literally burning, no worrying smells like that of blood and death, and no frightening noises. No crying, screaming, sobbing or pain-stricken moaning. Not only was it quiet inside the apartment but almost peaceful and my tension eased a little, allowing my pulse to lower a bit. But it didn't want to slow down entirely - not until I saw my two friends standing in front of me in one piece.

I stopped in front of the door, raised my hand, knocked and then listened with bated breath. Nothing happened and my stomach made a small flip. I didn't like this at all. I knocked once again; this time even closed my eyes to concentrate on my sense of hearing better. In fact, I did hear something this time from far away now - if I wasn't mistaken, the rustle of a blanket and then bare feet, walking over a wooden floor.

I raised my eyebrows a little, but the first thought that came to mind was so unreasonable that I myself could only shake my head about it. As if the two had the constitution for something like_ that _anyway!

It wasn't long before I took in Beth's familiar smell, then she opened the door and I froze. She looked terrible, red puffy eyes, dark circles around her eyes, smudged by water and tears and smeared make-up, and hair mussed up. Her clothes looked as worn as she did, were crumpled, damp and stained with blood in spots – Mick's blood, I immediately smelled and my stomach gave another painful turn.

"Good God!" I uttered, but Beth immediately shook her head.

"It… it's not as bad as it looks," she said quickly and stepped aside a little to clear a path for me to enter the apartment. I immediately followed her unspoken plea, but couldn't break my gaze from her battered appearance. Somehow I knew she had downplayed the matter only to reassure me. She was on the verge of collapse.

"What happened?" I brought out in a husky voice as she closed the door behind me and I could almost feel how hard it was for her to keep her composure and not immediately fall around my neck, sobbing. It must have been terrible. "And where is he?" I added even more worried.

"He sleeps at last." She nodded curtly into the direction of another room - probably the bedroom. "He… he had quite a violent breakdown and hurt himself… I don't know what he would've done if I hadn't returned. I think he… he…" She stopped, lowered her gaze and bit her lower lip and yet I couldn't miss the tears that immediately sprang into her eyes and the slight quivering of her chin. She didn't need to say any more. I knew immediately what she wanted to tell me and just reached out for her, and pulled her into my arms. The silent, muffled sobs against my chest didn't take long to emerge, and I felt her leaning against me, holding on to me, while she let her tears flow. We stood like that for a while, me, holding her in my arms, fighting with my own emotions and their accompanying tears, and Beth, who really needed this to rid herself of some of the pent-up tension, her terror of Mick's behavior and her fears and sadness, while in my comforting embrace, and to regain new strength through this.

"It's over Beth," I whispered into her hair after a while. "All this had to eventually come to a head. And it's good that it happened and he could see that the world wasn't going to collapse if he lost control and wasn't the strong hero, but one who's weak and vulnerable and needs the help of others."

I felt Beth nod against my chest and loosened my grip around her somewhat so she could look up at me. "But… but he also needs time… time to recover from this," she brought out haltingly, wiping the tears from her cheeks bravely. "And I… I don't know how we're going to give him this."

"But_ I_ know," I said with firm resolve and let go of her to reach into the inner pocket of my jacket. I took out the thick envelope, which I had stored there before my departure and walked ahead of Beth to the small coffee table that stood in front of a couch in the middle of the room. My gaze fell on a pile of broken glass, not far from me and the other remains of a mirror. Again, the smell of Mick's blood reached my nose and my stomach took a nasty turn. I gritted my teeth. 'Don't think about it! Just concentrate on what's important now!'

I sat down on the couch and Beth did as well, furrowing her forehead thoughtfully. I opened the envelope and first took out the passports Alejandro had given me.

"These are the latest passports Alejandro has made," I said and put the passes in front of her on the table. "They're _so_ good you should be able to get away with it anywhere."

Beth leaned forward, frowning, and then raised her eyebrows. "Tess and Rick Fynnigan?"

"Yes," I said, and a small smile appeared on my lips as I looked at her. "Congratulations, you're now a newly married woman on her way to her honeymoon."

She let out a sound that minutely reminded of a laugh and I took the paper from the envelope on which I had written the address of Beth's and Mick's new location, and handed it to my astonished friend. "Later, you'll take the car that's outside and drive to the small airfield not far from here. I've arranged for a private plane and you give this to the pilot. It's the address of the secret destination for newly married couples in Alta Sierra. I know the owner personally and you've already been announced. He will get some fresh clothes for you and will provide you with anything you need for the next few days. I'll contact you later, and then together we'll consider how to proceed. But you and Mick, you've got to rest and recharge at least for a few days. This has all been too much for you both, and it can't go on like this."

Beth stared for a moment at the paper in her hand, still stunned, and I could literally feel how much she longed to accept this plan, to finally free herself from all the pressures and strain surrounding her. But when she looked back at me, worry was again written in her eyes, red from crying. "Has… has this all been discussed with Gabriel?" she asked timidly, and for a moment I felt the strong urge to lie to her - but only for a moment. There had been far too many lies and secrets. I wasn't going to start that again.

"No," I confessed and immediately a slightly pained expression spread over Beth's face. "But that doesn't matter, Beth." I turned around to her, grabbed her by both arms and looked at her intently. "I will no longer expose you and Mick to that kind of stress! _I_ decide now how it goes with us, _not_ Gabriel! And I don't feel like discussing my decisions with him at the moment. Mick needs a break and so do you and I will not let this old, emotionally blunted, self-reliant vampire keep using and thus destroying you. That ends here and now!"

"But he… he'll be angry, Josef," Beth said, almost a little panicked. "In the end he might attack or punish you!"

"Let him try!" was my angry response and I marveled at my own courage. "Besides, I don't think he'll do that. He knows himself just how poorly Mick's mental health was lately. He might be angry, but in the end he'll understand." At least I hoped so.

"And… and what if _I_ try to speak with Gabriel beforehand?" Beth suggested. Somehow she just wouldn't believe me that I wouldn't be in any trouble with my unauthorized action – actually I didn't believe it myself.

"No, Beth," I firmly disagreed with her. "You have to finally think of yourself now. You're not superwoman and I feel, even for you, it won't take much more before you collapse like Mick. Enough is enough! And either you agree to the plan voluntary or _I'll_ simply push the plan through _against_ your will. Believe me - I still have the strength left to do it!"

"Is that so?" A quiet voice came from a different direction and I quite automatically held my breath, as my eyes flew over to the door of the bedroom and saw Mick standing there, a little unsteadily, like a blade of grass in the wind, but upright and reasonably stable. During my little talk with Beth I had been so distracted that I hadn't noticed his appearance. He looked awful – even worse than Beth; pale, exhausted and with dark circles under his eyes, which could hardly be the result of smudged make-up. One of his hands and his wrist had been bandaged with care, but all over his shirt were the traces of his own blood and I didn't really want to think about the state in which Beth had found my friend.

I nodded, gulped down the large lump in my throat quickly. "Yes. And it's even enough to beat some sense into you," I added, without thinking about my choice of words.

Mick wanted to smile, that I could see, but he didn't. Instead, his uncertain gaze at Beth quickly revealed to me, what had _really_ woken him up: an almost painful longing for Beth's nearness, which at the moment he didn't seem to have under control, because just seconds later, he started moving towards us and let himself down cumbersomely next to Beth who looked at him worriedly.

"I wanted you to sleep," she said softly, but Mick immediately shook his head, instead reached for her and pulled her close to him, burying his nose in her hair and breathed in deeply with closed eyes. That he wasn't afraid to show such intimacy with her in my presence was something unusual and clearly showed how upset and over-sensitized he currently was, but I liked it. Something had changed within him, in a positive way, I was sure of that. I could see this as well in Mick's eyes as he looked at me, deeply moved, just as I could see he deeply regretted his behavior towards me, was almost ashamed of it, and that the lie about Alejandro had not destroyed our friendship.

Beth moved in his arms, lifted her head a little, in order to look at Mick. "Josef wants to take us away from here - behind Gabriel's back…," she said softly.

Mick lifted a hand to her cheek, skimmed her tousled hair in an incredibly affectionate gesture from her face. "I know," he said softly and looked at me again and I found in his gaze the same longing that I thought I had seen in Beth's eyes. But there was something else there too: emotion and infinite gratitude, which started to knot up my own throat slowly but surely. He would bow to my decision, even if he was just as worried about me as Beth was. He simply had no more strength to fight against his own needs for the welfare of others.

"Nothing is going to happen to me,"I promised him to ease his conscience - not because I was actually convinced of this. "Gabriel will have to admit that this was necessary."

Mick just looked at me, worried and deeply thoughtful, and then he lifted his injured hand to the other that was still holding Beth and pulled his ring from his finger and offered it to me under Beth's surprised gaze. "Take it and wear it when you face Gabriel. He will understand the message and won't harm you. He can't. Not if he ever wants to face me unharmed again."

I believed him. There was a feeling deep inside me that told me Mick was right, that this ring would really protect me from Gabriel and I reached out my hand towards it and took it, sealing my decision to defy the most powerful vampire of this world. I was probably the only one who would dare to do this right now, because _I_ now had the most important pawn in the whole game in my hand. Only_ I_ was probably the first in this power struggle, who sincerely loved Mick and would really try to act in _his_ interest. To the end. Whenever that would be.


	67. A New Beginning

_Phew! Finally back home again and now I can post the chapter I've promised you to post. T__ime is still something I really lack, but it will get better in a week. I hug and kiss all my dear readers who wrote a comment for me. They were all so motivating and I am so happy to have readers like you. _

_I will try to post the next chapter at Saturday again and now wish you much fun with this one. Have a great Sunday, yours Jenna_

_P.S. Lucretia and all others who want to know – After this one there will be at least 13 other chapters to read. Then the story should be finished. But you know me… It's still possible that I have to write a few more._

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**A N****ew Beginning**

_It was the rattling of __the window that penetrated Mick's dreams and called him back to the reality that nudged his mind and called out to him that something was wrong. Still, he woke too slowly, because by the time he opened his eyes blinking and turned over in the bed, a hand was firmly pressed to his mouth, pressing him into his pillow. Mick wanted to scream and lash out in order to free himself in panic, but the soft laughter of the dark figure above him seemed so familiar that he stopped after the first movement, staring with wide eyes at the grinning face in front of him. Anger boiled up in him and he grabbed the hand that had already loosened its hold and ripped it from his mouth, grunting out "You fucking asshole!" angrily while a grinning Tristan put a finger to his lips. _

"_Sh-sh," he said. "You'll wake Mum and Dad!" _

_Mick sat up with an angry frown and a still wildly beating heart, and examined his brother shortly. Although he wore no uniform, only sloppy casual wear, the extremely short haircut nevertheless still made him look like an officer. _

"_Did you climb through the window?" Mick muttered with a nod in the direction of the now wide-open window. _

_Tristan nodded, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. "You live quite dangerously, lil bro. Hasn't it ever occurred to you that others might use your secret way for late-night rendezvous, too?"_

"_Of course," Mick replied, fretting about the fact that he always forgave his brother so quickly but at the same time, was pleased that he had so unexpectedly showed up here. "That's the general idea. Only Natalie from next door just hasn't gotten my subtle hint with the open window yet." He now grinned widely at Tristan who uttered again his typical, boyish laugh. _

"_Damn, the two of you sure are taking your time," Tristan said with a grin and got up from Mick's bed. "Actually I had really expected you to be much farther alone with her by the time I showed up here again." _

_Mick gave an exaggerated melancholy sigh. "Ray tells me I should get myself a pair of glasses and a few books and head her off at the library because she spends half her day there anyway…" _

"_A pair of glasses?__" Tristan tilted his head slightly and looked at him briefly. "Right. Actually you do have the face for it. So cute…" _

_Mick furrowed his brow angrily, reached behind him and only seconds later hurled a pillow at Tristan's head, who was again quietly laughing to himself._

"_And why exactly are you here so early?" Mick asked, as the pillow flew back to him again. "Is it just to annoy me or to ensure that I die of a heart attack before reaching my twenty-first birthday?" _

_Tristan shook his head. "Get dressed. I'll show you." _

_Mick furrowed his brows suspiciously. While it didn't happened often that Tristan had played a nasty trick on him, it wasn't as if such a thing had never happened before. On the other hand, it would be Mick's birthday in a few hours and he just couldn't imagine that his brother had bothered to make the long journey here just to play a joke on him before he reached the legal age. That just wasn't like him. So Mick threw back the covers and started to get dressed._

_Only fifteen minutes later they were on their way to the little grove near their residential area, which would later be rebuilt, the spring of next year, into a small, chic park. They had often played there as children, horsing around, and had also done some not so harmless things, like climbing the 'Tree of Fate'. The 'Tree of Fate' was no less than a hundred and sixty-four foot high giant sequoia; one they had often climbed partly because they were children. Only Ray and Tristan had dared to go to the top. Mick himself had been caught by a wave of fear as he neared the top on his first attempt and in his panic had stepped on a rotten branch, sending him crashing to the ground. Fortunately, he had only broken an arm and two ribs. And ever since then his parents had put an absolute prohibition on ever climbing that tree again. Tristan had continued to do it in secret, because he thought there was nothing better in the world than sitting up there in the treetop and enjoying the view._

_Mick's feelings towards this tree were ambivalent. __Part of him had felt like he had left the task unfinished and had not been able to face his own fears and had certainly not been able to overcome them, but another part of him was quite happy with his parent's ban, since heights had always made him feel uneasy. And when that uneasiness had turned into a really serious fear of heights after the fall, he had never wanted to face this challenge again.__ Nevertheless, this un-fought battle with the tree and himself had gnawed at him all over again whenever he had seen the tree, even from afar, causing anger and frustration in him. At some point he had even said in the presence of Tristan that he needed to climb to the crown again – before he turned twenty-one – simply to prove to himself that he was strong enough to overcome his fears, as well as himself. _

_Mick stopped at that thought, as if rooted to the spot, and let out an incredulous laugh that caused Tristan to pause as well and turn around to him. _

"_You've got to be kidding!" It burst out of Mick and he pointed with his chin in the direction of the tree. _

_Tristan's lips moved very slowly into a broad grin. "You said 'before you turn twenty-one'!" _

"_It was just a saying!" Mick replied, and was annoyed that his heart had started to beat really fast and in his voice a bit of panic now resonated. He was not a kid anymore!_

"_No, it wasn't!" Tristan said and came back closer to him. "This has been gnawing at you ever since you fell and I think it's high time you do it. Now - before a new chapter of your life begins and before the tree is gone! It's good to clean up your old life, before taking off on a new one." _

"_This isn't an airplane, Tristan," Mick said a little grumpy, and his eyes turned suspiciously to the huge tree_ _again, whose crown reached menacingly before him_ _into the starry night sky._

"_Why?" Tristan looked at him, frowning. "The metaphor is quite fitting. __You step from your propeller driven childhood into a sleek, much more exciting plane's mainstream, and rid yourself of all the ballast which only hinders you and makes it much more difficult to take off beforehand.__ It's something you should really do with every stage of life, I think." _

_Mick still refused to look at his brother, just stared at this monster of a tree, which had even haunted him in his dreams. This experience had never really let go off him completely and maybe it was better to face his fears, to overcome this traumatic event and leave it behind. Perhaps then he would even be able to climb ladders and towers again and not have these attacks of sweating anymore when it came to impressing the girls with daredevil leaps from the diving platform at the swimming pool. _

"_You know you really want to do this," Tristan added. _

_Mick closed his eyes briefly, sucked a deep breath into his lungs and then looked at his brother, nodding to him briefly. His heart immediately picked up the pace and his stomach gave a nasty turn, but his decision was made. He would do it. _

_Tristan let out a warm laugh again and put his arm around his shoulders in a motivating gesture. "You've become such a well-built guy - this is going to be a breeze for you!" he encouraged him, as they both approached the huge trunk of the tree, reaching it far too quickly. "This is how we'll do it: I'll climb ahead and test all branches, to see if they're rotten and you simply climb up behind me." _

"_Yeah, and if you fall, you'll have a nice cushy landing on top of me," Mick said dryly. _

"_Then you can go first," Tristan said with a grin, as they now stopped in front of the tree. "That way I can catch you as you step off." _

"_Probably with only your little finger, Goliath," Mick sneered, shaking his head. "No, no, you go first. Age before beauty." _

_Tristan laughed again, then grabbed one of the few low-hanging, wide branches of the tree and nimbly pulled himself up. _

_Mick couldn't help it. His pulse quickened just watching Tristan as he moved from one branch to another up the trunk, bringing more and more distance between himself and him. If he didn't want his brother to consider him a total wimp, he probably needed to get a move on now but somehow his legs felt so heavy all at once, felt as if they had taken root._

_A loud cracking noise near him made him spin around in alarm. His eyes darted over the dark trees and bushes surrounding him, trying to determine if there was something out there that could have caused the noise. But there wasn't. Yet he suddenly felt as if someone or something was watching him. _

"_Are you trying to take root down there?" Mick heard Tristan's now somewhat impatient-sounding voice. He threw a quick look up at his brother and found that he was really quite high already. Not a good feeling if in fact he was actually no longer alone down here. _

"_There… there… was a loud noise!" he called out to Tristan and stared again strained into the darkness of the little forest. But still nothing stirred. "Who's there?" he simply asked and was frustrated that his voice sounded a little scared. _

_No answer. All that was heard was the rustling of leaves in the slight breeze that now came up. _

"_Well, _if_ there's someone or something out there, you're certainly better off up here than you are down there," he heard his brother say from above him and he could almost hear him grinning. _

_He was right. Mick breathed in deeply, and then reached for the branch Tristan had also used and pulled himself up. Normally, he loved any kind of challenge that tested his strengths, but this was something else. This also involved a struggle within himself, one he absolutely had to overcome if he was ever going to get up and then down again in one piece. _

'_Don't look down, just don't look down,' he repeated his mantra to himself as he climbed from one branch to another, following his daring brother up into the crown of the tree. _

_It wasn't long before he could feel every muscle in his body. His hands were rough and scratched and his feet hurt because they had been placed in the strangest and most uncomfortable positions throughout the climb. It was soon no longer his fear that drove his heart to maximum performance, but the effort of climbing itself and Mick grew more and more confident with each passing branch, with each foothold he gained as he moved upward - until he was_ _suddenly face to face with the old, sticky remnant of a broken branch. The branch which he had stepped on a decade ago that had caused him to fall a depth of a hundred feet. The depth… the depth into which he was now staring. He felt nauseous. He didn't remember it being this high. His intestines twisted painfully and he stopped breathing. He grabbed the branch he had clung to even tighter now and closed his eyes, trying to fight the feeling of vertigo that tried to overwhelm him as well. Why had he looked down - why? _

"_Mick?" It was his brother above him. He could hear him climbing down to him again, but Mick couldn't look at him, couldn't open his eyes again. There they were, the dark monsters that he had seen back then, walking up and down beneath him, grinning at him, just waiting for him to let go, that he had no strength left and let go… fell from the roof, onto which he had saved himself. Oh, God, this horrible nightmare!_

"_Mick." His brother's voice was very close now and there was also his arm sliding around him, giving him the security he needed to open his eyes again. _

"_Shit, I can't do this, Tristan. I can't!" he cried out in panic and clung more tightly to the branch. How fast one could turn into a little boy again, who almost died with fear. _

"_Mick, look at me!" his brother demanded and Mick obeyed, looked into the warm, dark eyes of the one person in his life he had trusted the most, who he had always felt the safest with. _

"_And now breathe!" Tristan commanded on. "Breathe in deeply…" _

_Mick followed his instructions without a will, only now feeling how badly he needed the oxygen. _

"_Breathe out." _

_It wasn't just air Mick exhaled now, but also a lot of his tension. And it felt so good, gave him more confidence again, more strength. _

"_Again." _

_God, this felt good. He could almost feel his pulse slowing down, could feel himself slowly recovering from his state of panic. _

"_You can do it, Mick," his brother said, looking him firmly in the eyes. "You can do anything if you want to. Just don't look down. It doesn't matter, what's down there or what happened years ago. It won't happen again. You don't have to look up all the time either, if that scares you. Just look at the next branch, and climb up. Just look at what's in front of you next and then simply move forward one step at a time. You'll see it's very easy." _

_Mick carefully broke contact with Tristan's gaze and looked up at the next branch. It wasn't that far away and looked fairly strong and broad, just like the other branches near him which he could reach. Mick took another deep breath, gathered his strength and pushed his panic as far away as possible. Tristan was with him. He wouldn't let anything happen to him, would hold on to him, and support him when he needed it. Mick grabbed the branch and began to climb again. At first very slow and tentatively, but soon he was climbing at his previous pace, climbing from branch to branch until he was finally at the top, had reached the point where Tristan had built a seat with boards, ropes and nails,. The 'sky throne', as he had called it. Mick had always wanted to see it so much, but had never really believed he would ever make it to the top one day. _

"_Sit up there," his brother ordered him as he appeared behind him, and Mick followed his request with somewhat shaky legs and wildly beating heart, turned and sat down on the 'throne', which was still quite stable and allowed him to believe for himself that it was truly safe. And then he froze - not with fear, but full of reverence for the breathtaking sight that lay before him. There was no other tree in their current surroundings that was higher than this one and instead of treetops, a sea of sparkling stars opened up in front of him, and the almost full, golden moon seemed so close that he thought he could almost touch it if he only dared to reach out his hand towards it. 'Sky throne' really was the perfect word for this place and it truly was one of the most wonderful places he had ever been._

_Mick let his gaze roam over the glittering lights of the city, the shallow mounds of the Hollywood Hills, which suddenly seemed so close, and over the sleeping town at his feet, which looked all at once so tiny like a toy village. And finally, he drew the fresh night air deeply into his nose and let out a happy sigh, which Tristan answered with a radiant smile. Done! He had really made it. And it was worth it, not only because of the fantastic view, but also because he felt so liberated, so happy._

"_I had thought about building __some kind of small table up here as well, where I could set food and something to drink on and then spend a couple of hours just looking at the stars," Tristan said, his gaze fixed on the star-filled sky with a dreamy smile._

_Mick followed his gaze and shook his head fascinated. "Look, you can really see the dome of heaven… And so many stars… you can't see that many during the day. There's billions…" _

"_Makes you feel quite tiny, doesn't it?" Tristan asked softly. _

_Mick nodded reverently. "I think we _are_, measured by the infinity of the universe." _

_Tristan made himself comfortable on a wide branch next to Mick, put his head back and let his gaze wander over the sky. "Just think about it, these are all suns…" _

"…_and we're only in one of so many galaxies…" Mick said no more, just let the view get to him and immediately felt so much lighter and calmer. They actually were tiny compared to the boundless sky, making his problems, and the things he had had to struggle with as a young man, seem so small. _

"_Just before I turned twenty-one, I had the same feeling of panic, you did," Tristan said quietly, and only now did Mick remember that he had told his brother in his last letter about his fears, of his nightmares, which had sometimes jarred him awake in the middle of the night, and about his problems with coming of age, with his father and with himself. _

"_I _wanted_ to reach adulthood," Tristan went on softly, "but at the same time I didn't want to let go of my childhood, of my old life. I was afraid of what I would become. I asked myself over and over again if I would still be the same person or whether I would change so much I wouldn't be able to stand myself. I really broke out in a sweat. And then I climbed up here and suddenly everything looked so different. My current world and my view of things changed all at once, struck me as being so insignificant, so trivial and I realized then that to change indeed means having to leave a part of yourself behind, but it also gives you the chance to enrich your life, to make it even better, more beautiful. We don't have to turn out like the generation before us, we don't have to go the same route as our parents did or even the way we may have chosen in the short term, the way we had originally planned. We always have the chance to pause and change course. Growing up doesn't mean that what you decide one day is direction you'll go in for the rest of your life. You always have the option of pursuing a different direction. You don't decide one day, what will become of you, how you'll live and die. You only decide what you're going to do tomorrow. And no one can force you to do the same thing the day after that - unless that's what you want."_

_Mick was silent for a long while, enjoying the feeling of relief and clarity that had come over him with Tristan's words, for he knew that they were true, knew that he could rely on his brother. _

"_And if you find you're ever unsure which direction you should take," Tristan now added, "just listen to your heart. It'll tell you which path to take." _

"_I think Dad sees that a bit differently," Mick now replied with half a smile. "He's already prepared, in detail, how my life should go. He'll definitely have something to say about me listening to my heart and destroying his great plan." _

_Tristan smiled back. "I never said it was going to be easy going your own way. I was just saying that you could do it - and that you should do it! Even people who only want the best for you can be wrong. It's still _your_ life. _You_ should always be the one to ultimately decide what happens to it." _

_Mick looked back up at the golden disc of the moon, which had by now been covered by a few clouds and then nodded with a satisfied smile on his lips. "I will…" He looked at his brother again. "If I ever make it down from here again…" _

_Tristan put an arm around his shoulders in a brotherly way and his smile became a broad grin. "Don't worry Mick – everything eventually comes down. You've already done this as well…" _

"_Ha, ha," Mick just uttered, and was really tempted to poke him in the arm, but preferred to keep a tight grip on the 'throne'. _

_Tristan let his eyes wander back over to the settlement, then paused and narrowed his eyes a little. "Hey, I think I can see Natalie at her window," he grinned. "I think she waved at you! Hot lingerie she's wearing there…" _

_This time, Mick did let go to give Tristan the jab he had long since deserved. Tristan pulled away with a laugh, and even dared to ruffle Mick's hair. Mick batted at his hand with feigned annoyance but missed it. _

"_I'm assuming you haven't invited her to your birthday party yet," Tristan grinned and Mick only grimaced at him. _

"_Well," his brother took a deep breath. "Then it's probably time to tell you the really important things you need to know about women." _

"_How do you know I don't already know that?" Mick gave back coolly, but Tristan only grinned even wider. _

"_I said 'the important things', Mick," he said. "Things like how to deal with the mind and soul of a woman and not just their bodies and what we can do with it – as nice as that topic might be." _

_Mick closed his eyes in mocked resignation and gave a deep sigh. __Actually he was happy with the fact that Tristan hadn't wanted to end their little trip so soon and instead offered him the chance to talk with him again at last and enjoy spending their time together__. Celebrating into his twenty-first birthday couldn't get any better than this, without fear, without stress, without burdens…_

* * *

The memory had come quickly, the moment Mick had stepped out on the porch of their new accommodations and was face to face with a giant Sequoia that grew majestically into the sky not far from them. It was larger than the 'Tree of Fate' and much older, and its strong branches only began growing out of the powerful trunk in a, for a normal person, no longer reachable height.

Mick had only responded with an absentminded "Okay" when Beth had announced she was going with their hostess to take a look at the interior of the house, and had let himself fall into his memory without resistance. Surprisingly it hadn't been as painful as he thought it would be. It had even felt good to remember Tristan, to let his words stir in his mind again - words that were so appropriate for the situation he currently found himself in, so fitting for the feelings that surged through his mind.

Even though he was so terribly exhausted, felt so vulnerable and sensitive to everything that was happening around him, he still felt better than before, when he had held onto all of his feelings and pushed them down again and again. The ulcer had burst; the pressure had disappeared, just like the pressure on himself to always be strong, to always be in control. He simply couldn't meet that expectation of himself anymore and at the moment, it wasn't necessary, no one needed his strength right now… not even Beth. And the world hadn't collapsed just because he was suddenly weak and vulnerable. He was allowed to be scared, was allowed to open up, to talk about the things that burdened him, was allowed to mourn for what he had lost, and could finally admit that to himself.

That had always been difficult for him - to face his biggest fears, to even recognize them at all and thus deal with them. In those days he had had Tristan, who had forced him to do this. Now it was Beth. What she had done for him… there was probably no way in this world he could ever repay her for this, nothing he could do to make up for what he had done to her. He had hurt her terribly… Even now it constricted his throat as he thought about the terrible things he had said to her. And yet she had come back, had pulled him out of this black hell hole, back into the world of the living, sentient beings, had held and supported him, while all of his deeply buried feelings had burst forth at once, shaking his whole body like a giant earthquake. It had cost him so much strength and yet it had been so incredibly liberating, had felt like he could breathe easier for the first time in weeks, could finally recover his breath and let go of all his tension.

It still felt like that. As tired and exhausted as Mick was, he felt so free and alive like he hadn't felt in a long time, almost like he did on top of that tree with Tristan. The things that had happened in his past life had loosened their grip on his mind a bit, had receded, giving him the feeling as if he were looking down at them from a distance; seeing them from a different perspective now. The same was true for the future. He had been so single minded, had looked at everything with the eyes of a desperate person whose thoughts only revolved around fighting and warding off dangers and always expecting the worst. To fight, fight until it was no longer possible. Or run away - from his fears, his feelings, from those who wanted to help him, from those who loved him… Stopping and facing his problems, his own feelings had always been difficult for him. Just as opening up to others had been, seeking their assistance and consulting with them. He had always tried to handle everything on his own. Maybe a different perspective of his problems, on what lay before him, might have helped him to find himself again, perhaps he would have even been able to find new hope and new courage that way. Instead, he had withdrawn into himself even more, had pushed them all away. Josef, Beth… Beth had had to suffer so much just because he had slipped back into this senseless pattern of behavior, because his own dark side had overwhelmed him along with the trauma that had still not completely disappeared. Of course, he knew this wasn't going to happen overnight, that there was a lot of hard work ahead of him, but he could face it now, he would finally dare to fight against his inner demons, to speak about the things that had happened to him, and accept all the help that was offered to him.

Steps heard from the interior of the house told Mick that Beth had finished her tour making his heart immediately beat faster and his stomach clench, because his feeling of guilt and his deep remorse towards her were increasing steadily, becoming more and more difficult to suppress. Only seconds later she reappeared with the young Mrs. Hemming on the porch.

"And as I said before, if you need anything, we live just over there," the young slightly pudgy woman pointed to the red roof of a house that was only about two hundred yards away from them visible through the green of the forest. "My husband and I would be delighted if you'd come visit us someday. The season hasn't really opened yet and our small resort is quite a distance from civilization - currently there aren't that many people around us and we look forward to any kind of diversion from our daily routine and changing diapers."

"You have children?" Beth asked pleased.

The woman nodded with a slightly strained smile. "A girl of six years and our little son Sam who has just turned three months. It's not easy, but we love them dearly and have a lot of fun with them. I know the two of them would love it as well if you came by for a visit. So, think about it." Her eyes wandered from Beth to Mick and she gave him a worried motherly expression. "And you, you should really lie down. You look as if you've fallen under a train."

Mick managed a small smile and nodded mutely. What could he reply to that, except that he felt like it also?

Mrs. Hemming smiled at him and Beth once more encouragingly and then went down the wooden stairs to make her way home.

"She seems nice," Mick stated as Beth stepped closer to him, following the woman's way kindly with her eyes.

"She is," Beth replied somewhat absently. "She told me she's thirty two and married for eight years and has previously worked as a kindergarten teacher. Her husband is a pastor in the small community here and they've run this resort for seven years now - mainly as a destination for newly married couples who aren't into the pretentious honeymoon in the Caribbean, but a nice quiet, peaceful place where they can enjoy their togetherness…"

Mick couldn't help it, he let out a chuckle and Beth looked up at him in surprise.

"You were completely in your element again, weren't you?" he asked with a smile and Beth actually turned a little red and shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"You know, there's this pesky little reporter in me that just can't be held back sometimes…"

"… and that makes you all the more endearing," Mick finished her sentence, smiling, and raised a hand to brush back one of the strands of hair that a gust of wind had just blown across her face.

The corners of Beth's mouth lifted into a warm smile and the urge to pull her into his arms, to let himself fall into her warmth and love again was right back. Since his collapse, his longing for physical contact with Beth had become so overwhelming that he'd even felt alone and lost, when he wasn't at least touching her with some part of his body. Actually, he wanted to take her into his arms and never let her go until he felt whole and strengthened again, and not so overly sensitive. But he couldn't burden her so soon again and monopolize her for his needs. He owed it to her to talk with her about what had happened and she deserved to have her needs taken care of as well.

On their journey to the airport and during their flight they had not been able to talk to each other, simply because they had both been so exhausted, and had just snuggled up to each other, dozing away, in order to recover from the strain of the past few days. All they needed was the physical closeness of the other one, the feeling that they had found common ground again, that they were there for each other and were able to give each other the safety and security they both needed so badly.

But now it was time to talk, to explain what had prompted him to say such terrible things to her, hurting her like that, and to apologize - if that was even possible. It was almost inconceivable to him that Beth had been able to forgive him this behavior at all, for he himself had such a difficult time with it.

Beth seemed to be able to read on his face, what was on his mind, for she immediately looked at him with forgiveness in her gaze, and already shook her head. "Mick it's… it's not necessary," she said softly. "I…"

"Yes, it is," he contradicted her quickly, and immediately a new wave of deep remorse overpowered him, constricted his throat, "because I… I…" He broke off. God this was so hard when your own feelings of guilt weighed on you like tons of bricks on your chest, making breathing so difficult. "These things I said…" _Breathe. Breathe in deeply. Breathe out. _"You mustn't believe they were true. I know it sounds like a lame excuse, but I… I wasn't myself. And you…" Where were the words he needed to explain what he felt, what he _really_ felt for her? And his nose began to tingle again so treacherously, accompanied by the unpleasant burning sensation in his eyes. "You… you're all that… that I still have… I… I just didn't want anything to happen to you. I wanted you to be safe and to be able to lead a normal life."

Beth pressed her lips together firmly, and grasped his hand, which had come to rest on her cheek, squeezed it and nodded understandingly. "But you've forgotten something, Mick," she replied in a low voice. "I need _you_ in this… this 'normal' life! Because _you_'re also everything _I_ still have…"

Her words went right through Mick, made sure that his heart opened even wider for her and this longing for her became so great he simply had to give into it. He wrapped his arms around Beth, pulled her closer to his body and buried his face between her neck and shoulder, burrowing his nose in her soft hair, breathing in her scent deeply and desperately trying to hold back his tears.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, choking, "so terribly sorry. I just didn't want anything to happen to you, didn't want you to share the same fate as Laelia. God, I… I couldn't take that, Beth…"

She moved in his embrace and then he felt her hands on his cheeks and the gentle pressure with which she urged him to lift his head slightly. He did, and looked at her. Her eyes had filled with tears, just like his.

"That's not going to happen, Mick," she brought forth with a trembling voice, her thumbs stroking his cheeks calmingly. "Because we're not going to make the same mistakes Gabriel did."

"He… he's told you the story?" Mick replied quietly and she nodded immediately, blinked away the tears that had been caught in her eyelashes.

"How can you be so sure then? Everything seems to be repeating itself…"

"But it doesn't have to," Beth replied with all her might. "Gabriel's mistake was in trying to handle everything on his own. He tried alone to fight against all the odds. He didn't even let Laelia in on his plans. He should not have had to stand alone in this situation. He should have turned to his wife and friends and asked them for help. Maybe together they could have come up with a more viable solution to everything. Many heads can come up with a much better plan. And what's even more important is to not keep everything bottled up, but to talk about it. To let others know what's on your mind…"

She was right. She was so damn right! Back then, just as it was now, Gabriel had had problems trusting others, allowing them to take part in his plans and letting them make decisions. He had never accepted assistance from anyone, had always been the one to make the final decision. And when he did involve others, it was only to use them like soldiers who had to bow to his orders. Maybe it really had been this behavior that had ultimately caused Laelia's death. Perhaps everything would have turned out quite differently if he hadn't acted that way.

Gabriel was a powerful man, smarter, wiser and more cunning than anyone Mick had ever know, but apparently he had not yet learned from the serious errors of his past, since he was still following the same patterns in this war. But what right did Mick have to criticize the old vampire? Hadn't he acted just the same? And not just since he'd been freed from the laboratory. His rebellious behavior had only become worse, but it hadn't been caused by this experience.

"If we don't want the things that happened to Gabriel and Laelia to happen to us as well," Beth continued now a little more sternly, "then we need to talk to each other again. We need to talk about _everything_: about what we've learned, what we're afraid of and what we want for the future. And you should no longer be afraid to open up to me, Mick. You can talk with me about _any_thing. Your thoughts and feelings are safe with me. _You're_ safe with me."

Mick nodded deeply moved, and had to blink away tears of his own. "I… I was never particularly good at doing that to begin with and in the past year…" He stopped, breathing heavily in and out. "I… I… they… they weren't allowed to know… I couldn't let them find out what I… how I felt… I couldn't let them see this. They would have won then. They would have broken me for real…"

"I know," Beth whispered compassionately and a few tears rolled down her cheeks after all. She calmly stroked his face, held him and gave him the support he needed to get over these things, to get a grip on himself again.

"But that's over now," she added. "You're free and we're together now. You don't need to hide anything from me. It's always been this way. I know how difficult it is to talk about the past, but it helps you to cope with it, to leave it behind. And we need to do that – leave the past behind us to dare a new beginning."

There they were again, Tristan's words that penetrated deeply into his mind and his heart. It was almost as if he could hear his voice. _Don't look down. Look at what's in front of you next and then simply move forward one step at a time… _into the future, a new life…

He bent a little towards Beth, leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. For a while they just stood there like that and Mick felt the last of his tension drain from his body, making it possible for him to truly relax, letting Beth's positive energy do its job and letting her hope and confidence flow through his soul. There was no one in the world, he loved more, whom he trusted more than this woman and his own collapse had once again made it clear to him, that there would be no life for him without her in it. He needed her like the air he breathed, needed her to let go of his old life step by step and start a new one.

"We'll find a way," Beth whispered and Mick raised his gaze again and looked into her large eyes that were full of love for him. "I haven't given up hope. It's actually become even greater in the past few hours because I've realized what kind of powerful men we're surrounded by. Although Gabriel has kept so many secrets and didn't make the right choices concerning Laelia and Janus – he is a smart man and he has connections to people who have a lot to say in this world. And Josef… You saw how he suddenly, out of nowhere, came up with a way for us to disappear without a trace, even from Gabriel. And then there's Ben's uncle, Judge Ruthers, who hasn't joined our side yet but who we can possibly win over. He's Chairman of the Supreme Court of the United States, Mick. Don't you think he'd also have connections to other powerful men in this country?"

Mick hadn't really thought in that direction had simply been too preoccupied with his fears and concerns and his own negativity about their future.

"The Legion and the Cercle may be powerful," Beth continued, "but I think if we bring all our friends together and ask for their help and really collaborate with them, we'll have far greater power in our hands than the Legion and the Cercle combined. I'm convinced that we can change our destiny that we can really create a new beginning for everyone, once these powerful men finally stop handling everything on their own, and start working with us."

Mick looked at her for a long time. Moved and full of admiration. Then his mouth lifted into a warm, infinitely grateful smile. He again raised a hand to her cheek, stroked gently, almost reverently over her slightly heated skin.

"You're the most amazing, wisest, most sensible woman I've ever met in my life," it slipped a bit hoarsely from his lips. "What would I do without you?"

Beth had to squint against her own tears again as she gave a low, good-natured laugh. Then she suddenly leaned forward slightly and kissed Mick, long and with all the love she felt for him. He could feel that. And it felt so good…

"We can do it, Mick," she whispered against his lips. "We just need to allow ourselves a little peace and quiet to regain our strength, to come to terms with everything. Only then can we involve ourselves in this fight again."

"Then this is probably not the time for bungee jumping, rafting and free climbing?" he replied with raised eyebrows and was rewarded with another quiet laugh that sent a pleasant shiver down his back. But he quickly became serious again.

"I think next to eating and sleeping, we really have a lot of talking to do," he said, and for the first time in a long while he wasn't gripped by fear at the thought. Instead, he really felt an immense desire to swap ideas and consult with Beth, to tell her about everything that troubled him.

Beth nodded and grabbed his hand again, which was resting again on her cheek, stroking her face.

"There will be some upsetting things coming our way," she said softly, and it almost seemed as if she was a bit afraid of that.

"We should be sparing with our strength and not expect too much all at once," Mick mused. _Step by step… slowly forward…_ "Maybe we should put our thoughts of the future aside for a day or two and just try to work on what's happened so far, what we've learned." He looked at her inquiringly, wasn't quite sure if this was a good proposal, a proposal she'd like, but it came from deep within him, from his heart.

Beth hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. "You're right. Like I said: One needs to finish with the old life first, clear it up, before one starts something new. But we should be careful that we remain in the here and now and enjoy the time that's given to us and really recover."

This time it was he who nodded, and because his need to feel her more intensely, to have her as close to him as possible had grown again, and he felt she needed that too, he simply pulled her to his body, wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressed his nose into her hair and closed his eyes. Only for a little while he wanted to stay with her like this… only a few minutes, until that feeling of warmth and relaxation, security and peace became a part of his being, so he wouldn't lose it again so quickly. She could give him that - his Beth… his cure… the lighter side of his life that he would never let go again. That was what his heart told him, and this time he would listen to it.


	68. Trust

_So it's Saturday again and I have a new chapter for you. It's rated M and you'll soon see why *grins*. A big thank you and an even bigger hug to my review-writers__. It's so great to still have some readers who support me so much. Wish I had the time to answer to your comments personally. But for it's not possible for me at the moment I hope these words help a bit to let you see I'm really thankful for this. _

_I'll try to post the next chapter next Saturday again and wish you a great Easter-weekend and week until then. My best wishes, yours Jenna/Lilith_

* * *

_Translated by Lilith_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**Trust**

* * *

"_Only the one who trusts can let go."_

_Helga Schaeferling_

* * *

Heavenly, was the only word Beth could think of when the taste of strawberries, freshly whipped cream and sweetened cottage cheese, hit her taste buds. It was simply heavenly and just as wonderful as she had remembered it. 'Pink Cloud' her mother had always called this home made dessert - her cure-all for grief and tears and in Beth's childhood there had even been a couple of times in which she had intentionally squeezed out a few extra tears to get her mother to prepare this delicious concoction. It was a simple recipe, one that Beth had remembered quickly and it hadn't been that hard to prepare - at least the hand work hadn't been. Emotionally it had been a little difficult and at some point a few tears had even rolled down her cheeks because of all the wonderful memories of her mother and her currently still very sensitive state. All that had been forgotten now - with _this_ taste on her tongue and the immediately associated wish to have Mick try a bit of her masterpiece. He would love it! And it would certainly do him just as much good as it did her.

Beth hurriedly picked up the dish into which she had already filled a small portion, slid a spoon into the pink cream, then grabbed a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice in her other hand and set off with a satisfied smile on her lips towards the bedroom. The door was still open and Beth tip-toed on silent feet up to the king size bed in which she had previously slept as well. She shook her head a little amused when she discovered that Mick was indeed still asleep. He lay on his back, with the blanket pulled down to his navel and his bare chest rising and falling from the deep, calm breaths he was taking. His face was completely relaxed and he looked so at ease, so content that it became quite warm in Beth's interior and her hope that everything would finally get better somehow, grew immensely. All she wanted to do at that moment was to climb back into bed and snuggle up with him, to let herself be wrapped in his warmth and this feeling of togetherness that had allowed them both sleep so wonderfully long.

After their talk into the wee hours of the morning they had wearily climbed into bed, had cast most of their clothes aside because neither currently had any sleepwear and had then fallen asleep in the arms of the other, totally exhausted but at peace with each other and themselves. Beth had awoken three hour ago and had taken a little walk through the woods, anxious not to wake Mick, because it was the first time since his time in the laboratories that he had slept so long without being woken by a nightmare. She had then met Mrs. Hemming who had received a suitcase of clothes for them, which had arrived by courier. Josef really seemed to want to make sure that they lacked for nothing. It was the only way one could explain the well-stocked fridge in their new home, which had finally enticed her, after a long, hot and wonderfully relaxing shower, to prepare the dessert as a nice accompaniment to their dinner. But if Mick continued to sleep as he was, one could hardly call her lovingly prepared meal, a lunch. Maybe it _was_ time to slowly wake him up – beside that fact she already longed so much for his company again.

Beth placed the bowl of fluffy cream and the glass of juice gently on the small night-stand beside the bed and gingerly sat down on the bed.

"Mick," she whispered, trying to not wake him too suddenly, but apparently, he was still deeply immersed into his dream world, because he didn't even stir, not even an eyelid twitched.

Beth had to smile and decided to grant him a few more minutes of sleep. Her eyes wandered over this much loved face of hers, his long eyelashes, the prominent cheek bones, the straight nose… and these so sensual lips. She let her gaze wander further, more quickly, because at once the urge to kiss him, to feel the softness of his lips again under hers became much too strong. This wasn't very smart though, because now that the things that had stood between them, all the pain, the fears and worries had been put aside for the time being, the sight of such a beautiful, naked male body wasn't something that was going to alleviate the re-awakening of her physical longing for Mick. It almost felt as if it had been an eternity since they had last slept together or that she had had the time to examine Mick's body as thoroughly as she did at this moment, but it was certainly not more than a week ago. It was just that so much had happened that it felt as if months had passed.

Beth grew warmer as her eyes traveled covetously and very slowly across his muscular chest to thoroughly memorize every inch of his tanned, taut and so seductively velvety looking skin. But then she stopped, her eyes held by the light short line near his sternum and in addition to her other pleasant feelings, she felt a slight pull in her stomach area. Memories now flew shadowy past her mind's eye: Mick in her arms, pale and breathing hard… and the blood, that blood that soaked his shirt, her own desperate cry for Josef, the panic and despair inside her… Even now, after all the time that had passed, her chest still became quite tight when assaulted by these memories; memories that immediately made her think of how close everything had been, how hard they had had to fight to get Mick to return to the living at all.

"_The bullets which entered his body, have left behind substantial damage to some of his organs," _the doctor at the hospital had said. _"One has injured his lung, another, one of his kidneys and the third his stomach…"_

Beth breathed in and out slowly, trying to get a grip on her negative feelings, to displace the bad memories. It was over. She had Mick back and he would not die, would now be able to embark on, after this much-needed breakdown, a new beginning - with her. Of this she was sure. Maybe he would still need her help, her encouragement and support again at some time or another, but he _would_ manage it, they would manage this _together_. The scars would heal – the inner, invisible ones as well.

Her gaze now slid to the other scars. Fine, light lines, which didn't nearly reflect the seriousness of the injuries this body had once had to heal and suddenly there was this urge to touch them, the need to feel the scars under her fingers to make sure they really had closed, and were healed. Her hand rose on its own, moving toward him, but stopped in mid air only a fraction of an inch above his skin.

She'd noticed something that confused her slightly. The small, fine scar close to his collarbone, which she had wanted to touch, one that could not have originated from one of his gunshot wounds - simply because he had not had one there at the time they had found him. And it was also much finer than the other scars of his gunshot wounds, barely noticeable at a quick glance.

She pulled her hand back, bent down closer to Mick instead and let her eyes wander again over his tanned skin. Yes, there were other, much finer, better-healed scars of various shapes and sizes, here and there spread over his upper body, barely visible to the untrained eye. Not numerous, but enough to give her heart a painful sting. She knew exactly where these scars had come from and that knowledge was painful, knotted her stomach and caused a tingling in her nose. How could she have missed these scars before? And how could some people be so cruel? How could they do this to someone like Mick, who had always fought for good, who had always tried to protect the weak and innocent? How could someone batter a person so physically and psychologically like this?

Beth sat up, closed her eyes and tried to bring her emotions back under control by breathing calmly and deeply. But a slight humming sound from Mick was enough and she tore her eyes open again. He moved, turned his head from side to side, sucking in air audibly through his nose. His eyes moved behind his lids, a sure sign he now seemed to be waking and Beth was tempted to get up and leave the room, simply because she was still too emotional and didn't want to revisit his time in the laboratories with him so soon again. But she couldn't really bring herself to. Her need to be near him was just too strong and her joy with his waking might even chase her dark thoughts away.

It even brought a warm smile to her lips, as Mick now opened his eyes and blinked, startled, that she was sitting in front of him. He closed his eyes again, then reopened them, making sure with a quick examination that it was indeed her who sat before him and then briefly looked around the room. Quickly his eyes were on her form again, slipped over the large men's shirt she had thrown on after her shower and then flew back to her face.

"Have I…" He cleared his throat because his voice didn't really serve him well and then supported himself on his elbows to sit up a bit and look at her more easily. "Have I slept very long?"

Beth pressed her lips together so as not to grin too broadly but knew full well it didn't really help. "It's now seven o'clock in the evening," she said, and Mick's eyes widened with incredulous amazement, before his head turned round to the bedside table on which an alarm clock sat, which only confirmed Beth's statement. He sat up suddenly and looked at Beth again - completely stunned.

"I slept for _twelve_ hours?" He let out a chuckle and she bit her lower lip and nodded.

"In one stretch!" Mick added, not as a question but an observation and the pleased gleam that shown in his eyes lit up his whole face. "Without any nightmares!"

She nodded again and the happy laughter that burst out of Mick the next moment was accompanied by her own. She gave a surprised squeak, when Mick reached out and grabbed her, pulled her close to his body and pressed his lips to hers, tightly and fervently; only to fall back onto the pillows with her so that she reasonably came to rest on top of him.

"What… what was that for?" she uttered breathlessly when he released her and had looked at her with such affection and gratitude that it became very warm inside her and a pleasant tingle ran down her spine. The deep connection between them, which had reappeared even stronger after his collapse, was still there, helped them both to make this wonderfully relaxed interaction, which had first developed just before the big fight in Mexico, possible again. Mick also _looked_ at her the same way as he had back then, wasn't afraid to show her how he felt about her anymore.

"For everything," he said softly and kissed her again, this time softer, more tender and Beth happily closed her eyes, returning his kiss with the same endearment and love, enjoying the warmth of their wonderfully close physical contact.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips and this mixture of desire, deep gratitude and affection in his eyes made her heart burst with happiness and at the same time elevated her pulse.

"You'll soon love me even more," she replied with a smile and tried to get up, but Mick's arms, which had been tightly wrapped around her waist, made this a little difficult.

"You… you have to let go of me," she brought out laughing and pulled a little helplessly at one of his arms.

"Do I?" He asked with a smile, but she could tell it was indeed difficult for him to give up their body contact so soon.

"Yes, because I've got a surprise for you," she replied, pulling on his other arm now more successfully. But he had only released her body because he now pulled, with knitted brows, the collar of her shirt to one side and peered into her cleavage cheekily, with an interested "Where?" on his lips.

"Mick!" She pressed her collar against her body and looked at him reproachfully, but had to grin as a low chuckle shook his whole body. What miracles a good night's sleep could perform. Mick was completely changed, any tension and exhaustion he may have had, had fallen from him and his initial uncertainty in dealing with her, his contempt for himself was only to be felt at the very edge.

"Sorry," he grinned and had now indeed let go of her. "I'm all ears."

Beth got up and straightened her shoulders, taking a proud posture, pushing away the idea that this easiness between them certainly wouldn't last forever - especially once they began to account for the past.

"I was, while you were taking your hundred-year slumber, incredibly busy and not only have I taken a little walk in the forest, but also showered," she pointed to her slightly disheveled, still damp hair, "prepared the dinner lovingly and made fresh-squeezed orange juice _and_ a wonderful dessert!"

She made a presenting gesture towards the nightstand on which her 'work' had found a safe place and Mick rewarded it with an appreciative rise of his eyebrows and his so incredibly cute crooked Mick-smile.

She nodded encouragingly, and he blinked at her a little confused, but sat up instantly.

"What?... Oh – You want me to try it _now_?"

She nodded and at once eagerly handed him the juice, which he immediately took a sip of and uttered an only slightly exaggerated, drawn-out "Ummmmm". But it must have tasted really good, or he was simply quite thirsty after his long sleep, because the glass was emptied in no time and she took it from him, quickly replacing it with the pudding, and nodded to him again.

She could tell Mick wasn't really that all that hungry so soon after waking, but apparently he had decided to do anything he could to make her happy, and scooped a heaping portion onto the spoon and just seconds later it disappear in his mouth.

Beth couldn't help it: she held her breath. She wasn't an especially great cook, but in this case, she had really given it her best and wished with all her heart that it was really as good as she thought it was - simply because she knew how good it always made _her _feel when eating this dessert after an emotionally stressful situation.

Mick's face changed quickly, from feigned delight to surprised, to honestly thrilled. He even closed his eyes for a moment, just as she had always done as a child when she had taken her first spoonful of this delicious treat in her mouth, and Beth let out a happy laugh, as Mick was beaming at her shortly afterwards.

"This is really… fantastic!" He said, now greedily digging into the rest of the dish. Beth sat down beside him again, watching full of enjoyment as Mick literally inhaled the rest of her soul cure. Now everything could indeed only get better.

"My mom always made this for me when I wasn't feeling well," she said softly, and Mick looked up at her in surprise. "I think that's why I love strawberries so much. They somehow remind me of her."

Mick nodded silently, stared for a moment into the empty bowl in his hand and then put it back on the nightstand.

"Cherries," he said softly as he turned to her again. "Whenever I see them I always think of Tristan and the holidays we spent at our aunt's farmhouse when we were children. There was this huge old cherry tree in our neighbor's garden, and every summer we were there, we'd come up with the craziest plans on how to get to those cherries…" He let out a low, melancholy laugh. "Instead of just asking for them. The old couple who lived there were actually pretty nice…"

Beth looked at Mick lovingly and full of longing to learn more of these kinds of things, of his personal history, like back when they had taken their first walk after his rescue. "You must have experienced so much," she said softly. "And I still know so little about you…"

She hadn't meant to say it like that. It had just slipped out and she already reckoned Mick might still resent her, would evade her longing look. But he hadn't. Instead, his gaze became even warmer and softer.

"What do you want to know?" He asked softly.

"Really… are you serious?" it slipped from her lips in disbelief and she could already read the wonderful answer to her question in his eyes. He just laughed, took her face in his hands and kissed her. He didn't just taste so temptingly of Mick but also of strawberries - two things she loved most.

"No more secrets, right?" He asked, smiling. "And if we really want to put everything from our past behind us, you should probably get to know mine first."

She slid closer to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him, long and full of devotion, showing him how deeply his words had touched her.

"I love you," she whispered now also, close to his lips.

He wrinkled his brow a bit, as if she had reminded him of something important. "Well," he said, a small smile on his lips. "I've almost forgotten something…"

Beth didn't know exactly how it happened, but just a heartbeat later she had somehow landed softly on her back on the mattress and Mick brought her with minimal effort beneath his body. The smile that was now on his lips as he sought her gaze had something slightly wolfish about it, just like the sparkle in his eyes.

"What's that again? I will love you even more?" He whispered to her and immediately this longing in her belly became more noticeable and her heart began to beat much faster in her chest. Nevertheless, a chuckle slipped from her throat.

"I didn't mean physical love, Mr. St. John," she replied coyly and he furrowed his brows.

"St. John?" he repeated. "Who is this? As far as I know, my name is Rick Fynnigan, and are we not here for our honeymoon?"

Beth sprawled provocatively beneath him, enjoying the intimate contact with his half-naked body. "And?" she asked innocently.

"I think 'love' in this case, has a quite unique and less spiritual implication," he replied with this light scratchiness to his voice that made her hot and cold at the same time. He gently stroked her hair from her face and kissed her again, longer and deeper than before. Beth wrapped her arms around his neck, opened her lips and deepened the kiss, showing him without words that she had no objection with letting their love be physically felt. She had not expected it to happen so fast, but if this should be the reward for all the effort and pain of the last few hours, she was more than content with it. Her body apparently felt the same, because it immediately arched towards Mick, as he pushed himself further over her, finding with the center of his body, his place between her thighs. God, how she needed this intimate contact now! There would be enough time for talking later.

She inhaled gasping, as Mick's lips let up from hers, wandered on to her chin and then slid down her throat. Throat… lips… sucking at her skin… there it was already, the next unwelcome memory that was unfortunately connected to one of the problems they urgently needed to clear up - _before_ all this became more intimate. But it was so terribly difficult for her to concentrate, because one of Mick's hands had now started to unbutton her shirt and his warm lips continued moving downward, gently caressing every inch of her newly exposed skin. His own arousal was clearly felt between her legs as he pressed himself so excitingly against her ever-warming lap so that Beth gave a low moan and her fingers dug into solid muscles of his back, which had previously been gently sliding up it.

"Mick…" she breathed, still barely audible. He didn't respond to her. Instead, he pulled the fabric of the shirt aside, let at first only his hand and then his lips follow with gentle pressure the curvature of her bare breast. Beth's fingers dug even more firmly into his flesh and she sucked in her breath sharply, suppressing a voluptuous moan, as his lips closed around her rigid nipple, his tongue gently caressed and teased it. But her mind had not yet fully bowed out, was still able to fight against her instincts.

"Wait… Mick," she gasped and her hands slid to his shoulders, tried to push him away. He raised his head, dazed by his own lust, and furrowed his brows a little, confused.

"We… we should…" She broke off again, couldn't go on, not with this heavy, so seductive mans body on top of her, not with this intimate body contact. She increased the pressure of her hands and the fold between Mick's brows became even deeper, but he leaned on his arms, raised his upper body slightly and gave her more room to maneuver.

"What… what is it?" it came hoarsely from his lips. But she only shook her head, straightened herself up a little and pushed him back further so that he eventually tipped on his side. She turned to him, made him lie down on his back, so that she could slide this time astride him, bracing her hands to the left and right of him, still breathing a little too fast.

Now Mick's eyebrows wandered upwards in surprise. "Oh, okay…," he stammered, misunderstanding her intentions completely.

She shook her head. "There's something… we need to talk about," she said breathlessly, struggling with her own excitement. Well, the full-body contact wasn't as intense as it had been, but the contact in the lower regions of their bodies had actually increased, and in addition, there was also so little fabric separating them from each other. She could clearly feel his hardness through the fabric of his boxers and her panties as if they were both naked and she found it extremely difficult not to move to intensify this contact.

"Now?" Mick asked only little enamored of this and laid his hands quite automatically on her thighs, wandered, gently stroking up and down her skin, almost begging her to give in to her desire to move her hips gently in circles.

She bit her lower lip and nodded bravely. But Mick hadn't seen that, something else had taken over his full attention: her shirt, opened too far - or rather what it wasn't covering anymore - her breasts, which were being presented to him in a quite promising way. This she could see in his darkening eyes, in the growing excitement that was so clearly shown in them and in another area of his body.

"I… I want…" Beth couldn't talk. Mick's hand had left her thigh and had slipped under her shirt, now encircled her breast, stroking it, rubbing gently over the nipple that had become very hard with her arousal. She took a gasping breath, grabbed his hand and pressed it next to his head into the pillow.

Mick now seemed to be really confused. "You… you don't want this…?" He stopped short, because she shook her head again and his confusion increased even more.

"You have absolutely no idea how badly I want this, but… not this way."

There it was again, the deep wrinkle between his eyebrows that was this time a sign of his complete lack of understanding.

"I want _you_, Mick," she added explaining like she had before. "_All _of you. Not just a part."

"What… what do you mean?" He asked, although she had already seen the first spark of recognition flare up in his beautiful eyes.

"I don't want you to hold back _any_ part of you when we sleep with each other. I don't want you to not be yourself when we're intimate with each other. I want you to let go, to not fight against the vampire inside you if he should then appear."

Now he understood, because his face suddenly became very serious and she almost got the feeling he had also gone paler. Although he seemed so much better – he had probably not completely forgotten his worries and fears concerning their relationship.

Nevertheless, Beth kept talking, talked of what she longed for, what she needed from him. "I want you to love me with all aspects of your being. And if you feel the need to bite me, then do it. It won't hurt me. It never has, and I… I even like it, simply because_ you_ are the one who's doing it, Mick. I feel even closer to you than usual."

"Beth, I…" Mick began with a shake of his head, but she put a finger to his lips, silencing him that way again. She had to assert herself now, had to get him to give in, otherwise this wouldn't work between them. And now was time to do it, now that he was still so soft and pliable, longed so deeply for her closeness; now that he had given up his hero's role and depended on her strength, let her take the lead, full of trust.

"Gabriel told me my blood is a kind of cure for you," she added softly. "That's why you long for it so much when the vampire side of you gains the upper hand. It lowers the number of vampire hormones again. It calms the vampire inside you, making sure he withdraws again. I think too much of my blood isn't good for him and he feels this. He - _you_ will never drink too much of my blood. You will never hurt me in any way, Mick. Not only because you can't do this mentally, but also because you can't physically."

Her words had reached Mick; she could read it in his face, in the thoughtful contraction of his eyebrows and the flash of hope in his eyes.

"Remember, Mick?" she asked of him motivated. "You've always stopped in time; you've always been able to restrain yourself no matter what state you found yourself in. You have a natural instinct for when to stop. All you have to do now is trust in this, to believe you'll never do anything to hurt me, that you'll never harm me if you drink my blood. And you really can. I just know this."

He wanted to believe her so much, she could feel it, but even if he did believe, there was still a resistance, a resistance that would take other means to break, for it came from deep within him, from his unwillingness to accept the vampire inside him, which has existed since his first transformation.

"If you're not able to trust yourself Mick, then at least trust me," she said quietly, just knowing that the guilt over the things he had said to her just before his collapse was still there, was still gnawing at him, and for the next few days if not weeks, she knew she would have a huge advantage in any fight he may have with her. There was this strong, even tangible need inside him to make amends and to make her happy again, no matter what the cost. And it was precisely this need that helped her now fighting against his old fears and worries.

"Show me that you trust me," she repeated emphatically and her heart had already begun to beat faster, because she felt that Mick's new, more open, more optimistic side, bravely fought for the lead in his interior.

He took a deep breath and then nodded; giving his consent for what would come next. Beth's heart gave a delighted jump and she bent down further to him, kissed him full of devotion and felt his tension immediately subside a little. She could still push him further, she knew this somehow; she could ensure his fear of himself would disappear, at least in being with her forever. And she also knew how to do this. She lifted her head a little, looked at him under heavy lids, moved her lips just millimeters from his. "Turn for me," she whispered to him and could feel him tense again.

"Now?" he replied hesitantly, and she nodded.

"We've done this before, Mick," she said softly.

"You… You want me to bite you beforehand?" he stammered, almost hopefully, probably already knowing this was about something else.

This time she shook her head. "No. I want to sleep with you while you're a vampire."

He swallowed hard. "Beth… that's not possible… I…" His further words were unheard, simply because Beth again pressed her lips to his, kissed him demandingly.

"But it is," she murmured against his lips, when she had to catch her breath. "Trust me, Mick. Turn for me."

Mick was breathing deeply in and out.

"You won't do anything to hurt me," she whispered to him stealing another sensual kiss from him. "We can jointly control the vampire in you. You just need to let it happen. You just need to allow you to become one with the vampire, that _we_ become one…"

Mick gritted his teeth and she already thought that he would refuse, would again try to escape this situation, but then he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply and then out again.

Beth's heart began to beat faster immediately. She could feel the slight twitching of his body, the energy that ran through it beneath her, as the transformation began. He was going to do it, for her… out of love for her, for their relationship.

His skin rapidly became cooler, his breathing slowed down and she laid a hand, both fascinated and touched at the same time, on his chest directly over his heart, and also noticed his heart rate had slowed down, became barely noticeable anymore. When he lifted his eyelids again, the blue of his eyes had become much lighter. He was a vampire - the vampire, she had met about two years ago at the fountain in LA for the first time, not the animal like being, difficult to control that slept even deeper inside him but had already started to stir.

Beth leaned forward even more; let her lips provocatively brush his. "Further," she breathed, and knew that he understood, that he knew what she wanted. Whether he would do it in fact, was not clear to her.

He did. Did it indeed. Again she felt it more than she saw it, because he closed his eyes anew. She felt the strong energy he released as he turned and her pulse quickened immensely - not because she was afraid of this animal side, but because for the first time since she knew Mick she would get_ all_ of him, all that made Mick who he was _and_ by doing this, he proved how great his love was for her - greater than his fears, greater than his hatred of himself.

After a little while, Mick's lids lifted again and this time his eyes were white… so cold, so dangerous… and yet there was so much uncertainty written in them, so much fear of being rejected, of being turned down that Beth lifted a hand to Mick's face and caressed his cheek tenderly.

"I love you," she said once more and really meant it. She loved everything about him and there was nothing better for her than to look into this beast's face and read in it, how much the vampire within this man also loved her. She felt Mick tense a bit as her lips gently lowered back to his, but he didn't avoid her, held still, breathlessly, at least for a few seconds. Then his inner instincts took the lead, because she gently slid her tongue between his lips, feeling for his and found it.

The sound Mick uttered at this first contact was very close to a comforting growl and sent an excited chill down Beth's spine. His arms wrapped around her body, and pressed her against him and Beth now uttered a low groan herself, because the contact of her bare breasts with his slowly warming skin was too intense, caused a violent pull in her belly. She felt a slight prick as her tongue pushed against a corner of his extended fangs and only seconds later, she tasted her own blood. But it didn't matter, because Mick immediately uttered another low moan and kissed her even more intimately, taking in as much of her taste as he could.

Beth became very dizzy and she broke with difficulty from his lips, gasping for air, while Mick's mouth was already on her neck, had been moving to the point where Gabriel had last tasted her blood. She felt his tongue sliding over the hardly visible scar, feeling it, and when this light, so arousing suction started, she knew that Mick wouldn't wait to bite, could not sleep with her as long as this place did not also belong to him again, as long as he had not made it clear that she was his again, from head to toe. And she understood this, leaned her head slightly to one side, showing him her acceptance, and closed her eyes.

It didn't hurt. Not even a little. Instead, her lower body contracted violently, as his fangs dug into her flesh, opened the vein that was located just beneath the skin, and showers of the most exciting kind wandered through her entire body. It almost felt as if her body had thirsted to be recaptured in this way by Mick's inner vampire, to be possessed by him. She breathed deeply and hard, gave with each gulp of blood Mick took from her, a groan and let herself fall into the intense feelings that were brought about by this possessive and yet highly erotic bite. Her whole body began to tingle, and every nerve seemed to be stimulated at once.

But Beth didn't get to enjoy these intense feelings for long because Mick withdrew from her the next moment. His soft, warm tongue slid gently over the tingling wound left by his fangs to close it, but didn't stay there long, instead moved up her neck again. And at the same time Mick sat up together with her, brought them both into a sitting position and left her no time to worry about why he had stopped so quickly from drinking her blood. His hands slid down to her buttocks, grabbed them and firmly pressed her against his erection, let her feel how hard and ready he was for her, how great his desire for her already was. Beth bit her lower lip, suppressing the groan that wanted to escape from her throat and instinctively jerked her pelvis against him, eliciting a deep sigh from him. She didn't need to look into Mick's face to know that he was still guided by the vampire in him, had in spite of taking her blood, not turned back into a human. She simply felt this in the way he touched and kissed her. It was so impetuous and wild. His caution and fear had almost completely disappeared and it was a tremendously exciting experience for Beth. She herself was not particularly active anymore, but only responded to his deep kisses with unbridled lust, pressing herself against him, giving herself up to him as if intoxicated.

She had barley noticed when Mick had removed her shirt and panties, because any physical contact with him after the bite became so incredibly intense that after only a few seconds she could hardly think straight anymore – she had only vaguely registered the noise of tearing cloth, and that they were now both completely naked all at once. Mick pressed her tightly to him, raised her a little, and let his hardness slide deep inside her as she sank back down onto his lap, sucking air sharply into her lungs. Beth's arms slipped around his neck, and she held on, a bit shaky, enjoying the feel of this perfect union of body and mind as much as he did. For a moment they stopped, just holding each other, listening to the fast breathing of the other, the hammering of their hearts that had found a unified cadence and was loud enough that the soft, slower thumping in the background was hardly audible.

Beth was the first to move again, loosened her grip around Mick's neck slightly and looked at him. Another wave of warmth spread inside her, as she could now see what she had felt before: the so-called beast inside Mick was still there, looked at her with the same deep love for her as she had also seen in Mick's human eyes. Also, the cold white of his eyes, his paler skin, the darker rings around the eyes and the tips of his sharp canine teeth, which she could clearly see behind his slightly parted lips could not hide the fact that she had a living, feeling, and, above all, loving being in front of her – _inside _her and not a monster. A being that she loved to death.

She smiled at him again, bent forward and kissed him full of tenderness and a yearning sound could be heard from Mick's lips as he responded to her kiss with devotion. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist again and he now began to move as well, inside her, so sensuously and seductively. Beth reacted instinctively to the lifting of his pelvis, began to move up and down to accommodate his quickly more hot-tempered becoming thrusts. Her excitement grew rapidly and soon they were both not only breathing fast and haltingly but also moaning and panting under the more intense feelings that overtook their bodies.

Mick's hands had gripped her hips to take control of the pace and intensity in which she sank down on him again and again, taking him deeply inside of her. Beth leaned back, propped her hands behind her in order to change the angle of his penetration, bringing herself a good deal closer to her climax. And then his lips were back, closed around one of her nipples, sucking it into his mouth. Beth heard herself moan loudly when the sharp ends of his fangs scratched over the sensitive skin of her areola, sending convulsions of the most intense kind through her abdomen, but she wasn't ashamed of this. For this,_ all_ of this simply felt too good and she herself no longer wanted to hold back, wanted to just let go, to break away from all the pressures of the outside world, wanted to enjoy that Mick had dropped his inhibitions and joined with her fully.

Mick's warm mouth now closed around her other nipple and as he sucked on it this time, Beth had the feeling he deliberately used his fangs, enjoying it as she groaned once again ecstatically. This time, the tips of his teeth sank deeper into her flesh. There was a fine, sharp pain that was immediately forgotten when Mick started to suck and that familiar tingle spread at breakneck speed from the bite all over her body, while the pulsing and the heat in her core became almost unbearable. The now deep hard thrusts into her, Mick's tongue massaging her nipple while feeding, and the intense tingling sensation that seemed to travel even to the smallest nerves of her body was all too much for Beth's over-sensitized state. She came - violently, loudly moaning Mick's name and jerking against his pelvis under the firm grip of his fingers. Her arms gave out under the onslaught of feelings and she descended together with him onto the bed, immediately wrapped her shaking legs around his waist and her arms around his strong back, to feel him even more intensely, to let _him_ feel the pulsing of her abdomen, to let him participate in the pleasure he had given her. He breathed heavily and irregularly himself, but seemed to be able to pull himself together, contemplating something.

"Beth…" he whispered in her ear and she turned her head, looked into his eyes, darkening again. He turned back, although his state of excitement had not abated. "Reach out to me…"

She knew immediately what he meant, felt the tentative tingling of his energy in her temples and tried to concentrate, to block out the slowly subsiding orgasm a bit. Finally she succeeded, felt Mick touching her, spiritually reaching out a hand towards her, which she took immediately. And then they were suddenly there, all the feelings raging inside of Mick: his enormous sexual tension, the excitement, the throbbing and the heat in his sex, his intense desire for sexual fulfillment and his crumbling control… his climax was so close it wouldn't take much stimulation anymore…

Mick leaned his forehead against hers and began again to move inside her and Beth's senses opened up even more, perceived everything at the same time, herself, Mick, the sensations of both their bodies… Her senses opened up to Mick, making it possible for him to feel what she was feeling and that they became truly one on a physical _and_ mental level. Beth found it hard to breathe, and her body trembled and quivered under the storm of emotions. She clung to Mick, came to meet his deep, unbridled thrusts, took him in willingly again and again, moaning his name ecstatic, holding on to him and at the same time letting go completely. And then they both seemed to explode inside, merged with each other in a climax that neither had ever experienced in this way before, leaving them clinging to each other shaking and trembling and it was just so incredible that she felt for a moment as if they were rising into a different state of being, floating above it all. It took a while until the waves of this joint orgasm calmed, until they had the feeling of being back in reality and were again two people, who were indeed still connected to each other in a quite intimate way, but who had their own bodies, their own feelings and thoughts.

Mick's breath blew hot across Beth's face as he lifted his head again, looked at her under heavy lids, while a feeling of deep relaxation spread throughout their bodies, mixed with a sense of pleasure that brought a satisfied smile to Beth's lips.

"Wow," Mick uttered completely overwhelmed and his eyes searched in hers for the words he was lacking.

"And you wanted to deny me_ this_ forever?" she said softly, raised a trembling hand to his cheek caressing his heated, moist skin.

"I… I didn't know," it slipped breathlessly from Mick's lips. "I didn't know that…" He stopped, shook his head and then bent forward, pressing his lips gently on hers.

"… that the beast was so easily controlled while having sex," Beth continued his sentence when he released her lips again.

He nodded and now also the corners of his mouth lifted into a happy smile. "And that it would feel like that," he added.

Beth looked at him astonished, and it was only at that moment she remembered what Mick had once told her, that he had never slept as a vampire with a human woman. To transform purposely, to love her consciously in his transformed state and let go of all his inhibitions, this was as foreign to him, as sex with a vampire was for her. And this mental connection between them had only intensified this experience even more, was really something quite unique. Beth couldn't help it: a wide, happy grin appeared on her face and she lifted her head and pressed her lips firmly on Mick's mouth.

"Now we know, don't we?" she murmured with a smile at his lips.

"What do we know?" Mick replied comfortably. "The fact that from now on I'll be chasing you every chance I get to repeat this?" He kissed her, now grinning.

"Hmmm…" she murmured pleasurably. "Is that a promise?"

He lifted his head a little, brushing his nose tenderly against hers. "As far as I'm concerned, we never have to leave this bed ever again," he whispered to her.

Beth wrapped her legs more tightly around his waist again, well aware they were not yet resolved physically from each other, and the pleasant hum this provocative move enticed from Mick's throat, sent a warm tingling down her back. "As far as _I'm_ concerned, you never have to leave _me_ ever again," she murmured, and her lips gently touched his in doing so, just knowing she was really teasing him with this. Nevertheless, she raised her eyebrows surprised when she felt only too clearly how hard he became again inside her.

A small, mischievous grin appeared on his lips. "This is something you should get used to, since you're so keen on involving the vampire in me in our love games," he chuckled. "Vampires have a much greater stamina than ordinary men…"

Beth couldn't help it - also on her lips a grin had reappeared; only it was much more devious than Mick's. "And_ how _keen I am," she replied and pressed her lips to his. There was a lot Mick also had to learn about her: She and the vampire in him recently had more in common than he thought.


	69. Haniel de L'Entante

_I could hug you all to death for your so dear words and the many comments about my last chapter! You really made me jump up and down with joy with each comment I got and I thank you so much for this. I feel so motivated and full of energy that I write really fast at the moment. So, here's the next chapter for you and although it's not about our dear couple it's still an important chapter I think. I hope you'll enjoy it and try to be back next Saturday with a new chapter for you again. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Jo1027_

* * *

**H****aniel de l'Entante**

Some people can still surprise even old vampires like me. Benjamin Talbot was one of them. I had underestimated him from the beginning. I had been fooled by his smooth, well-dressed appearance and his arrogant, smug behavior and so had been pleasantly surprised by his courageous and committed demeanor. And I was surprised once again. When I had contacted him early in the morning the day before and asked for a discreet meeting with him, I had, despite his rapid commitment, not really expected that he would appear without any backup at our meeting place. He had admittedly taken part in one of our missions in person and in doing so had proven that he really wanted to work with us. But said mission had ended anything but smoothly and had certainly caused him some difficulties later, which for me was an understandable reason not only to cancel his cooperation with us but also to break off any form of contact with us. But as I discovered with astonishment when I drove my small hired car into the parking lot of the _Joshua Village Shopping Center_ in _Yucca Valley_, Benjamin Talbot was probably more generous and understanding than I would ever be, because he was in fact at the stated meeting point, alone and by his standards dressed in pretty casual jeans, T-shirt and leather jacket, and looking a little nervous.

I took my foot off the accelerator and stopped my car right in front of him. He bent down a little, looked with a suspicious frown into the car, then nodded at me and got in. He said nothing, just strapped his seatbelt on and as I didn't exactly know how to talk to him while still driving, I just turned away from him and simply drove off.

"No driver today?" was Talbot's first question after a few silent minutes and I nodded, uttering a slightly sad sigh.

"Right now, employees are hard to find," I explained seriously. "Must be the bullets and other projectiles flying around us much too often. Where are all these people out there looking for _the_ thrill of their lives?"

Talbot shrugged his shoulders as if he took my question seriously. "No idea. But Mick seems to probably no longer be one of these candidates, or he would be here inside the car. Where is he?"

"At a safe, much more beautiful and quieter place," I replied with a friendly but distant smile.

"Sounds as if that's all the information I'll get on this subject," Talbot surmised quite rightly and I nodded approvingly.

"I had somehow hoped that he and maybe Beth would also be a part of our conversation," he continued and in fact slight disappointment was heard in his voice.

"Those two are currently not able to have _any_ strenuous conversation," I explained, still showing Talbot my willingness to be open. "Although, they might see it differently."

"Then this is kind of a forced vacation?" Talbot asked with raised eyebrows. "Am I correct in assuming that Gabriel is not aware of it?"

His question forced me to nod again.

"And he probably doesn't know about our meeting either," the lawyer guessed quite rightly again.

This time I remained silent, nevertheless showing him that he was right in his assumption. August had informed us the morning after Mick's and Beth's departure that Gabriel was currently not physically able to hold a meeting with all of us and we should stay just where we were until we were given other instructions. That was two days ago. Two days of worrying silence, not counting the sporadic calls from Lance or August, we were only put off further and further without getting more details about Gabriel's state of health. But also two days that had allowed us to discuss everything that had happened so far and to expedite our plans for more initiative and participation in important decisions later on.

Alejandro had reported that Gabriel had repeatedly emphasized to him how important contact and an information exchange with Talbot was, precisely because of his connection to Judge Ruthers and Sinclair-Jones, and I had once again concluded that these men must certainly play a leading role in Gabriel's great plan. If we no longer wanted to stay sidelined but instead get involved with all our might, we had to obtain as much information as possible about these men and perhaps even had to get in touch with them ourselves - very carefully, of course. And who was better suited to provide us with information and perhaps to even initiate this contact than Talbot - especially since he seemed to be anxious to see through the power games of these three parties and to intervene.

"And where exactly are we going?" Talbot asked after a few minutes of tense silence had passed between us.

I glanced into the rearview mirror to check whether we actually had no pursuers before I answered to him. "To a nice little shelter where no one can bother or eavesdrop on us."

Alejandro had gotten us this 'nice little shelter' in a hurry after Gabriel had told us through Lance yesterday morning that we should rest further and remain calm until he got back in contact with us again. He had not said that we were not allowed to move and since the plan to contact Talbot for an exchange of information had been made quickly, it had been clear to us that we had to look somewhere near L.A. for a new place to hide as the lawyer had probably returned there after our joint action. And that was where we found ourselves now - in _Yucca Valley_, a suburb of L.A.

"Good," said Talbot and I now frowned at him as he sounded really satisfied.

He shrugged. "Well, it was the plan to investigate on our own behind the backs of the powerful," he explained to me with a hidden smile. "Didn't Mick tell you?"

"But of course," I lied quickly and made an inner note that I had to share information with my friend as soon as possible, so we could really all work together again, "and this is the reason for our meeting."

Talbot looked at me for a long time then nodded understandingly. "Well, then that probably means that we should exchange information about everything that has happened lately to be at the same level. And you know my motto…"

"Quid pro quo," I replied, not even trying to hide my annoyance about his beloved rule.

Talbot's lips twisted into a small smile. "How about you simply get started with this," he suggested at once.

"What? _Now_?" I answered back a little surprised and had to slow down a bit more, because I had moved up too close to the car ahead of me due to of my lack of attention.

"Why not?" Talbot said with an implied shrug. "Time is short and I think we've got a lot to talk about."

Unfortunately I had to agree with that one. "Okay," I said, breathing in audibly and preparing myself for the fact that this inquiry would not be very pleasant. "What do you want to know?"

"What exactly happened down in the laboratory?" Talbot asked immediately. "Was it really just a rescue operation or was there more behind it?"

His question didn't surprise me. I almost expected it. However, I had to take a moment to collect myself, to weigh what I could tell him, but then decided on the truth.

"From my, of course, very subjective standpoint, on Gabriel's part it was not only about freeing the professor, but also about getting as much information as possible on the Legion in the form of documents and…" I made a significant pause. "… about stealing an ancient book that is of great importance to that organization but also to Gabriel."

Talbot's dark eyebrows wandered towards each other. "An ancient book?"

I nodded.

"And what exactly does it contain?"

"Honestly? I have no idea," I replied openly.

"Have you seen it?" Ben immediately asked further.

"Yes."

"And what does it look like?"

"Old."

Talbot rolled his eyes in irritation. "Can you be a little more specific?"

I sighed. "A brown cover, yellowed pages and the front cover is engraved with a symbol."

"What kind of symbol?" Ben asked immediately, all ears, and now it was my turn to frown, because I felt the excitement that took hold of him at once.

"Kind of a tree whose roots and branches are interlaced with each other," I said and raised astonished my eyebrows because only a few seconds later Talbot hastily reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a necklace from which a pendant was dangling - a pendant that made me hold my breath for a moment and made it really hard for me to continue to concentrate on the road. I slowed the car down, reached out my hand as if in a trance, and grabbed the swaying jewelry. My vampiric senses made it possible for me to look at the jewel in disbelief while keeping an eye on the traffic at the same time so that I would not cause an accident. It was an amulet engraved on both sides. On the front was the same tree that was also found on the book and on its back was clearly a lily cross.

"Where did you get that?" I asked overwhelmed after I released it and directed my gaze back to the road, driving faster again.

"My uncle sent it to me a few hours ago along with the words that I should always carry it with me as long as this crisis continues," the lawyer said quickly. "_Is_ that the tree that can be found on the cover of the book?"

"It is," I admitted. "And the cross on the back… Mick once had a necklace with such a pendant."

Ben looked at me from the side in disbelief for a couple of heartbeats and then uttered an angry laugh, shaking his head. "Seems like my dear uncle is wrapped up deeper in the whole thing than we had guessed. Do you know the meaning of these two symbols?"

I now had to shake my head and my gaze shortly fell on my hand, or rather on the ring I wore on my finger now. I raised my hand a little, so that Ben could see the ring.

"Mick gave this to me. He said it would protect me from Gabriel when he finds out that I'm no longer following his instructions and am organizing things behind his back. I think the ring has a similar function as your amulet. These jewelry pieces are designed to protect the wearer."

"From Gabriel?" Ben questioned.

"Among other people," I replied, deeply thoughtful. "Perhaps from all the powerful who are involved in this game."

"Mick seems to know about their meaning in contrast to us," Talbot interjected.

"He had a long talk with Gabriel a few days ago," I said. "Perhaps that's where he came to know a few things."

"That makes it even worse that he's not here now and can enlighten us about it."

I avoided Talbot's searching eyes and again focused my gaze on the road. "That can't be helped now," I replied a little distracted and looked at him. "You say that your uncle has sent you the amulet, does that mean that he hasn't handed it over to you personally?"

Talbot let out another, angry laugh. "The last time I saw my uncle personally was at the reading in Washington that Beth also took part in. We talked to each other on the phone a few times after that, but he had little to say and told me to take a vacation and disappear for a while out of the country."

Well, that explained Talbot's casual clothing. It looked as if the young lawyer had been forced to follow that 'advice' now after the last mission.

"Sounds like he wants you to stay out of the whole thing," I said thoughtfully. "Did he become more active concerning our war with the Legion?"

Talbot's features turned hard and I even saw his cheek muscles twitch briefly. Then he nodded depressed. "And I really don't know on which side he stands anymore," he added to his non-verbal statement.

My stomach clenched automatically and I gave him a worried look. "What… what makes you doubt him?"

Talbot breathed in audibly. "When we drove along with the police into the toy factory because Carl had been shot… it didn't take long before several police cars and even two helicopters supposedly of some special task force for gang wars arrived. If you ask me, they were just more people of this Legion that did not want us to penetrate further into the station and see and learn things which actually nobody is supposed to know. They said that the laboratory belonged to a drug ring that was in turn attacked by another gang of criminals, and that they would now take over the whole operation. Of course, we did not want to be fobbed off with this silly explanation. The only problem was that they had a court order that authorized them to send us away and to continue the investigation on their own."

"Are you saying that your uncle signed this order?" I asked somewhat annoyed.

"Not himself, but a judge who is a subordinate to him," Ben said growling.

"That means your uncle has approved in some way the Legion attacks on us," I concluded angrily, but Talbot immediately shook his head.

"This was not an attack squad," he said. "Because they took too long before they went in even further. And as far as I know you were gone long before that. I believe that they were there to clean up and cover up what was going on in that laboratory. And I also believe that _this_ was exactly what my uncle wanted. For some reason he wants to prevent this war from going public. That also explains why they had a doctor there who immediately took care of Carl and retrieved the silver bullet. They even took the bullet with them."

Carl Davis. I had completely forgotten about that man. "How… how is Carl?" it slipped out of me, although there were much more important things to discuss. Slowly but surely I was developing into a real humanitarian. Terrible! This urgently had to be stopped.

Ben frowned and looked at me with quite a strange look. "Has nobody told you about it?"

"About what?" My question forced me to endure more seconds of silent examination by Talbot. Finally, the lawyer's chest expanded with a deep breath.

"Carl wasn't doing well, even after the removal of the bullet," he declared, and it was obvious how much the worry about the policeman had worn on him. "We brought him to a hospital and the doctors there were very worried because they didn't know whether he would survive his injury or the silver poisoning. Eventually, a Dr. Kendlroe appeared along with another man. He said Gabriel had sent him and asked Carl for a private conversation."

"He was still capable of doing this?"

"Yes. I don't know exactly what they discussed, but about an hour after the doctor left Carl was suddenly doing much better. The other man stayed with him to ensure a 'proper post-treatment'. As far as I know Carl has even been prematurely released from the hospital. He wanted to get back in touch with me soon, but so far he has not done so."

Of course, there was now a penetrating look in Ben's eyes that could actually only lead to one question that I could not answer. Not only because I didn't know if he could handle my answer, but also because I was not sure that it was the truth. Everything sounded as if Carl Davis had become one of us, but with all the research that our doctors had done into the silver ammunition and Mick's blood, it was also quite possible that he had been 'cured' in a different way from his serious wounds. I probably had no other choice than to investigate this matter in more detail later.

"Does that make sense to you at all?" Talbot now asked as he still got no response from me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not sure. Dr. Kendlroe is a very capable doctor. He may have done anything with Carl. But I will definitely try to find out."

Ben again looked at me in silence for a moment. He did not look very happy, but then nodded with compressed lips.

"Let us get back to your uncle again," I tried to direct our focus back on the really important things because I had now turned into the street where our new home was located. "If you say that Ruthers currently shies away from personal contact with you, does that mean that you also haven't been able to pass on the CD?"

The unpleasant feeling in my stomach was back again, as Talbot nodded.

"But I was able to make an appointment with him today," he added. "And I think he will really be there this time. I told him that a certain Haniel de L'Entante wants to get in contact with him and he became very excited about this."

I tilted my head a little to the side and looked at the young man in front of me thoughtfully. "Have you tried to take a look at what's on the CD?"

"Of course," Talbot replied honestly. "But it's all encrypted, and right now I lack the time to devote myself to this matter. How far have you gotten with that?"

A smile crept onto my face as I finally stopped in front of the little house where we were hiding at the moment. "Logan is working hard to decrypt the files and I think he will manage it soon. We should go and see how far he has gotten by now."

"He's also in the house?" Talbot asked in surprise and glanced over to it shortly. He seemed suddenly very much tenser than before.

"Don't worry - there are also humans in there," I said, still smiling.

"And you're not?" Talbot replied, and really brought me so far out of concept that I kept my seat stunned as he got out of the car grinning. I pulled myself together and followed him quickly, fretting about the fact that I let myself be intimidated by a human so easily. It seemed as if I still wasn't my old self yet. That had to change urgently!

* * *

Logan was actually still sitting tensely in front of his laptop when Talbot and I entered the cozy little house where the five of us had found shelter. His fingers flew over the keyboard and he gave a highly concentrated impression, didn't even take the time to turn around and greet us. But Alejandro, who had just been sitting with Frank and Guillermo beside Logan on the couch, did, jumping up at the sight of us.

"It's great that everything went well," he said, and immediately held out his hand to Talbot. "Alejandro Diego Rojas. It's a real pleasure to finally meet you in person!"

Ben took his hand, frowning, and looked at the Mexican shortly. "You're the specialist for secret hiding places and escape routes in times of need, aren't you?"

"You can also describe it like this," my old friend gave back with a smile.

"Your name was on the list of the Legion," Talbot added thoughtfully. "Why?"

"We've got a very unpleasant common history," Alejandro replied evasively. "And the Legion tends to be very unforgiving."

"You got that right," Guillermo added as he now approached the lawyer and was also greeted with a critical frown. "Guillermo Gasol – we've already met a few times."

"Yes, most recently just before the thing with the factory. But…" Talbot frowned and put his head slightly to the side, as if he had really perceived the Mexican today for the first time. And maybe it was like that, as they had met so far only in very stressful situations that could restrict the perception quite a bit.

"You've also worked in the pathology…" Talbot went on and scrutinized Guillermo further with knitted brows, then his face lit up a little. "Now I begin to understand." His expression wavered between fascination and disgust as his mind worked out what kind of work our friend had done in the pathology next to his usual work. He shook his head to get rid of that thought and then turned to Frank who looked at him from the couch.

"I don't know if I should really be happy that your liberation was successful, Professor," he said, eyeing up the old man critically. "But since I've been told that you haven't done all the things the Legion made you do by choice, and as I'm very interested in knowing what happened to you in recent weeks, I will view your liberation as something positive."

Frank could think of nothing to say. He just nodded a little intimidated and looked back to the screen of the laptop Logan had on his lap.

"How far have you gotten?" I put an end to this not too friendly greeting and walked toward the couch, pulling the others with me like a school of pilot fish.

"Actually, we wanted to call you right now," said Guillermo who had seemed slightly edgy since our arrival. "Logan has cracked the code!"

I stared at the Mexican with wide eyes and an open mouth, while my heart gave a joyful leap.

"And you only tell me _now_?" I snarled at him angrily and quickly stepped up behind Logan. "What are you still doing there then?"

"Sh-sh!" Logan hissed at me without turning and continued to type on his keyboard.

"On the CD are photos of documents, text files and other documents for the research within the Legion to find," explained Alejandro as he immediately stepped up beside me. "But there are also a few video recordings that are secured separately and Logan is trying to decode them now."

I and the others winced violently, as Logan uttered a loud "Yeeeeaah" and threw his arms into the air joyfully. "I'm a genius! I really am a genius!" He looked up to me with a bright face and patted himself with his open hand twice on the chest. "Say it! Come on! You want to!"

"Have you cracked the code?" was all I asked somewhat breathlessly.

Logan made a disappointed face. "Yes. What is _so_ difficult with just sometimes admitting that I'm simply awesome?"

I looked at him with a mixture of incomprehension and confusion, and he simply let out a deep sigh, to then turn back to his laptop.

"These…" He opened several windows on his screen. "… are the video files that were included on the CD. And thanks to my incredible skills we can now watch them."

I leaned forward a little, let my eyes glide over the names of the files and then pointed with one finger at the longest one.

"Message from Haniel de L'Entant?" I read out loud with furrowed brow.

"Shall I play this one?" Logan asked and in no time the little white arrow of his mouse was hovering over the play button of the video.

My heart began to beat faster again and I was breathing audibly through the nose, bracing myself for the worst. "Do it!" I ordered to the alleged genius and the soft clicking sound of the mouse told me that he obliged my request immediately.

It did not surprise me when I was staring at Gabriel's serious face only seconds later. He sat at a table on which some documents were lying, his hands intertwined and it seemed as if he was deep in thought. His hair was still as long as it had been before our last mission and he was wearing a brown leather jacket and a dark shirt on which the golden amulet that he wore stood in great contrast.

"And what kind of symbol is _that_?" I heard Talbot asking as he bent over the other side of Logan's shoulders and then pointed with a finger on exactly this amulet.

I could not answer him, not only because I really did not know what the meaning of these symbols on the amulet were, but also because Gabriel now started to speak.

"I don't know if you can still remember me, John, because our encounters were always far more volatile, but the amulet which I carry with me should be familiar to you and tell you who I am and that my concern really is of the utmost importance." Gabriel paused for a moment, seemed to think about what he would say next. "I knew your grandfather well and had occasional contact with your father and even if you might not want to believe me because someone has made you believe that I will only lie to you if I get in touch with you - even Rudolph was once a good friend of mine."

A short break again followed his for me so shocking words.

"All I can probably do to prove to you that at least what I've said in relation to the contact to your grandfather and father is the truth, is ask you to remember the day when we met for the first time, to remember my face. You were still a child of eight years back then and were sitting a bit scared on your father's lap. Your grandfather introduced me to your father by the name Haniel de L'Entante, the name by which I was always known to your whole family. He wanted to retire and hand over his charge to your father. I think now that it was exactly this day that changed things for the site - for the people I represent. It brought them slowly but surely to a pretty bad, now almost hopeless appearing situation. I don't want to blame your father and you alone for this situation heating up so much. Some people who were or _are_ still responsible for the welfare and safety of all, didn't meet their obligations and acted wrongly in crucial situations. I myself am not to be excluded. I was not attentive enough, should have intervened earlier and got in contact with your father, and later with you, to remind both of you of your duties and responsibilities in the role of the neutral party. I didn't realize that the Legion would infringe upon the contracts concluded between us in such a manner. But I should at least have guessed that they would." Gabriel's gaze shifted to the documents that lay before him on the table. Then he looked back at the camera.

"I don't know how strong the influence of the Legion is on you, whether you are at all able to listen to what I've got to tell you, to accept a different view of things. But I haven't given up hope yet, because I know what you've already accomplished in your life; because I know that you've got a good heart and always stood up for justice, have always been interested in the truth. And so today I'm not talking to you in my role of the representative for the _Enfants_ _Lunaire_s, but as a civilian who was a witness to cruel violations of human rights and is himself threatened by an organization to which all sense of law and order has been lost. I know that Rudolph has become a close friend of your family. I also know that he's a good man at heart, but he's under the evil influence of another organization that tries to influence him successfully and turns us against each other to reach their insane goals. This organization is called _Cercle du Sang_ and has tried for centuries to incite the _Enfants Solaires_ and the _Enfants Lunaires_ against each other and to take maximum advantage of these wars. It's still not clear to me how this organization has managed to win such an influence on the Legion. All I know is _that_ it has done so and I can provide evidence of the impact of this influence with frightening video footage and documents to be found on this CD. Please have a look at the material, even if it is cruel. It will help you to understand what inhumanities have happened already behind your back. If we cannot stop the _Cercle_ together, the Legion will continue with these things and _we_ will have to continue to fight them if we don't want to die or end up in one of their test labs." Gabriel let out a mournful breath, shook his head sadly.

"I'm ready to do everything possible to ensure that this war ends - _everything_. I know that the Legion is looking for me - probably because the Cercle persuaded them that they need me to get to their destination. And perhaps this is true, because the Cercle has been trying for a long time now to get me into their hands and makes use of ways and means which have already caused the Legion and the _Enfants Lunaires_ to rage against each other in the past. The last time this happened was in 1942 and a war could only be prevented by the wise and prudent intervention of your grandfather. It even caused the Legion to lend me and those who needed to be protected their support and to inflict enough damage to the Cercle du Sang that they had to retreat to Europe. However, there had been unnecessary losses and innocent people died. Today, the losses are much higher, because apparently there's no one to keep an objective view of things and to finally put an end to this unnecessary war. So many innocent people have already had to suffer from it, so many people have died and there will be even more if someone else, a neutral person, is not there to step in, a person who has the power and the possibilities for it and can gather all those who have caused this chaos around a table to find a peaceful solution to our problems. But as long as the Legion continues to hunt, torture and kill us, I cannot and will not stop protecting and defending those who trust me, who I shall lead, by all available means. The Legion _must_ be stopped and come to their senses! The influence of the Cercle _must_ be diminished and you finally_ have to_ become aware of your neutral and responsible role in this alliance again and intervene! I don't know how thoroughly your father has informed you about all the things concerning the agreements between the _Enfants Lunaires_, the Legion and the representative of the _Enfants Solaires_. I only know that he didn't do it in my presence or Rudolph's. For this reason I have burned all these old contracts to this CD for you. Please read them through and _please_ give me the chance to report to you on the things that have happened from my point of view in a personal meeting. Form your own view on these things and not simply accept the one of your friend Rudolph."

Gabriel let out a soft sigh. "If you don't want to meet me alone, then take Rudolph with you. I know that he's hiding right now for security reasons. But he will come when you tell him that I'll turn myself in, that he and his Legion…" Gabriel stopped, lowered his gaze and took a deep breath before he looked back at the camera. "Tell him that I will voluntarily go with him if he gets involved in new negotiations with the _Enfants Lunaires_ and promises to leave alone those who are under my protection, forever. Tell him that - then he will come."

Gabriel looked for a few more seconds with a shocking determination into the camera, than the picture went black and an awkward silence descended upon us. It had been too much terrifying information at once and every one of us knew that Gabriel had said his last words in all seriousness, that he had put his own life in the balance to restore the peace between vampires and humans.

Talbot was the first of us to recover and move, straightened up and ran his hand over his face, shaking his head in disbelief. Then he suddenly leaned towards Logan again.

"I… I want to see it all," he said excitedly and pointed to the screen. "All videos, all the documents… I…" He paused and searched my gaze while I was still struggling with my own shock. "Do we have the time for this?"

I looked at him silently for a moment then I managed a minimal nod. We _had to_ have the time for that. For now, just at this moment, the time had come when we had the opportunity to get to know the background of this war to see through the grand scheme of Gabriel's final plan and to turn from the puppets, which we had been in this game, to the persons that would affect the fate of everyone in the end. I knew this. We all knew.


	70. Back to Life

_Sooo… it's already Saturday here in Germany and I can post the next chapter. Thanks for your great comments again. I literally sucked them in and am so eager for the next ones. I'm still really motivated and am quite fast with the German chapters and that's partly because of your support. So feel hugged again. I will be back next Saturday again and wish you as always a great weekend! Yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**Back to Life**

* * *

"_To feel your own heart's pulse. Peace from within, peace from without. Learning to breathe again, that's it."_

_Christian Morgenstern_

* * *

Three days, that's all it had taken. Three days to convince himself that there were still things in life worth fighting for, that there were still happy, carefree times that you should enjoy to the fullest, which one could gather strength from for the troubling times ahead. These last few days in the seclusion with Beth by his side in this small paradise had changed Mick, had opened his senses to his environment again and had brought about this wonderful feeling of relaxation and balance within him. He felt everything so much more, much more intense than he had before… it almost felt as if he had freed himself from a cocoon that over the years of life as a vampire, had wrapped itself around his soul and his senses - a cocoon that could only have been burst by this new form of existence. And he enjoyed it so much, to once again engage his feelings, uninhibited and without reservations, and to let life approach him - though deep in his subconscious he knew their problems hadn't disappeared completely, that from both the outside and on some inner level, there were still battles to be fought. But Mick wasn't going to be intimidated by that anymore. He now knew _what_ he wanted and _where_ he wanted to go, just as he now realized that this phase of his recovery would have been necessary at some point to get the upper hand on his still so uncertain future and to influence it according to his wishes and needs.

And to do that, he needed precisely moments like these, moments of peace and enjoyment in which he'd close his eyes to get in touch with his now, seemingly useful vampiric side, and to open his mind as far as possible. As a normal vampire this shift in being was impressive enough, but since vampires weren't particularly sensitive to external stimuli while in this state, it had never been that pleasurable for Mick, not like it was now; now that the vampire and human side of him had found common ground, truly complemented each other. The different smells, which invaded him from everywhere, were so intense that he felt intoxicated by them; sounds not only penetrated his ear, but also wandered tingling through every pore of his body and his tongue perceived flavors the likes of which he had never previously known existed.

With regard to the feeling side… There was a reason why he and Beth rarely left the bed and yesterday, because of this, they had decided to force themselves to maintain a certain amount of physical distance from one another in order to_ talk_ more or do other things together that wouldn't lead them into giving in to their need for the greatest possible physical closeness. Currently, they were indeed behaving like a couple on their honeymoon, could hardly keep their hands off each other and needed the closeness of the other like the air they breathed. Even with Coraline Mick had not demonstrated this need for physical closeness as excessively as he did with Beth; but he had also never felt so happy, so connected with a woman as he did with her. His fear of hurting her or even killing her during their intimate moments was completely gone and because of that he no longer held his vampiric side back anymore. He knew now that even in his transformed state he wasn't a danger to Beth and since he no longer fought it, that side of him had not emerged as often. It was just as Beth had surmised. Her blood calmed the vampire in him and after taking, for her, a harmless amount of blood, he was satisfied and withdrew - for quite a while - and Mick the human would come into play more. Beth even seemed to enjoy this switching between sides, mainly because she never knew in advance whether he would or wouldn't turn, and on the other side, Mick enjoyed surprising her and giving her something she could never find with any other man.

The only moment that still caused Mick any anxiety was the moment of the_ first_ bite. This fear of accidentally giving her pain or frightening her with this wild side of him had not disappeared completely. But he at least had been confident enough so that she hadn't perceived this minimal hesitation.

And then there were the tender moments after they had loved each other passionately, moments in which they held each other, cuddled and caressed each other, just enjoying the feel of their deep connection and the closeness between them. It was moments like these that Mick truly felt happy - not just satisfied, but really happy, because he felt he had finally arrived, had come home, that he was where he had always belonged. And it was just this feeling that grounded him and gave him the balance and inner strength he needed so much for the future.

The future… no, he still didn't really want to think about it right now, even though he had already felt he was able to face it with more strength and determination than he ever had before, and that somehow he would find a solution to their problems. No, for now, it was the present and the past on which he wanted to concentrate. The present with Beth that he needed to continue to heal, to get stronger from the inside even more, and the past that they needed to process together and finally leave behind. _Together_… not alone. It felt good to be able to think and live that way. It was so liberating.

Mick still kept his eyes closed, inhaling the scents around him deeply through his nose. He had left the door to the veranda open after returning from his little run through the slight drizzle and his climb in the woods, and now the smell of wet foliage and rain penetrated his nose. It mingled with the woodsy smell of the house and the aroma of bacon and eggs that rose up in smoke fumes from the pan in front of him. And even with the mixture of all these intense odors, it still hadn't prevented him from picking out Beth's scent – ever so lightly. The smell of soap, hair shampoo and body lotion drowned her own smell, but it was still unmistakably her. His sensitive hearing told him she was now leaving the bathroom where she had disappeared to a little while ago to shower, and to get changed. He not only heard her steps through the ceiling above him, but her quiet contented singing and then the opening of the closet.

His lips twisted into a small smile and he opened his eyes again to push the scrambled eggs à la St John, which he was preparing this morning, back and forth in the pan so it wouldn't burn. He was looking forward to seeing the expression on her face when she noticed him preparing it for them both. So far it had always been her who had gotten up early to surprised him with a delicious breakfast, but he had awoken first today.

It wasn't really a nightmare that woke him, although it had started out as one. He had again been rushing through the corridors of a laboratory, full of panic that he might be caught again and punished for his attempted escape. But he soon realized no one was pursuing him, that he was all alone. And then there had been this door with the window in it that he had approached with a wildly beating heart and had looked into the face of this boy, this so familiar face in which no fear could be found. The boy had smiled and pressed his hand to the window and Mick had done the same, instinctively. At first it had been the cool glass he had felt under his palm, but then he had suddenly felt the warmth of the boy's hand taking his, pulling him forward. The door disappeared and Mick had let himself be lead to freedom by this happy smiling boy, into a lush, green landscape of fields and meadows with blue skies and tall trees whose branches were reaching for the bright shining sun… and Beth. She was coming towards him, laughing, walking barefoot over the green lawn and there had been something behind her, hidden by the dress she wore that was billowing in the wind. The boy had looked at him happy, and only in this moment had Mick recognized him, he had realized he was looking into his own face.

No, it hadn't been a nightmare that had scared him awake. That was what he had told Beth, as she sleepily reached for him and hugged him to her to calm him. Whether she had understood that, he wasn't sure. She probably hadn't, because he had been stirred up the same way the night before when he had had the last nightmare that haunted him. And basically it wasn't really important, since she had been able to calm him down quickly this time as well – in a, for both of them, very pleasant way. She had fallen asleep again afterwards and Mick had decided to explore his surroundings a little and then surprise Beth with a hearty breakfast. Unfortunately, she had woken a little too early and had bothered him in the middle of his preparations. But she had quickly retreated to take a shower, humming a few oldies to herself while in there that were very familiar to Mick making him smile the whole time.

Apparently Beth was in the same good mood as he was today. To live together as a real couple, to enjoy their brief 'honeymoon', had done them both and especially their relationship such unbelievable good, so much so that he was already dreading the day he'd have to give all this up. They had never had the chance to see how they would react as a couple, and perhaps that's what had made it so difficult to deal with each other in recent weeks. Subconsciously they had both longed to be alone with each other, to really get to know each other, to try out what it was like to live together but the frustration with the fact that it just wasn't possible had only worsened their already bad situation even more.

Now everything was different. Josef had freed them from all the other stressful things around them and had given them the time they needed to deal with one another in a relaxed, peaceful environment, to really get to know one another. Mick, as his friend, was infinitely grateful, for even this short amount time which was a real blessing for them both. Mick had cast all caution to the wind, had rid himself of his old, flawed behavior of blocking and running away and really opened up to Beth, was really trying to answer all of her questions about his past - even those that were painful, or those he feared. But so far, all his fears had been unfounded, because Beth simply understood him as no one else had, and sympathized with him instead of being shocked by his stories or even despising him. He had answered a lot of her questions and had told her so much about his life, yet there was still so much more she needed to know…

She _would_ get to know it - _everything_. He would completely open up to her, just as she'd done with him. She had told him of her secret wishes and dreams, her own personal memories of her childhood, which he had only taken part in from a distance. It felt so different to hear about these things directly from her, to be invited by her to look at her life once again - through _her _eyes. And she had been the one who had directed his attention to the positive memories of his life.

"It's such a shame that the negative things in life are always so prominent in our minds," she said, "because the beautiful things are the ones that give us so much strength and help us along. Maybe we should try to find two good things for every bad memory, or even more…"

And that's what they had done and after a while it had even become quite natural for them. Beth had been right. The beautiful memories had really helped, they were a weapon against all the bad things that had always pushed to the fore and had seduced him into falling into his old, bad habits. And they changed his point of view, had helped him to find even more of those good times for himself, because somehow all the things that previously bothered him had started to meld, to flow into each other. His past into the present, his fate into Beth's, his vampiric side into his human side… Somehow, with each passing hour, with every word, every feeling that he and Beth shared, with every minute they spent together, it all began to mesh, to make more sense. And even his time in the laboratories, the things that had happened to him there, slowly, _very_ slowly, began to lose their terror, became a part of his past, a past he simply couldn't suppress anymore and certainly couldn't deny and shouldn't. He had to accept what had happened, because it couldn't be changed - just as he had to accept what had become of him.

Of course it was still hard talking about his time at the hands of the Legion - that would never change, but no one was forcing him to. What was important was that he remembered that time, not pushed it away fearfully or tried to repress it. He understood that now, just as he knew Beth would always be there for him to listen to him sympathetically and give him the support he needed to process these memories. And in return he would try to make her happy, as happy as possible. He could do it. He knew that now, had felt it in recent days. His love could make her happy, just as _hers_ made _him_ happy.

He focused even more on her, on what she was doing up there in the room above him. He did this from time to time, when she wasn't near him - not to monitor her, but simply because it felt so good to perceive her, to feel and hear that he was no longer alone, that she was with him. He was cautious not to unintentionally invade her thoughts so as not to annoy or scare her, just as he currently avoided listening too closely to her sometimes quite strange sounding heartbeat that had often made him wonder. He felt she was well and this was enough to stop him thinking about it further, to push his concerns about this little obtrusiveness as far away as possible. Whatever his blood had done to her - it had only had positive effects so far, so at least for the moment he could ignore the erratic heartbeat and vigorously reject the little voice, this excited vibration in his interior, which wanted to stir the strangest, most unlikely thoughts in him. All that was important right now was to enjoy their intimate closeness and to banish any unnecessary worry from this certainly not forever lasting happiness.

As Beth came down the stairs, he could hear her footsteps, the sound of her bare feet on the smooth wooden treads. She was still humming softly to herself while she dried her hair with a towel. He hadn't turn to her as she entered the kitchen, but instead began to season the scrambled eggs with a slight grin on his face, because he felt her quietly stepping up to him. Seconds later, two arms slid around his waist, a warm, seductively soft woman's body pressed tightly against his back and he heard her coo a faint "Good morning, Mr. Fynnigan", before slightly turning to her, as far as her embrace would allow. Two large, blue eyes, framed by long lashes looked at him fondly and Beth's rosy lips twisted into a happy smile, because he, out of a profound need, had just bent down a bit and stole a little kiss from those lips.

"Good morning, Mrs. Fynnigan", he replied in an equally soft voice. He wasn't sure who exactly had started using their code names in this playful manner, but sharing the same name with her felt good, and would usually, shortly thereafter, result in them giving into that 'honeymoon-feeling' and make love to each other.

"Haven't we already done this today?" he added, as Beth loosened her grip on him enough for her to stand to the side of him rather than behind him so she could throw a curious peek into the pan.

"Maybe so," she replied with a grin. "But then someone tired me out so much I fell back asleep again. So 'Good morning' is quite fitting." She audibly inhaled the aroma of the food through her nose. "Is this the world-infamous scrambled eggs à la St John?" She nodded in the direction of the pan.

Last night they had talked about what memories of their parents they loved the most and Mick had told Beth of the great Sunday breakfasts his father would always serve him and his brother on their birthdays. It was one of the few memories that had somewhat helped to reduce Mick's frustration and anger about his father. And again it had been Beth who had helped him to understand his father better and to see that his secrecy had actually been a sign of his love for him. He had told her everything he had learned from Gabriel - and it had done him good to hear her thoughts on it…

* * *

"_It's all really hard to digest," Beth said softly as her fingers gently skimmed along the fine scar on his breastbone. Her head rested on his chest and she had snuggled close to him, with one leg sprawled over his. _

_Mick managed a minimal nod, fighting the growing pressure in his chest by pulling Beth even closer to him and burying his nose in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. _

_For a few seconds she too had said nothing, only gently stroked his chest. But then he felt her take a breath. "But… do you really think it would have been better for you to have known all these secrets in your family from day one?" _

_Mick didn't know how to answer. If he was honest, he hadn't really thought about how his life would have turned out if his father had told him everything early on. It had been easier just to condemn him for his dishonesty rather than wondering about the reasons his father might have had for his behavior and whether in the end he hadn't acted any differently than any other concerned parent might have. _

"_I don't know," Mick finally replied quietly. "Maybe not when I was younger… but later on as an adult? It would have made me a little more cautious. I probably wouldn't have become involved with Coraline…"_

"… _wouldn't have been turned, and wouldn't have been able to save me…" Beth continued his sentence thoughtfully, and Mick paused. She was right. Somehow all these things were connected, the negative _and_ the positive. _

"_But you might not have been kidnapped," he simply replied quickly, even though he couldn't be certain about that. _

"_Whatever the case, you wouldn't be here now, lying in this bed with me," Beth concluded her thought with a small smile and looked up at him. _

_Even Mick's lips twisted into a __grin. "Who knows - maybe I would have turned out to be such an attractive ninety year old man, that you wouldn't have been able to resi… Ouch!" _

_Beth had pinched him in the side with an expression that wavered between indignation and amusement, and Mick quickly caught her hand laughing, first pressing a small kiss on her fingers and then kissing her forehead. _

"_Okay, so what you're saying is that I should actually be grateful for my father's silence, because otherwise _everything_ might have turned out different." _

"_No."__ She shook her head emphatically. "His behavior certainly wasn't right. But you can't change that now. It's just that you shouldn't allow what you learned in hindsight to tarnish the memory of your relationship with your father.__That wouldn't be right, because the picture you drew of him wasn't wrong in the long run because of this… your connection to each other, the feelings he had for you, certainly all this has to count for something that it wasn't all meaningless because of this." _

_Mick swallowed hard. "But__ it felt that way," he uttered lowly, and immediately the pressure in his chest returned again, followed by this tingling sensation in his nose. "We were on bad terms when he died and there was no chance of reconciling with each other. But when he passed his ring on to me and left me a letter in which he explained his behavior… I was so sure that this was a sign of his… his…" He stopped and pressed his lips together, fighting the burning in his eyes with all his might. _

"_His love for you?" Beth whispered, moved, and her fingers gently caressed the contours of his chin. He just nodded and gritted his teeth firmly to control his emotions. _

"_Mick… why did you give Josef your ring?" Beth asked softly, looking at him quizzically. _

_Mick had to clear his throat to be able to speak. "Because I… because I wanted to protect him." _

"_And why do you want to protect him?" _

_Mick didn't answer immediately - not because he had to think about his answer, but because he suddenly understood what she was getting at. _

"_Because I love him,"__ it came softly over his lips and even as he spoke, the pressure in his chest almost completely disappeared and a sense of deep relief and warmth overcame him. _

_On Beth'__s face a gentle, compassionate smile appeared. "I'm sure your father loved you more than anything, Mick. And that's the _only_ reason he kept all those things secret from you. He wanted to protect you, just _because_ he loved you so much. Who wouldn't do that?" _

_Mick tenderly took her face in both hands and kissed her, telling her in that way how grateful he was that she was here with him, helping him to come to terms with his apparently still quite chaotic and blocked emotions. _

"_He would have loved _you,_" he said softly and brought a radiant smile to Beth's whole face. "I think he always wanted me to find a woman like you - just like my mother." _

"_I thought she was desperately trying to marry you off to Natalie," Beth grinned and it was obvious how much she was already enjoying knowing so much about his past. _

_Mick chuckled. "I think this was just desperation because she noticed my interest and thought that such a sensible girl like her might bring her wild child back on track again. And basically she got to me through Tristan's allusions."_

_Beth tilted her head a bit. "Do you think Tristan would have liked me?" _

"_Without a doubt," Mick said with conviction. "But I would have never introduced you two." _

"_Why not?"__ Genuine surprise resonated in Beth's voice. _

"_He was quite the charmer, and in the end you might have married him and not me." _

_Beth lifted one eyebrow, and it was only at that moment that Mick realized what he had said. He took a breath, prepared to speak, but then held back because Beth now started to laugh. _

"_It seems as if someone here is taking his role a little too seriously," she grinned, but he felt that some of her amusement was just put on. Perhaps she felt the same way he did, namely that their relationship indeed felt like that of a newly married couple. And it was a good feeling, a feeling he dearly wanted to hold on to, even after they left this wonderful place. But whether that was fair to her, Mick wasn't sure. No one knew what the future would bring, what chance their relationship might have. And, if he was being honest with himself, he was still going to need time to recover after the 'honeymoon'. A Trauma like this couldn't be overcome so quickly… so it was better to put that thought out of his mind quickly… _

_He simply kissed her again and turned with her so she came to rest half-way beneath him. _

"_Is that supposed to prove that I'm right with my theory?" she giggled against his lips, which moved rapidly into a broad grin. _

"_What an awfully smart woman I've hooked me," he whispered to her and drowned her response in an intimate kiss._

* * *

"Mick?"

He looked a little confused into a pair of amused sparkling blue eyes and briefly shook his head to clear his mind from the memories of yesterday.

"Sorry… I…" He chuckled at himself, pushed the pan over to a cool burner and then turned off the stove. "Now I'm all yours," he said, turning to her. Beth's arms immediately slid around his neck and she stood on tiptoes, gently pressing her lips to his.

"All mine?" she repeated with relish and put her head back, to be able to get a better look at him, with these bedroom eyes, that immediately made the blood flow increase in one particular area of his body.

He raised his eyebrows a little, but could hardly suppress the lewd grin. "From head to toe," he said.

"And I can do with you whatever I want to?" She asked, with a blink of her eyelashes, which would probably knock down the strongest man.

He nodded and bent down, just had to taste these soft, warm lips again. Why was just everything about this woman so irresistible?

"However, I'm wondering, how is it that you already want to do with me again what I think you want to do with me," he gave back hoarsely, as her lips had broken away from his, and were moving very lightly along his chin. "Especially since that's how our day already started out."

"It's the rain," she mumbled against his cheek and let her lips then wander to his ear.

"The rain?" Mick repeated with a scratchy voice.

He felt her nod. "Somehow the rain has taken on a distinctly erotic feel for me," she whispered to him. "And you're to blame for this…"

He let out a chuckle as he realized what she was referring to. "Don't complain," he whispered with his lips at her neck. "You're still better off than I am. At least it doesn't rain every day, but _I_ still cannot shave, without thinking of sex."

A hoarse laugh came over Beth's lips and she let her fingers glide with a satisfied sigh through his hair as his lips slowly worked down her neck.

"Is that why you so rarely shave," she asked, already breathing faster.

"Maybe…" Mick murmured against her cleavage as he pushed her against the kitchen counter. "But maybe I just know that this rugged look really turns you on."

Her husky laugh again sent a pleasant shudder throughout his body and prompted him to once again press his lips to hers, kissing her deeply and hungrily. He wanted more of her… all… now… at once… His hands clasped her waist and lifted her with ease onto the kitchen counter. Beth immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him close against her, clearly showing him that she too was already longing for this intense physical connection again.

"Is this normal for us to behave this way?" she whispered against his lips, as her hands pulled his shirt out of his pants impatiently and his were opening the top buttons of her dress. "I mean… _so_ often… Can this be normal?" There was indeed slight concern in her voice and Mick raised his head and looked at her.

"Are you seriously worried about that?"

She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Not worried - just thinking…"

"What in our relationship has been normal so far, Beth?" he asked with a small smile.

She didn't answer. Instead, her lips twisted into a grin.

"And quite honestly - _I_ have some catching up to do," Mick continued, grinning. "_Abstinence_ has been my middle name for far too long. But if you don't want to continue with this type of abnormal behavior, we can always…"

"Oh, shut up," Beth replied with a broad grin and simply pressed her lips back to his mouth.

Unfortunately, it was someone else that didn't want them to continue with this kind of activity, because the next moment the mobile phone Beth had taken with her began to ring. They both stopped out of breath. This could only be Josef. And _if_ it was Josef, something important had to have happened. Although… the last time he had called it had just been to tell them that everyone was well, because Gabriel had decided to retreat for a few days more and because of that, forced them to take a short vacation - which of course had contributed significantly to the fact that Mick and Beth had been able to relax even more. So it was quite possible that everything was still okay and that Josef just wanted to know how they were doing.

Beth was the first to recover from her shock, enough for her to be able to move again. She pushed Mick away a little, slipped from the kitchen counter and walked on slightly shaky legs over to the living room table on which the phone lay. He saw her take a short breath in order to prepare herself for bad news. Then she answered the call with a brief "Yes".

Mick concentrated on his hearing as he followed Beth and perceived Josef's next few words well enough for it to seem as if he had the phone to his ear.

"… will not be available for a while. Just so you don't worry."

"What exactly is going on over there with you all?" Beth asked now a bit worried and Mick wrinkled his brow thoughtfully as well. His friend sounded a little tense, so something significant must have happened.

"Everything's alright," was the answer Mick had been expecting, but Josef really hadn't convinced him. "We're just on our way to a meeting with the others."

Beth searched Mick's gaze worriedly. "With Gabriel?" she asked.

"No. He won't be there… He'll be close of course, but he's not participating in this meeting."

Mick wasn't sure what to make of this information. On the one hand he was happy that Josef's unilateral action in relation to him and Beth had not been exposed yet, but on the other hand he slowly began to worry even more about the old vampire. It wasn't normal for Gabriel to close himself off so much. He had to really be feeling bad. And that wasn't good - not good at all.

"And what exactly will you be discussing at this meeting?" Beth probed further with dread.

"Probably how to proceed from here on out and how things have developed so far."

"They'll ask where we are," Mick said, aware that Josef too could hear him just as well.

"They will," Josef agreed. "But I've already worked out a few ideas to get them to back off, without getting into more trouble, I think. They won't catch on to me so quickly."

"Have you been able to meet with Talbot?" Beth asked and Mick raised his eyebrows in surprise. Apparently Josef had already called more often than he had previously noticed, since this information was completely new to him.

"Yes," Josef replied immediately. "And we've learned a lot of important things. But I'll tell you about that when I see you. In any case, he's still on our side - now even more than before. And when I say 'our side', I mean our little group. I think he'll be able to help us get the whole situation back under control." Mick heard someone say something in the background. If he wasn't mistaken, it was Logan, and so Josef's next words were no surprise to him: "I really have to go. Just one more thing: are you doing well?"

"Yes, we… we really are recovering," Beth replied with a grateful smile, which Josef couldn't even see.

"Just see that you get some real sleep between all that _'recovering'_," Josef replied, and _his_ grin could be heard loud and clear which made Beth's cheeks glow.

"Good luck Josef and take care," she finally said, and the look in her eyes was almost affectionate. Mick really didn't want it, but a little twinge of jealousy rose inside him. This was really pathological!

"I will," he still heard his best friend's voice, then the call broke off and with a quiet sigh Beth put the phone back down on the table.

It wasn't easy for Mick to hold her gaze as she looked at him, but he eventually succeeded in giving her a little, encouraging smile.

"He can handle it," he said. "What's one silly little meeting for such an old, savvy businessman like him?"

Beth nodded and breathed audibly in and out. "I know I shouldn't worry, but…" She sighed again. "It's just that so many bad things have already happened…"

This time it was he who nodded, although a part of him was busy thinking about something completely different rather than worrying about his friend. It wasn't that he wasn't worried, he cared too much for Josef for that, but the idea that Beth also harbored deeper feelings for Josef was getting stronger and finally caused him to voice what was bothering him.

"You and Josef… you got pretty close to each other within last year, didn't you?" Mick tried to look at her as motionless as possible, to give the issue the most informal tone he could, but Beth knew him too well, knew immediately what was bothering him, and he could see she did in her eyes.

"Why do you ask?" She asked nonetheless almost naive.

He avoided her gaze, let himself down on the armrest of the sofa, his arms crossed over his chest and then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know… Back then he would have normally contacted _me_, called and informed _me_ about everything… and usually…" Another shrug followed the first and as Mick looked at her again, he knew full well that a hint of uncertainty was written in his eyes. "He really likes you… and this… this is a lot for Josef."

"Are you jealous?" Beth asked straight forward. She didn't appear angry, simply looked at him quizzically. Admirable, if one really thought about what he had thrown at her in their quarrel concerning her relationship with Josef.

"No," it came far too quickly over Mick's lips and again he couldn't hold eye contact with her. "I… I just wondered why."

His gaze found hers again, anxiously searching her face for a sign that perhaps his fears might be justified after all. A year was a long time, and a lot could have happened. And even though Mick didn't think his friend and Beth were capable of cheating on him intentionally… they were only human and Mick himself could understand that in grief and despair you cling to the people that feel the same way. Feelings could change quickly. Caring and compassion could quickly develop into passion. At least that's how it had been between him and Lilah.

Beth had become very serious and stepped closer to Mick, put a hand to his cheek and held his gaze.

"_You're_ the reason, Mick," she now replied softly. "Our love for you. We needed each other to get through it all, to not lose hope that we'd find you. Our love for you brought Josef and me closer, as friends - _best_ friends, but nothing more. And that Josef now looks for my presence when he's feeling down, or that he doesn't immediately ask for you when he calls…" Beth shrugged her shoulders. "I think it's just out of habit. You weren't there for such a long time and he needs to get used to that again, that you're there for him, and ready to listen to him again."

Mick nodded understandingly and took a deep breath let the feeling of relief he needed so desperately finally enter him. He got up again, raised a hand to her cheek and skimmed his thumb over these charming laugh lines that framed her gentle smile.

"Josef loves you so much," she continued, putting her arms around his neck. "And we both knew you were still alive. We both felt it somehow. There has never been more than friendly feelings between us - do you believe me?"

He nodded again, leaned forward and kissed her. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and she let out a little chuckle.

"This has got to stop," she said with a grin and he raised his eyebrows questioningly. "These never ending apologies. Maybe there's something you can do that you don't have to apologize for it later. Wasn't there just something?"

Mick cast a glance over her shoulder at the breakfast table. "Well, I'm not sure I can guarantee that. It's been quite a while since I last prepared such a breakfast…"

Beth's grin only got wider. "I'm not talking about that!" she said, as she wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck and kissed him. Oh, yes, with respect to this, he certainly wouldn't need to apologize - maybe later, for her having to enjoy her scrambled eggs à la St John, cold.

* * *

There wasn't really much she needed to make her happy. Currently it was enough for Beth to just lie outside on the porch in this hammock snuggled close to this wonderfully warm, strong male body, letting the aromatic spring wind blow through her hair and listening to this deep, beautiful voice, which continued to guide her into a life, which couldn't be more exciting and of which she now felt a part of. She had heard in recent days so much about Mick, got to know so many other lovable sides of him that she fell with every day, every hour - oh, what, every _minute_ they spent together more and more in love with him. She hadn't thought before that she could love him any more than she already did, hadn't thought it was possible. How wrong one could be!

This intense togetherness, the constant physical contact with each other, the passion and the connection that existed between them, it all felt so good, gave her new energy, such hope and salvation that she momentarily felt as if they really would be able to make everything right again, that they could take their future into their own hands and even change it for everyone. Together, they could be _so_ strong. Only they were never again allowed to let go of each other. Yes, that was a good idea – just never let go of Mick, not mentally nor physically. She wouldn't let anything come between them, tear them apart or separate them again. Never again.

She must have clung to Mick a little too tightly because he suddenly stopped talking, stopped in the middle of his story of Tristan and the sequoia. She felt him looking at her frowning, even though his chin was resting on her head and she couldn't see him because she was staring over the railing of the veranda into the forest, whose canopy dripped with rain incessantly.

"Is everything all right?" She heard him ask, and his warm breath blew into her hair causing tingling goose bumps to appear on her arms and neck.

"Yeah. Why?" she murmured against his chest and only snuggled closer to him.

"Just now you seemed so tense," he said and his warm hand gently caressed her arm, which she had wrapped possessively around his waist.

"Maybe I was a bit cold," she lied with a small shrug and the guilty conscience that had been tormenting her for quite a while now increased even more.

"Wait…" He moved, reaching for the blanket, which currently only covered their lower bodies and pulled it carefully up to her neck, covering her caringly.

Beth closed her eyes, let out a comforting sound and took a deep breath. "Go on…," she requested quickly, so he didn't get the chance to keep on asking. "Tell me what you did up there in that tree."

Sometimes she was really glad she had such a well-functioning mind and was able to multitask. Otherwise, Mick would have long since realized that her thoughts drifted from time to time during their talks to a topic, which he really _should _be informed about and that she really only avoided out of selfishness and fear: the fact that she was expecting his baby, that he would be a father in the not too distant future.

Actually, she had wanted to tell him about it the first day they arrived, but then Mick had provided her this loophole, when he had said they should push aside the future for a few days in order to work on the past and enjoy the present. Well, actually the baby inside her _belonged_ to the present, after all it was already there, but the side of her that longed so much for a bit of togetherness, for a truly normal relationship with Mick, had simply taken over and allowed her to persuade herself that this issue belonged more to the future and could still wait. Of course she knew subconsciously that her behavior wasn't fair, especially now that Mick himself tried so hard to open up to her and to uncover all the secrets between them - just as she knew she was taking the risk of getting into another conflict with him. But she simply couldn't bring herself to tell him yet, didn't want to give up this wonderful, intimate togetherness, wanted to hold on to the harmony between them at all costs and not have to work at calming Mick down again, to battle his concerns over how they could protect their child together. She felt so overwhelmed, wasn't yet ready to fight again, and _that_ Mick would be upset and would worry was actually as sure as death and taxes. Mick was still Mick, even though he had changed. His reaction to this information wouldn't be calm and collected. He couldn't. And what they had now, this peace, this happiness, would disappear once again, definitely.

Beth compressed her lips, trying hard to breathe calmly and evenly so Mick wouldn't realize what was going on inside her. But the idea of eventually being pulled away from this wonderful feeling of being together was so hard to bear, choked her up and drove unwanted tears into her eyes…

"What is it Beth?" She heard Mick ask quietly, though he had just been raving about the view from the mammoth tree in front of their house, which he had climbed this morning in memory of his brother.

"Nothing," she replied just as quietly, but her own husky voice belied her, as did the tears, which she now had to blink away much stronger. She was ashamed of her own behavior, of her cowardice and selfishness, but she couldn't help it, couldn't overcome herself, simply wasn't strong enough.

Mick moved again and suddenly his fingers were on her chin, lifting it gently so she would look at him. There was a bit of worry in his eyes but also a bit of bewilderment.

She blinked a few times, but it didn't help against the burning tears in her eyes. "I just don't…" She took a slightly shaky breath. "I don't want this to end…"

He understood immediately, took her face in his hands full of sympathy and kissed her forehead, her nose and then gently her lips. "It won't, Bethie. It might become a little more stressful and tiring again, but we'll make it somehow. We… we'll be able to be together like this in the end and we'll have a lot more good times with each other. Maybe even better ones. Somehow… I can feel it. This here isn't the end but the beginning."

He meant what he said, and Beth couldn't help it as a few tears broke away from her lashes, that Mick wiped off her cheeks with an expression of deepest affection.

"Fate didn't bring us together in this… shocking way just to tear us apart again in the end," Mick went on softly. "I needed a little longer than you to finally realize that, but I know it now. And you no longer need to fight for us alone, Beth. We'll get through this together and then it'll be like this again. Maybe not every day - for that I'm much too difficult a person - but at least every now and then. All will be well…"

These had been her very words and they sounded so good out of his mouth, so true.

"Say it again," she sniffed again and snuggled close to his chest.

"All will be well."

Slowly she began to believe it again. Her little secret couldn't destroy what they shared… even if she told him or he somehow found out…

"You won't leave me no matter what may still happen, will you?" She whispered timidly against his chest.

"Never, Beth," he whispered back. "That was the stupidest idea I ever had."

She breathed deeply through her nose. "Mick?"

"Yeah, baby."

"I…" Say it! Just say it! "I… I love you."

Only this one day. Only these few remaining hours of this evening until the next morning, then she would tell him. But right now she still needed this blissful intimacy, this growing of their relationship, and this phase of getting to know each other. She just wanted Mick all to herself, at least for a little while longer.

She felt Mick's warm lips on her forehead again and closed her eyes.

"My guardian angel," she murmured softly, and felt Mick smile.

"A guardian angel whose wings are slowly healing," she heard him say and looked at him again full of love and affection.

"Is Mick really a shorter form of Michael?"

He nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"Then you even have the name of an angel," she smiled, then frowned because Mick suddenly had such a thoughtful expression.

"It was my father's name. He even had the names of two angels. Michael Raphael St. John. I had my name changed deliberately after the war - I wanted to… hurt him somehow, because I couldn't deal with Tristan's death and the things I had experienced in war. And I knew that my father and Tristan had had a pretty big fight just before the accident happened. Somehow I made myself believe that Tristan had been so distracted because of that, that he had made a mistake and crashed - totally insane." He uttered a sad laugh. "I didn't make it easy on my father as he tried to get over the loss of his older son…"

"You just loved your brother so much," Beth replied compassionately.

Mick was obviously gritting his teeth and then nodded silently. "I… I missed him so much," he brought out barely audible and Beth even saw tears shining in his eyes. "Still do… Always will…"

Now it was she who put her hand to his cheek and caressed it gently, showing him she felt for him, and how much she understood him.

"He was more of a father to me than my real father," Mick added with an indicated shake of his head and closed his eyes, emitting a deep sigh that seemed to really help him get his emotions back under control. When he looked back at her, he seemed to have succeeded in this to some extent. "But it feels really good to remember him. I… I learned a lot from him. Even as a young man he was very thoughtful and almost wise. He said that he and I, that we had old souls." Mick smiled at her, brushing her hair from her forehead. "If he had come to know you, he would have probably said the same thing about you…You're pretty similar to him…"

Beth's lips twisted into a happy smile. "So, you _would_ have introduced us after all…"

"Um…," was the only sound Mick made and he tilted his head appraisingly. "I don't know how far I can trust you – the way you've developed…"

"The wayI've developed?" she repeated frowning, and the next moment she understood what he was insinuating. "As if_ that _wouldonly be initiated by _me_! And besides… don't you like my new sexy vamp-side?"

He grinned broadly. "Oh, of course, and I think that's what would have also intrigued my brother so much."

"But he never would have gotten the chance to enjoy it," she replied in a deliberately lascivious tone. "This is only reserved for a certain person…" She snuggled even closer to him, breathed a delicate kiss onto the slightly twitching corner of his mouth and then let her lips gently wander across his until she finally kissed him properly.

A quiet, contented hum was the answer to her caresses and Mick's arms closed tightly around her body, made her push herself entirely on top of him and caused the hammock to swing.

"This is moving into a quite dangerous direction," Mick muttered smiling against her lips when she was forced to take a breath and Beth wasn't sure whether he was referring to the swaying of the hammock or to what she was doing.

"Why?" She gave back mischievously. "I just want to try something…"

He raised his eyebrows a little, but his gaze had long since fixed on her lips again. "What exactly?"

"I've never done it in a hammock before," she said in a husky voice, and pressed her lips again to his mouth. While she deepened the kiss, her hands were sliding under his shirt, skimmed eagerly over his warm, so soft skin and pushed the light fabric up further. She leaned a little to the side, to have more space and… probably shouldn't have because the hammock was now swinging with such momentum, that Beth lost her balance and it finally flipped over completely. She only owed it to Mick's enormously quick reflexes that she didn't hurt herself while falling on the floor but instead landed on him, because he had turned with her in the fall. Mick himself, however, caught his breath for a moment after the hard landing and grimaced a little.

"Oh, God!" she cried out immediately and looked at him anxiously. "Have you hurt yourself?"

Mick looked at her, pressed his lips together and tried to contain himself, but finally couldn't help it - he burst out laughing with all his heart, and even though Beth briefly rolled her eyes, she had no other choice but to laugh with him. She had to admit that this felt really good, especially after the profound conversation that they had just had, and so far she had rarely heard Mick laugh so whole-heartedly.

When they had calmed down again, Mick lifted a hand to her cheek, gently stroked her hair behind her ear. "And you're alright?"

She nodded with a smile. "Now I'll never know what sex in a hammock is like…"

Mick chuckled. His hand went to her neck and he pulled her head closer to him, to kiss her gently. Beth closed her eyes and abandoned herself to the kiss. This time it was Mick, who let it get more intimate, more demanding and finally turned around with her, so she came to lie beneath him. A mischievous twinkle was evident in his eyes as he broke his lips away from hers. "How about we do something even more exciting instead?"

"And that would be?" She replied, letting her fingers glide over the already wide-open front of his shirt.

"Sex _under_ the hammock," he replied with feigned enthusiasm, and they had to laugh again.

That Mick was quite seriously with his words, he showed her not only with his next intimate kiss but also with a completely different area of his body, currently pressed so wonderfully between her thighs, which had clearly begun to stir. And although they had actually intended to have less sex and more talking, Beth couldn't help but show him with her whole body that this was exactly what she needed right now, again.


	71. Bad News

_It's time again for a new chapter and here it is! But first I want to thank my readers who are giving me constantly such a great feedback. I really, really love it and always feel sooo motivated with each comment you're writing. I hug you all and try to be back with a new chapter next Saturday again. As always: Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**B****ad News**

* * *

"_Fear__ is the__ most terrible__ of passions__,__ because__ it __makes__ its __first efforts against reason__: __it __paralyzes __the heart and __mind__."_

_Antoine Comte Rivaról_

* * *

"And what if he does this… this mind reading thing and figures out where you hid Mick and Beth and what we're planning?"

I looked at Logan, who was sitting next to me, unnerved, and reinforced the exasperation on my face with an even more pronounced sigh. "How many times do I have to tell you? Gabriel won't be there. August explicitly said that while he may have recovered some, he still doesn't have the strength to attend the meeting himself."

"But Lance also belongs to this angel clan as well," Logan said in that whining tone I couldn't stand. "Maybe he can do this mind reading thing too."

"He can't, okay?" I looked at him with an angry frown, even though I was well aware that I could be totally wrong in my assumption. "That's always been handled by Gabriel. Believe me! I was involved in it!"

Logan wanted to say something else, but had kept it to himself, because I had strictly raised a finger and shook my head. He probably sensed that my nerves were still on edge and so was my emotional resilience. The information marathon we had run through with Talbot yesterday had exhausted us all and had completely worn out our nerves. We hadn't only gained for the first time an insight into the common history of the Legion and the vampire society and read all the old contracts, but had also received additional information on the research the Legion had conducted in the labs from the documents Gabriel must have stolen from the hospital. But what had been the last straw emotionally was the video footage that Gabriel had put together for Judge Ruthers. The Legion had recorded some of their experiments with captive vampires, videos I suspect Gabriel had also stolen from the hospital as well and had edited to show some of the most dramatic footage depicting the inhumane treatment of the scientists of the Legion in all its cruelty.

My emotions had fluctuated during the video, between abject hatred, boiling anger and deep shock and if I had been human, I would have definitely vomited every now and then. That Alejandro and Talbot hadn't, was truly admirable, however, the lawyer had had to leave the house a couple of times to get some fresh air, but had bravely returned to continue to watch the films with gritted teeth. Logan and Guillermo had withdrawn to a different room after the first few minutes with pale faces and I myself had had to leave towards the end - the moment I recognized that the last video was the one Logan had shown me in Mexico, the footage where Mick was the victim of Gallagher's sadistic violence. But that hadn't stopped a few of his agonizing screams from reaching me outside on the veranda and in my effort to pull myself together and force the images I had seen back from my mind, my hands had given new shape to the top bar of the arm-thick wooden railing. After all, this was better than smashing the room to pieces - which wouldn't have made such a good impression on our already heavily battered guest.

The 'guest' had joined me on the porch just a few minutes later, ashen and with the same disbelief and shock in his eyes, which had also shaken me so badly back then. He hadn't looked at me, but just stared out into the distance, seeking to regain his voice.

"This Gallagher…," he finally said and his voice had taken on a cold, contemptuous tone. "Tell Mick he's officially dead in my eyes. I think a stray bullet hit him down in the factory. I saw him die with my own eyes."

I had looked at Talbot for a moment, stunned and then nodded. Talbot had to have known that we had Gallagher in our hands. It was obvious that from that moment on the lawyer didn't care _what_ we did to Gallagher. We hadn't said much more, but I was sure that Talbot was now completely on our side and would do anything to get this CD into the hands of his uncle and have a serious conversation with him.

Unfortunately, I had received word this morning that Ben's meeting with his uncle had been canceled again. That Ben was personally trying with all his might to head him off somewhere and force him into a conversation with him. Of course, this news hadn't done me much good either, had worn me down even more - _more_, because our meeting had also been suddenly postponed, causing me new concerns, because not only the time but also the place where the meeting was to be held had changed as well. We had had a few more hours to rest since our meeting with Talbot, but that only left us all wondering why everyone was suddenly twice as careful as before. We were told that we would be informed by phone when to take off and we would then be piloted in stages to our final destination. And so it had been. August had phoned us early in the morning and we had now been on the road for a few hours with the uneasy feeling of not knowing where our trip was taking us.

And it was for this reason that I couldn't take Logan's whining any longer and had already considered, a couple of times, simply pushing him out of the moving car. Unfortunately, I was also aware that I still needed the little freak to continue to develop my own plans. Kicking him out definitely wouldn't have made our already difficult situation any better. All it would get me was a little momentary satisfaction, because in the end we'd only lose time when we had to turn around to go pick him up again. And to tell the truth, I could actually understand his fear a little bit. After all the chaos, I myself felt anything but comfortable, because all these changes could mean only one thing - that something shattering had happened, and that we vampires were not only forced to take action but also had to be overly cautious - and this time had to deal with it practically without Gabriel.

One of the reasons for all the excitement had become clear to us by way of another phone call this morning that had gone to Guillermo instead. It had been from an employee of his 'blood bank team' who had told him, and by way of him also us, that the Legion had specifically targeted this highly secret, well-hidden blood bank and had almost completely destroyed it. And not only that: they had also killed some of the humans, who had served us so selflessly as blood donors – no doubt to intimidate the other donors enough to convince them to no longer help us. Their purpose was quite clear: the Legion was trying to cut us off from our food source and in doing so force us out of hiding or drive us to attack innocent people, so that we'd appear as beasts in front of Judge Ruthers and normal human society, ensuring we'd get no support from him.

It was no wonder that the other vampires couldn't sit and wait quietly in their hiding places after such news - not as long as Gabriel hadn't recovered enough to play the role of their leader and put them in their places. They just _had _to meet, to moan, to whine and complain and to incite each other even more. Or maybe the power-hungry among them saw this as their opportunity to now take the lead role for themselves, to win as many supporters as they could for their own agenda's. And it was for this reason that I was absolutely sure that our top busybody Lance would be present and would meddle in a way we sure as hell wouldn't like. That made it even more important for us to get to the meeting and bring as many of our friends and allies along as possible, to act against those who would ultimately harm _our_ plans.

"Do you really think it was such a good idea for me to come along?" Frank, who was sitting at my other side, ripped me out of my musing and I turned to him. He seemed to grow more and more nervous with each mile that brought us closer to our new goal, _Kernville_, and now that we had driven past yet another sign displaying the name and ever decreasing number of miles to this place, he had even started to sweat out of fear. "I mean, everyone there knows what I did…"

"Me and the others will make sure that you're not attacked," I replied with a calmness to my voice that was admirable even for me. "It's important that you tell them what you told me yesterday. They've got to hear it from you in person! And besides you're not the only human who'll be there." I nodded towards Alejandro, who was driving and similarly tense as the rest of us, but that didn't really seem to calm the professor.

"If you think it'll help," he replied sadly and fumbled for a handkerchief a bit jittery from his pocket in order to dab the sweat from his forehead. Frank's courage mostly grew out of dire situations. Since this wasn't one, and he had far too much time to think about all the possible difficulties and potential dangers of the meeting, his fighting spirit hadn't kicked in yet and his faint-hearted behavior was working my last nerve almost as much as Logan's anxious questioning. However, I tried to remain calm.

"I think there will also be some vampires there, who are on our side Frank," I said. "And Gabriel has made it perfectly clear: They are to be no humans attacked who are working with us!"

"But Gabriel's sick," Logan objected precociously from the side. I shot him a look that was so dark, that he even raised his hands defensively, and then quickly opened his laptop, trying to look busy.

"Which doesn't change the fact that most vampires stand in awe of him," I added, in Frank's direction. "They will for sure not attack you. And if push comes to shove there will still be enough vampires there to protect you."

"Josef." It was Guillermo's voice and when I looked at him, he pointed with his chin in the direction of the sign, which warmly welcomed us to _Kernville_. We had arrived at our destination.

I nudged Logan with my elbow. "Check and see if they've sent us any details on the meeting place yet," I told him.

He looked at me annoyed. "What do you think I'm doing here?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Playing World of Warcraft?"

His gaze grew even darker and he let out an angry "Ha-Ha" but then turned back to his laptop.

"Oh!" He raised his eyebrows appreciatively. "This is interesting. Seth sent me a map." He leaned forward to Alejandro a little. "Turn right at the next intersection you come to, please!"

"Seth?" I repeated in amazement. "Who is he with right now?"

Logan made this immature how-should-I-know-face and then added a shrug of his shoulders.

"I thought, you two were friends," I growled at him.

"Man, _you_'re in a bad mood!" he now gave back a little annoyed himself. "Why can't you just admit you're scared as well and stop taking it out on the rest of us?"

I let out an indignant laugh. "I'm _not_ afraid," I lied to him and myself, "I just know that since Gabriel can't take care of everything anymore, a large part of the work and responsibility will fall to the other older vampires - and I'm one of them! That's all!"

Baby-face even dared to look at me doubtfully, but just as I was about to throw him out of the car, his gaze returned to the screen of his laptop and he uttered a quick "Now left!" to the front.

I decided to spare myself any further comment and reserve my strength and scorn for more serious opponents.

It didn't take long before we reached our destination: a large villa at the end of a fairly remote road right by the Kern River - in the middle of no where. The nearest houses were relatively far away, which meant we'd be virtually undisturbed for the time being. In front of the stately home some more or less streamlined cars had been parked, and as soon as I got out I felt the energies of the other old vampires, especially those who were familiar to me: Elizabeth, Tony and - to my real relief - Thomas. At least _he_ seemed to be fit enough to participate in this meeting, and that had calmed me considerably, for he was still one of the few vampires in our community who remained, in stressful situations, level headed and prudent and whose actions and influence could affect the others in a positive way.

The house was well guarded I noticed as we approached it together. Although nothing from the outside pointed to it, I could immediately feel and smell that two less familiar vampires were located just behind the front door, who were undoubtedly heavily armed, and was sure they weren't the only guards.

It was a man and a woman from Max' team, who welcomed us with their joyless expressions and a short nod, as we stepped through the door, and the weapons they carried reassured me as well - though a vampire himself was usually much more dangerous than any firearm.

My senses quickly led us through the spacious house right to a large saloon, where two even _more_ 'friendly' appearing colleagues of Max and Patricia's stood guard in front of the open swinging doors. Even a nod in greeting seemed to be too much to ask of them, but I could care less, for I had already directed my attention long ago to the persons inside the room. There were more vampires present than I had expected - almost as many as at the first major meeting after Mick's and Gabriel's return from Europe, and I didn't like it, just like the tense and anxious atmosphere that already prevailed among those present.

Although only a few vampires turned around to us and eyed us up, I felt very confident that our arrival hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone, as if that was even possible since I was the only one who had brought humans to the meeting. Apparently Mick's encouraging little speech in _Casa Grande_ that we were all not so different and that we should stand together in this crisis had apparently not lasted very long, as Alejandro and Frank reaped hostile glances from a few as we walked through the room on our way to the long table which up to now only a few vampires had taken their seats at.

It was good to see Malik among them - at least there was one person I knew who could quickly ensure peace and order among those present. He nodded to me briefly as he spotted me, but then turned back to Thomas who he was showing something to on the laptop in front of him on the table.

Not far away from him, I discovered Grigori, Elizabeth and, unfortunately, Lance, whose seriously, anxious faces betrayed that whatever they were talking about must not have been that pleasant. Somehow I got the feeling they were talking about Gabriel and that was enough for me to change my course and head straight for them - until the moment when my gaze fell on someone in another group close by. Kurt.

The sight of him was so unexpected that I stopped abruptly and just stared at him in disbelief, for a moment forgetting that no one else knew he was a traitor and that I had actually been ordered to keep that knowledge to myself so he wouldn't be spooked. Too late. His eyes met mine and the smile that started to lift at the corners of his mouth, died even before it was born, because the hatred and contempt in my eyes just wouldn't disappear fast enough. I could almost see how Kurt's mind began to work when he turned slightly confused back to Max again, who had also briefly nodded over to me and now frowned thoughtfully.

"Giuseppe," I heard Tony's exuberant voice behind me the next moment and my old friend had already pulled me into his arms before I had fully turned around to him and patted me on the back with enough force I thought my heart would burst out of my chest and go bouncing across the floor in front of me.

"Nice to see you made it," he added to his rude greeting and beamed at me warmly. "It would be ridiculous if we weren't able to work things out with _this_ lineup, even without Gabriel."

"I agree," I said and straightened my jacket that I had just bought yesterday hastily in a more refined store. It was bad enough that I had to wear these unstylish jeans due to this constant traveling, so I couldn't allow myself to appear completely wrinkled in addition.

"Although it's still not entirely obvious to me what these 'things' are this time…" I added and Tony's eyebrows rose.

"You've not been informed yet?" He asked, surprised and his gaze also roamed over the faces of my friends who hadn't left my side the whole time.

"We know about the blood bank," Guillermo said and Tony sighed deeply and heavily.

"This has hit us hard and made many of us extremely nervous." He looked around briefly and then stepped even closer to us to continue in a low voice: "Mainly because we know that someone had to have betrayed the location of the blood bank - as well as the addresses of the donors." Again his gaze flew briefly through the ranks of the others. "The rumor mill is cooking and the most insane conspiracy theories are circulating."

"To which we pay of course absolutely no attention," I heard the sound of a light, very familiar voice and out of habit brought a charming smile to my lips as I turned to my Sire, who had approached us along with Thomas and, unfortunately, Lance.

"It's great that you're here," she added with a smile that didn't last long. She looked tired and seemed as tense as many of the other vampires around us.

"Where's Mick?" was Lance's unwelcome greeting after he had eyed me and the others up with disdain.

My smile immediately turned a whole lot cooler as I turned to him. "As you can see, he's not here. Beth was a little indisposed and he wouldn't leave her alone."

Lance raised his eyebrows in an extremely arrogant manner. "The house has many rooms. She would have been able to rest _here_, and thus not have prevented Micks participation in the meeting."

"Maybe no one ever explained it to you, my dear friend," I said amiably, "but for women there's a kind of _monthly_ ailment that could pose a real problem in the presence of so many vampires."

Lance responded with a quiet, snide laugh. "Mick completely missed the importance of this meeting, since he chose to stay at this human woman's side because of such a trivial matter…"

"That may be because neither you nor August bothered to inform us about its 'importance'," I replied sharply.

Lance was about to reply, but Thomas felt it now appropriate to finally intervene.

"Let's not start arguing now," he said quickly. "We need our strength for the forthcoming discussion. It's a shame that Mick couldn't be here, but we can't change that now." He made a welcoming gesture over to the table and Lance set into motion after a last derogatory glance in my direction and followed Thomas' wordless demand.

Apparently all the other vampires took it as a sign that we wanted to start the meeting, because suddenly there was movement everywhere in the nervous crowd. Frank immediately turned even paler than he already was and I put a hand onto his back to push him gently but firmly over to one of the vacant chairs, and took a seat beside him. Guillermo sat on his other side and I felt that this indeed gave the professor a little more assurance and at least a small part of his anxiety evaporated again. I didn't need to worry about Alejandro. He was used to meeting with vampires, knew their moods and was therefore not so easily intimidated by them. In addition, he was also protected enough for now with Guillermo and Logan at his side and I was already sure that the other vampires wouldn't dare attack the two humans in our ranks.

"Well," Thomas now raised his voice and let his gaze wander briefly over the faces of all present. "To put the rumors to rest and to dispel the cloud of anxiety and worry over our situation a bit – it's not just me feeling better, but Gabriel as well. That he's not here today is only because we older vampires have asked him to spare himself and to regain his strength before he leads us further in this battle against the Legion. He will be informed about all that's discussed here and will report back to us on what he thinks of our plans."

Thomas' gaze wandered over to me and suddenly I felt his groping energy, felt that he wanted me to hold back during his next words.

"Mick St. John will not appear here today either," he went on. "He also has to recover in a safe place on Gabriel's command to be able to fight at our side later on. But he too is doing well."

I tried to put on a fairly innocent face, while the thoughts in my head were spinning. Gabriel knew that I had sent Mick and Beth away. When and how he became aware of this, I wasn't sure, just as I wasn't sure whether this acting as if everything was approved by him was a positive or a negative sign. At least it made sure that no major unrest spread among those present and that I didn't have to justify myself to anyone. It was always like this: What Gabriel said or did, was accepted without question.

Thomas took a deep breath to continue and it was obvious that he now came to speak of an issue that troubled him deeply.

"You all know more or less, that the reason for this meeting isn't a good one. Although we've made some progress in recent weeks concerning the fight against the Legion, and we've hit this organization really hard, there have been a few incidents in the last two days that shocked us. Firstly, our blood bank, which we needed for our basic supply, was found and destroyed by the Legion, and secondly, the Legion has located two large hiding places of volatile vampires, including one of the Cleaner's, and killed some of our allies. Unfortunately, John Wu was one of them, whose death is a great loss for us."

My heart contracted briefly but painfully and I was feeling a little sick. _This_ was indeed surprising and very bad news. John had been a powerful vampire in Asia and had had much influence on the whole vampire society, and if I had assumed it correctly, one of the _des Archanges_. If Gabriel had once turned him into a vampire, the force of his disquiet could easily be explained. The death of a fledgling usually hit the Sire very hard, as it was clearly palpable for him and left a gap somewhere in his interior that was difficult to fill again. And as Gabriel was also weakened by physical injuries, it was no wonder he had had a hard time getting back on his feet again after what had happened.

For a while it was quiet at the table. Each one of us had to process his shock over this information first, and then form an opinion about it.

"Nevertheless, we shouldn't let these events unsettle us," Thomas continued urgently after a few painfully long minutes of silence. "Instead, we have to react rationally and show the Legion they can't intimidate us. Especially not now, since this hasty and harsh action against us only proves that the Legion is under immense pressure. They've become very nervous by our recent successes and are now lashing out to not show their inferiority in the end. They are trying to force us to make a mistake before_ they_ do themselves!"

"And what _would_ be a mistake in their eyes?" Patricia asked in the round and in her eyes sparkled red-hot anger – which was no surprise when, in fact her team had been attacked and decimated. "Withdrawal or direct attack? Either could be wrong."

"That's why we've gathered here today, to find that out," Lance said pompously. "We need to think about how and when we'll respond to the actions of the Legion, because they aren't going to quit anytime soon. Quite the contrary – they'll become even much more radical, before they give in."

"It's said that they're re-arming right now," Grigori said worriedly. "They're gathering all their weapons together against vampires that they can find and amassing their troops again. It almost seems as if they're preparing for a final battle."

"These are just rumors so far, Grigori," Elizabeth said quickly, because his words had evoked distressed murmurings at the table. "We shouldn't think much of it."

"Just like John did?" Patricia replied bitterly.

"How did the Legion actually get the addresses of the blood bank and hiding places?" Guillermo asked the question that was long overdue.

"How indeed?" Lance glared at him with the incongruously false smile. "By treachery of course."

There it was again - this horrible silence, this tension that was so not good for us all and I really had to force myself not to look over at Kurt, who, of course, just looked as shocked as everyone else did. But when I thought about it more closely, this time the betrayal couldn't have been committed by Kurt because he had long since been monitored and Gabriel would have certainly prevented such dangerous information from being passed to our enemy. It had to have been the other traitor, the 'big fish', who undoubtedly was here today as well to gather new information on all of us so they could divulge it to the enemy.

"Basically this means we're all in grave danger of ending up like John, as long as this traitor goes free," Max concluded from his words and now I was even _compelled_ to look in Kurt's direction. I gritted my teeth, tried to ignore the man sitting there with his laptop at the table next to Max, acting as if he was just as concerned as everyone else was - how I despised him! Oh how I would have liked to break his neck right now, to hack him to pieces right here at this table.

"We could walk into a trap at any time until we find this traitor as fast as possible," Max went on anxiously.

"Is anyone working on finding him?" one of the vampires I didn't know so well inquired.

"Of course we are," Thomas replied immediately. "It's just not that simple, because the traitor is very careful."

"I think it's rather because no one dares to investigate certain people among our ranks," said Patricia now, casting a cold gaze at the humans sitting with me. Oh, how I hated that woman sometimes! She was a grenade in bed, but as a person, totally unbearable. It just figured that she needed to lash out at someone after the painful loss of her colleagues, someone she could take her anger out on. And she couldn't stand humans anyway.

"Do you still want us to believe that the traitor has to be a human?" I retorted with a smile that showed just how absurd I found her accusation.

"And do _you_ really believe that a vampire could commit such treason against his own species in our current situation?" She replied angrily. "The Legion has become a threat to us _all_. They are our enemies! To fight on their side would be suicide!"

"Not necessarily," I replied calmly, even though I was boiling inside. "Not if you can negotiate skillfully and hope to be spared for certain services… or even win some personal gain from the whole affair. At least that's what Henry, Jason and Cynthia thought. And they were _all_ vampires!"

My words brought Patricia to stumble a little, but I could see she hadn't given up yet, tried, driven by her rampant hatred towards humans, to fight on. "They made deals with the Legion long before this war started and were also involved with the _Cercle du Sang_…"

I raised my eyebrows. "And that makes it okay?" I didn't even wait for a response from her, but simply turned to Frank, whose heart rate had doubled because he had already guessed where this present discussion would lead.

"Frank, would you be so kind as to tell us all again what Gallagher told you during your captivity by the Legion?"

He swallowed hard then raised his eyes bravely. All eyes were on him now and only a few had a friendly, requesting expression. However, he cleared his throat and began to speak in a shaky voice: "Ga…Gallagher was sure that the Legion would ultimately win the war against you. He… he said that one could pit you against each other quite easily and even make you betray and slaughter each other…"

The indignant gasp from some vampires at the table caused Frank to stop, insecure, and I quickly touched his arm, looked at him encouragingly.

"And what made him think that?" I asked further.

"He… he said there've always been vampires, who've supported the work of the Legion."

An indignant murmur went through the hall at these words, but when I lifted my hand with a stern look, it indeed grew quiet again, and Frank continued.

"Not just like that," he hastened to say. "These… these vampires gave them their blood among other things so the Legion would remove them from their lists. They were promised that they would be spared in case of a war. And now that the war has started, there've become even more. Gallagher said that the vampires would batter down his door to be spared and that it would be easy to use them as spies in their own ranks."

"That's a blatant lie," Patricia burst out and a few of the other vampires agreed with her furiously. "This man has even worked for the Legion himself! How do we know it's not _him_ trying to incite us against each other?"

"Patricia!" Elizabeth warned her now and her eyes flashed up angrily. "Behave yourself!" Her eyes wandered over to Frank, who sat next to me completely paralyzed by fear. "Was anyone else present when this Gallagher told you these things," she asked now and I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"What's this question about, Liz?" I turned to her. "You can sense he's not lying!"

"But he may have interpreted things wrong," she replied coolly, and oddly enough avoided my gaze, looked instead to the now very thoughtful Thomas. "And Gallagher may have lied because he knew the professor would tell us everything. It can indeed only be a ruse to incite us against one another."

"And to divert attention away from the real traitors!" Patricia added, and to my surprise, she looked at Kurt invitingly. The man seemed to understand immediately what she wanted from him, because he worked on his laptop and began to look something up for her.

"What exactly is going on here now?" Thomas asked with a frown and one could tell that he didn't like the direction this conversation had taken at all.

"I've taken the liberty of discussing with a few others, about who the traitor or the traito_rs_ might be," Patricia explained now. "And since no one has dared to question the possibility or even verify the loyalty of the humans who work with us, _I've _done that."

Immediately a queasy feeling spread in my stomach, because Patricia suddenly seemed to be so self-confident, as if she in fact had found something against my human friends.

"I couldn't find too many new things concerning the professor," she continued with a hostile glance in his direction. "But we already know all of what he did to other vampires, and especially Mick. However, what became very interesting was your human girlfriend, Josef. Simone Walker…"

My heart stopped for a moment, when Kurt turned the laptop around to me with an expressionless face so that I had a pretty good view of the screen.

"Or should I say: Simone Munier," Patricia added, while I stared with wide eyes and totally cramped innards at the image of the passport with this name on it that indeed showed a very young Simone. That couldn't be… _wasn't allowed_ be. Not Simone. She wasn't a traitor. That I would have noticed!

"Born on August 18th 1981 in Paris, grew up in New York with her mother," Patricia continued without mercy. "Daughter of a banker and a dancer. She in fact studied law at Harvard and practiced in Cambridge for a while, until her brother died during a robbery. After that, she was neither seen nor heard from for a while. Until she showed up here in LA as Simone Walker and wormed her way into our circles to spy on us - to spy on _you_, Josef!"

An angry murmur rose. I heard the word 'traitor' being passed around several times and felt the humans by my side being gazed at almost murderously. I myself just shook my head with my heart beating far too rapidly. I couldn't believe it, couldn't have been _that_ mistaken.

"We must find and punish her," exclaimed one of the other vampires angrily, while another said "Humans cannot be trusted!" loudly into the room.

Thomas quickly got up and lifted his hands soothingly. "Silence please," he exclaimed loudly against the others. "We won't clear _anything_ up this way!"

No one responded to him. The accusations against Simone were just too compelling for the overwrought minds of the vampires. They had to at least rid themselves of some of their tension by ranting about the evil humans and loudly demanding their severe punishment. Only when Tony rose abruptly and his loud, deep voice echoed through the hall with a, "SILENCE, DAMN IT!" did it grow quiet again around me. I myself had not come around yet.

"There's not been one shred of evidence presented yet that Simone Walker is guilty of treason," Tony now said angrily. "Another name proves nothing. How many times have _you_ changed names? So check yourselves!"

"Then she should at least be interrogated as soon as possible," Elizabeth replied and Patricia nodded eagerly. "So we can find out what this is all about."

"Where is she right now?" Grigori now asked.

"With me!" The voice came not from one of those present, but from the speakers of the laptop that stood before Malik and with only these two words brought absolute silence to the room, because everyone knew immediately to whom that voice belonged.

Malik, who had hardly stirred throughout all the uproar, now separated his entwined fingers and calmly turned the opened laptop around to us with an expressionless face. It didn't surprise me to see Gabriel there on the screen. He seemed to be connected to us via a built-in Web cam in the computer, and thus had witnessed all what had happened so far. Like everyone else, I had immediately recognized his voice and actually every one of us should have known that he wouldn't have missed such a big and important gathering as this. He wasn't _that_ sick, although he didn't look so healthy through the live connection. He was still unusually pale and the dark circles around his eyes had only become a little paler.

Nevertheless, the sight of him hadn't upset me as much as what he had just said, especially since it was in fact Simone, who now settled herself into a chair next to the old vampire, hardly daring to look into the camera. She was almost as pale as Gabriel was, and seemed to feel anything but comfortable in her skin. I wasn't sure whose reaction she was more afraid of – those of all the other vampires or mine.

"Simone's real last name is, in fact, Munier," said Gabriel, and my already rock-hard guts clenched even more because I knew now what was about to come.

"But she works neither for the Legion nor for the _Cercle du Sang_," the old vampire continued with cold severity in his voice. "She works for _me_ - has for several years now."

'For several years!' it resounded in my head and I found it extremely hard to continue breathing calmly and not let it show on the outside how much this statement shook me. She might not have betrayed the vampire society, but she had betrayed _me_, had spied on _me_ - _for_ Gabriel.

"There've been a few incidences within the vampire society in the States and especially L.A., which didn't please me," Gabriel continued. "Misconduct and arbitrary actions on the part of some vampires that put our secret existence, our community at risk. And since the Supreme Council of Vampires in the States failed to contact me, I decided to keep an eye on this society for myself - in more ways than one. Simone was and still is one of my most trusted and loyal employees, and all inconsistencies in her résumé are due to her work for me. She is above all suspicion of treachery!"

The shocked silence around me continued and the only sound heard was the peal of church bells outside - or was it rather from Gabriel's background?

"I can assure you that none of the humans working with us is a traitor," Gabriel now said and in his eyes anger flared visibly. "I've been alive for many millennia – how can you even _assume_ I wouldn't cover my back in this respect?"

Patricia swallowed so hard I was certain Frank and Alejandro could hear it as well, for her own arrogant behavior was slowly but surely becoming her doom.

"How dare you take it upon yourself to investigate and accuse those who are fighting on our side and have already risked their lives for us on more than one occasion?" The swelling volume of Gabriel's voice led Patricia to defend herself now without being asked.

"I… I was just worried and…"

"_Hold your tongue_!" Gabriel's voice even through the laptop was so loud it echoed in the room threateningly and I almost feared he would rise at any moment out of the screen and attack Patricia.

"I made it quite clear in the beginning what the consequences would be if any of you defied my instructions, or got in the way of any of my plans," he growled and my thoughts about Simone were completely forgotten all of a sudden. Instead, it was now fear for myself that made my stomach constrict, because I too had broken Gabriel's rules.

"Obedience, trust, strict cooperation!"

Each of these words gave me a little prick, and I got the feeling more and more that Gabriel would soon be directing his attention to me. I watched with trepidation as Malik stood up suddenly, still this horrible unmoving look in his dark eyes. And he wasn't the only one who was suddenly standing. Lance was suddenly right next to Patricia and grabbed the terrified woman by the arm.

"Don't! I…" she began, but Gabriel's voice again drowned hers, not giving her the opportunity to speak.

"No one is to do anything without first having discussed it with my staff or me," he repeated his words. "No one!"

An icy shiver ran down my back as I tried not to look at the screen, into the cold, stern face of _Him_, who Gabriel had once again become, the merciless sovereign that no one dared to obstruct basically. It felt better instead to watch as Patricia frantically try to break away from Malik who was now holding one of these threatening syringes in his hand, ready to inject the remedy therein.

"You hate humans so much, Patricia," Gabriel now said. "Maybe it's finally time you feel what it's like to be human once again."

"No! Please!" Patricia cried and she actually managed to break away at least from Lance. She didn't get far though. Malik did something, but was much too fast for me to keep track of what it was. Again, it was just the effect we were seeing, because Patricia was now gasping for air and fell to the side against him, so he could now set the syringe without any problem. Then he simply let the paralyzed woman sink to the ground, paying no regard to the shocked gazes he was receiving.

"Gabriel!" It was Elizabeth who turned in horror to her Sire. "She's never come into contact with the cure before! She could die from it!"

Gabriel ignored her and that was enough of an answer. It was probably precisely what he wanted to happen to Patricia - not because her misdemeanor had been so serious, but because he wanted to make an example of her and put all the other rebellious vampires in their place that way. It worked. No one but Lance and Malik even dared to move right now - including me.

Lance picked up the now quivering and panting Patricia, simply carried her out of the room, while Malik stepped back to the table and stood right behind Kurt, staring down at his neck as if he was considering tearing his head off. Kurt himself was completely paralyzed. His breathing was shallow and laborious and his hands that were lying next to his laptop were clenched into fists. He seemed to be expecting the worst and I really wondered whether he was right. Gabriel had indeed said that he still needed him to find the other traitor, but wasn't he now _forced_ to punish him as well?

"I'm quite disappointed in you Kurt," Gabriel said in a strangely sad sounding voice, but when I looked back at the screen, none of this sadness could be found in the bright eyes of the old vampire. There was only coldness and contempt.

"You tried so hard to act inconspicuous, to remain as secretive as possible to keep anyone from finding out whom you really serve."

He was doing it! He was really doing it, was unmasking Kurt in the presence of all the others. Kurt, who now lifted his gaze to look at Gabriel, eyes wide in disbelief. Some of the other vampires gasped for air, but most were sent from one emotional stupor into another. Only Thomas did something strange. He closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate on something.

"And then you let yourself be carried away by Patricia's stupidity to such an extent that it made us aware of you." The old vampire shook his head in mocked regret. "I just hope Nicholas can control himself enough to not spit in your rigid face, when I send him your head." Gabriel now smiled so malevolently and coldly that another unpleasant chill went through me. However, it was Kurt, who really surprised me, because he took a deep breath, shook off his horror and tension all of a sudden, straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin almost proudly.

"Je n'ai pas peur," he replied in an accent-free French. "I've fulfilled my task. You may kill me Michel, but the Cercle will _never_ die!"

Gabriel tilted his head slightly. "Really, you think _so_? How sad. Just think about it. Today many influential vampires just witnessed that it wasn't evil humans who betrayed many of their friends and deliberately sent them to their deaths, but the _Cercle du Sang_. That will soon make it quite difficult to recruit new members. And believe me, the rest, I'll hunt them down, each one of them, and then tear them apart bit by bit – until only their throbbing, bleeding hearts remain, impaled on a silver spear. And when I'm done I'm going to create a small, circular garden full of such spears that I'll enjoy taking my walks around in _this_ _'Cercle du Sang_' every day."

I had never heard Gabriel speak so deliberately hateful and for the first time since I knew him personally, I could imagine what a raging, dangerous beast he could become when he was provoked enough.

Gabriel breathed out now satisfied and even managed to smile despite this cruel fantasy. Kurt said no more. He had lowered his eyes, waiting with twitching cheek muscles for his punishment.

"You know what," Gabriel added now and Kurt looked up again, looked at the old vampire hatefully. "I think your loyalty and perseverance deserves a small reward. Malik…"

The Assassin stepped back a little and on Kurt's face appeared the first signs of anxiety again. Gabriel leaned forward a little, came closer to the camera. "Run, Kurt! Run like all rats do when a ship starts to sink!"

Kurt hesitated wary. He had wanted to die bravely, like a hero and not like a coward running for his life. But now Max leaned over to him as well and his eyes glowed with such hatred that even I was a little intimidated by it.

"Do as he says," he hissed. "Or _I'll_ take you along. And believe me - your death will drag on for days."

Kurt looked at his hands breathing heavily in and out a few times then suddenly jumped up and was gone. Gabriel leaned back in his chair, breathing audibly through his nose.

"Quiet and clean," he said and Malik nodded shortly. Then he too had literally vanished into thin air, followed by a not so fast Max. What was left was a room full of distraught, troubled vampires and humans who had the jitters of a man who wasn't even present in person.

"Is there anyone else who thinks my staff and I wouldn't take proper care of the issues at stake?" Gabriel asked after a few seconds of fearful silence in the room.

Of course, none of those present responded to his question. Not only because their fear and respect for Gabriel had returned with his drastic punishments, but also because the old vampire had actually proven that he _did_ take care of everything, no matter how bad he was feeling. In the eyes of the others the traitor had now been caught and they didn't need to worry about that anymore. _I_, however, knew the danger hadn't been averted - at least not until this moment, because I was sure that all this had only served to identify the other traitor. Perhaps he had actually given himself away and Gabriel and Thomas now knew who he was. But I probably wouldn't get to know about that today, because Thomas too was acting as if the 'traitor' problem had been solved.

"Well," he rose to speak again. "What we now need to do is plan our next course of action against the Legion. Since we don't know exactly what information was passed on to the Legion in the last few days, we've no other recourse but to take a sweeping blow at the Legion ourselves and destroy their largest bases in order to finally bring them to their knees and force their leaders to negotiate."

"Through a mass of information that we've been able to secure in our recent missions, and also through the cooperation of a former financier of the Legion, we were able to pin point their two largest bases near _Bakersfield_ and _Prescott_," Gabriel continued. "These bases are heavily guarded, of course - now more than ever - but we've no alternative but to attack them as soon as possible and with all forces and means we can muster. Max has stored a large arsenal of weapons in one of our secret shelters that we can use for this mission. There's also blood still in storage, which will be enough for us all. No one is to attack humans while we are in this crisis - even if it's difficult! I will continue to seek contact with the leadership of the Legion and to force them to negotiate, but most likely we will not be able to avoid another fight all together. Therefore it's absolutely necessary that you follow orders given by my staff or myself. I will no longer tolerate extra trips and back talk! Those who can't adapt will be punished - without mercy."

I lowered my eyes again, staring at the ring on my finger and wondered if this symbol really was powerful enough to protect me from this furious, very determined ancient vampire. If he really knew what I had done, or that we had even developed our own plans to fight against the Legion behind his back, I really didn't want to know what my punishment would be. In any case, it wouldn't be to turn me back into a human. I was almost envious of Patricia, even though I wasn't sure whether she was still alive.

"Thomas, Tony, Josef, Grigori and Elizabeth will be informed in the next few hours about how we will proceed," Gabriel explained and I lifted my head surprised, could hardly believe what I had just heard. "They will form teams with you and then involve you in the detailed plans. Please be prepared for that mission to start in a few days. Until then you will in case of problems, please contact the vampires who were previously assigned to be your contact. Take care of yourselves and remain as invisible as possible."

Gabriel leaned forward again and stretched out his hand toward the camera. The picture went black and I sat there with my confusion, excitement and the unpleasant feeling that I hadn't been able to make heads or tails of the behavior of the old vampire.

Everyone around me set into motion, even Frank dared to breathe properly again. I, however, just sat and stared vacantly at the blank monitor of the computer - until Thomas closed the lid and brought me back to reality. He leaned a little forward to me.

"We really need to talk," he whispered to me briefly, his eyes, however, wandered over to Elizabeth who in the next moment did as many of the other vampires did, got up to leave. "I just need to take care of an urgent matter…" He looked at me again, but was already on his way by then. "I'll call you," he added, nodded to Lance and they quickly followed Elizabeth, who had just left the room without another word to me. I stared after them, with a terrible suspicion that had my intestines twisting again. Always only assumptions… no certainties…

"Whew!" Logan exclaimed exhausted and his hand wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. "This was some kind of meeting…" He looked after the last two vampires that were not part of our sworn circle and then bent forward to me.

"Do you think they know what…what we've done so far?"

"Partly, I would say," Alejandro said, who had risen long ago, with significant discomfort in his eyes.

"And… what exactly happens now?" Logan asked further and I could feel his fear was far greater than he was admitting in front of us.

This time Alejandro couldn't answer him. Instead, my friends all looked to me. I said nothing for a long moment, just stroked my chin thoughtfully. Slowly peace returned to my soul, because within the few minutes that had passed several things had become much clearer to me. It was a blessing to be equipped with such a sharp mind like mine!

"Can you find out where the church is here in this village?" I turned thoughtfully to Logan, and Baby-Face just blinked at me confused. To my astonishment, however, he seemed to understand quite quickly what I was getting at with my question. He opened his mouth in speechless horror, and looked at me with wide eyes.

"You… you seriously don't intend to look for Gabriel by yourself!" he exclaimed in a thin voice.

I frowned a little. "I think that's exactly what I _should_ do," I said, agreeing with myself with a nod. And it truly felt like the best idea that I could come up with in my situation. This ignorance and confusion over Gabriel's behavior only made me, along with the feeling of smoldering fear inside, nervous and disabled any further work on our plans - plans I didn't intend to let go of just because an old vampire bared his teeth and tried to intimidate us. Unquestionably, Gabriel was dangerous, but I wasn't an inexperienced novice myself when it came to negotiating and survival in times of crisis. I hadn't survived for such a long time for nothing and won so much power and influence in the community of vampires here in the States. And that was also because I was usually pretty damn good in sizing up my opponents.

Gabriel didn't want to kill me. He had even deterred _any_ bad light from being cast on my team and me. That was the only reason he had also uncovered Simone's true function in front of everyone else. So somehow I must also play a role in his great plan. He, for some reason, had planned something more important for me and it was time to find out what that was. It was time to confront the most powerful vampire in the world again in person and defy him. And I was almost certain that he expected just that of me.


	72. From the Bottom of the Heart

_Hello, hello! I'm back with a new chapter and really hope you like it, because part of it I wrote a long time ago and loved so much to write it. A big thank you for your dear reviews. I really need that kind of feedback at the moment because I've got so much to do in RL and at the same time have to translate, write and correct this story and it overwhelms me at the moment a bit. Sigh. And now I stop whining and let you read the next chapter. Will be back next Saturday again (at least I hope so). Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_P.S. Lucretia: There are about nine chapters left, but this can still change. And do you really want to know, how this story ends? Just wait a bit longer…_

_P.P.S. The first part of the chapter is strongly influenced by the song Curly Sue by Takida. Love it so much and heard it the whole time while writing the first part…_

_Translated by Jenna_

_Beta read by SG6169 (thank you so much for your dear help!)  
_

* * *

**F****rom the Bottom of the Heart**

* * *

"_The blood that flows through my body carries the love in every corner of my being. My heartbeat calls it out into the world and every breath brings it back inside me again."_

_Vera Weinstein_

* * *

The gentle wind that blew through his still wet hair; the rays of the sun that broke through the tops of the trees and warmed his moist skin; the chirping of the birds around them; the smell of the little lake, on whose banks they were making love; Beth's warm, soft body pressed so close to his, taking him in so deeply, moving in perfect harmony with him, so that he didn't know where he began and she ended; her heavy breathing, mixing with his, because her lips were so close, eagerly searching contact with his again and again; her moaning and panting in his ear, that was so similar to the voluptuous sounds coming from his own lips, yet so different so exciting, so wonderful because _he_ was the reason for her delight; this almost unbearable tension, these incredibly intense feelings they were sharing just before the climax – it all made this moment one of the most sensual, most breath-taking he had ever experienced, letting him forget where he came from, who he had been before, and where he might go. Only the present, it was only this moment, this woman who was so important to him that mattered. This woman, who had enriched his life so much, meant everything to him that made him so happy. He needed nothing except her and this wonderful feeling of merging with her completely, to become one with her, physically and mentally.

She clung more tightly to him, pressing her forehead against his, gasping, and her whole body tensed, seemed to pull him even deeper inside her, wanting to hold him there, only to then, with his next deep thrust, cross the last threshold together with him, groaning loudly and letting herself fall with a wildly throbbing heart into this feeling of floating, of lifting off, which was sustained by the violent contractions in their bodies washing over them in waves.

They held onto each other, breathing heavily, with eyes closed giving themselves up to the strong feelings shaking their bodies. For a while reality was just a realm outside their existence. Then Mick slowly began to perceive where they were again: At this small, hidden lake, which had reminded them so much of the romantic place in Mexico, and where they simply had had to spend their day. They hadn't planned for this wonderful morning to end in this way; they had really tried hard to do other things, to talk, to picnic, to go swimming. Maybe it had been a mistake to huddle up close to each other as the sun dried their skin, to kiss and touch each other tenderly. One thing had led to another, even though Beth had previously claimed that she could never do '_it_' outside, where there was always a possibility of being surprised by someone. In the end they hadn't only done it in the open air but also in a sitting position in which they could have been seen relatively well by anyone, and Beth had been anything but reserved and quiet. Her fear of being discovered by someone had apparently vanished completely, because even now she made no move to break away from him to quickly put something on, which is what he had expected. Instead, she only looked at him under heavy eyelids, with an almost blissful smile on her lips and Mick knew that he had to have looked just the same, totally weak with love like a drug addict. But was there any more wonderful a drug than this? Was there any better feeling than that of feeling the woman you adored so much still so deeply after sex? His hands wandered gently up and down her bare back as her fingers caressed the skin of his neck just below his hairline.

"Is there anything at all in this world that could keep us from falling upon each other?" she brought out after a little while of just looking at each other amorously, and he had to grin.

"I don't think so," he gave back still a little scratchy and kissed her so warm, so soft lips, while this wonderful feeling of total relaxation spread throughout him. "But if there was, I'd go look for it and destroy it."

"My hero," she whispered and kissed him in turn with a happy sigh. She looked a little tired and because his limbs also seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, he now moved with her, laying her down gently on the quilt on which they sat, and then slid next to her, leaning on one arm, so he could still look at her and touch her. He at least wanted to do _this_ if he had to give up the intimate physical connection with her.

Beth seemed to feel the same, for she also sought eye contact with him, placed a hand on his cheek and her fingers slid tenderly over his slightly stubbled skin.

"December 3rd 1985," she whispered to him and a happy smile crept on Mick's face. In recent days Beth had started, as they went about their daily tasks like eating or walking, or just snuggling on the couch watching TV, to throw a date out at him, and his job was to then tell her a wonderful experience from this year. In the beginning it had been quite hard for him, because at first only bad experiences had occurred to him, but after a while it had gotten easier and this little game had become something he really looked forward to. This time, however, Beth had named a specific date and he knew immediately what had happened on that day.

"The day a vampire suddenly became a guardian angel," he said quietly and the intimate affection in Beth's eyes caused him to become all warm inside.

"September 16th 2007," was the next date, which came softly from her lips.

He lifted a hand to her cheek, stroking her still so warm skin, while hers wandered to his neck, causing tingling goose bumps there. "The day I took my first step back into real life." His fingers followed feathery over the contours of her lips. "There was this reporter, who was walking barefoot through an ice cold fountain, with her shoes in her hand and a determined look in her eyes, which really should have been a warning to me."

She raised her eyebrows slightly. "Should have warned you?" she repeated, her breath blowing warm over his fingertips. He nodded, smiling.

"That she would ultimately turn my life upside down," he said. "But I believe I already knew this."

"Maybe you even _wanted_ it," she replied softly. "Maybe you felt the same as I did."

"What _did_ you feel?" He asked, although he thought he already knew.

"That somehow you were important to me," she replied softly. "That… that somehow I belonged to you. I knew it deep down inside me."

He said no more, just looked at her deeply moved and bent down to her, let his lips gently touch hers, kissed her ever so lightly, in doing so, telling her that he had felt exactly the same way and still felt like this. She uttered another happy sigh, as he lifted his head a bit, and then breathed deeply in and out with a satisfied smile. She was really tired, he felt this now, yet she didn't close her eyes, simply had to continue to look at him.

These eyes, these incredibly warm, bright eyes, holding so much love and affection… He felt he could get lost in them and at the same time felt so safe and secure as if no evil in this world could ever harm him again. He hadn't felt that way for a very long time, especially not after his rescue from the lab. He hadn't expected to ever feel that way again, to be able to trust another person so much, to open up his soul and completely abandon himself to her. But she had succeeded. With her incredible strength and deep love for him she had in some magical way given him back his own strength, his will to live, his joy of life; she had accomplished the miracle that he no longer felt alien and alone in his own body, that he really was finding his way back to this old self, which he thought he had lost forever 58 years ago. Her love for his whole being, for every facet of his soul, had, for the first time in a long, long while made it possible for him to feel complete and whole again, that he could accept the vampire within him now and could learn to appreciate his special strengths and not condemn his weaknesses. This unique, deeply feeling, strong, beautiful woman…

He let one of the silky blond curls framing her lovely face slip through his fingers, and gently touched her cheek, almost reverently. Her skin beneath his fingers was so warm and velvety, soft and inviting, like everything about her and this well-known need to hold her and never let her go again, grew with each passing moment, with every second they looked into each other's eyes, he felt the gentle stroking of her fingers on his neck, enjoying the synchronous beating of their hearts so close to each other. She was his. His soul mate, his healing, his place of refuge, inseparable from him, had finally banished the feeling of loneliness from his insides and that's how it should stay forever. He wanted her to feel it, wanted to let her know that she made his heart overflow, made him so happy…

His fingers slid once again across her cheek, tenderly caressing this wonderful skin. Her breath blew relaxed across his lips and he leaned forward, kissed her once more as light as a feather and with all the affection he felt for her. How he loved her… His heart contracted again, pounded faster, wanting to burst… loved her so much…

Another delicate kiss, she returned so adorably. He closed his eyes, drinking in this intense feeling of her proximity. She belonged to him… to him… was his… forever… his Beth… never alone again…

"Marry me…"

The words were spoken so quietly that at first she had hardly registered what he had said. Only when he felt her holding her breath did Mick notice and tore his eyes open, terrified, looking at Beth's stunned face. Oh God! How stupid! How _stupid_! How could he ask that when their entire future was still so uncertain? Was she shocked? Appalled? Angry? Why had he not paid more attention, instead had just let his feelings slip out without thinking…

He raised his head, ran one hand over his face, but wasn't able to close his eyes resigned because he was still waiting for her reaction. A reaction other than this speechlessness she was now staring at him with.

"Oh God, I… I'm sorry Beth," he whispered, struggling with all his might against the fear and pain that spread in his chest. "I'm such an idiot sometimes…You… you don't need to answer that…"

His own anxiousness made him overlook how soft her features had suddenly become, how her eyes filled with tears. "Mick…"

"I… I can handle that…," he babbled on, "… it's... it's just my mind isn't working that well right now…"

"Mick…"

"… and I certainly won't pressure you or force you into making a decision you might eventually regret…"

"MICK!" Her hands grabbed his face and forced him to focus on her. It was only now that he noticed how upset she had become how quickly her chest heaved and fell and how treacherously her eyes glistened.

"Did you… did you mean that seriously?" she uttered hoarsely and her eyes seemed to want to penetrate him. Mick looked at her, looked at this beautiful face, this wonderful woman he loved more than life itself, without whom there would be no life for him.

"Yes," he could only utter in a low voice.

Beth's chest jerked under a suppressed sob, and her chin trembled, and despite the tears that rolled down her cheeks now, she managed a smile that made his heart almost burst with love. Then her mouth pressed tightly to his lips, kissed him so passionately and devotedly that he needed no other answer. She said 'yes' in a way there was no misunderstanding and caused his own eyes to begin to burn as well, though what he actually felt like doing was laughing out loud with joy.

"I love you, I love you Mick St. John," she whispered choked against his lips and let out a small laugh that also rushed out of him the next second. "I would… would marry you this instant if I could. Right here and now…"

Mick suddenly felt giddy, was helplessly swept away by his deep feelings and intense needs. "Now?" the next question escaped him again, without being able to do anything about it. Beth's expression faltered a bit, but nevertheless she beamed at him, with a slight frown. It looked so charming he simply had to kiss her again.

"What… what do you mean?" she stammered, a little breathless.

He raised his head, caressed her delicate face. "Well, we already have a pastor in the immediate vicinity and…"

What a stupid idea again… Beth deserved something better, a real wedding, with a beautiful wedding dress and lots of guests. And he… he didn't even have a ring he could put on her finger.

There it was again, this charming, happy smile. "Okay," she breathed, and pulled him back into a fervent kiss.

"O… Okay?" He mumbled against her seductively soft lips in disbelief. And she nodded with a small laugh.

He sought her gaze, looked at her inquiringly. Could hardly believe what he had heard.

"It's only about us, Mick," she whispered, stroking his cheek. "I don't need anyone else present, who doesn't really understand what has developed between us… I only need _you_…"

He had to kiss her, deeply and intimately, had to show her that he understood exactly what she was talking about and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and gave in return, devotedly, everything he revealed to her with such longing. He was so sure that this was right, that they belonged together forever and he knew he wasn't wrong this time. With this woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life, no matter how long this life would last.

* * *

Mick's euphoria didn't last long, unfortunately. He quickly realized that his enthusiastic request for marry 'Now' wasn't going to be that easy to implement because it would be difficult explaining to the pastor, why they wanted to repeat their wedding vows so quickly, and above all, why they wanted to do it under a different name. Besides, even a quick wedding required some planning and preparation - especially in their current life situation.

And then there were also a few signs from Beth that brought Mick back down to earth a bit. Though she still gave an entirely happy impression as they dressed and packed things up, and still sought the closeness of his body and beamed at him as soon as their eyes met, she couldn't hide the fact that since his terribly haphazard and awkward proposal, something was going on inside her head, worrying her - something she wanted to talk to him about, but hadn't really gotten the courage up to address it. There were again and again moments where Beth paused and inhaled, but then said nothing, only turned away from him again, and evaded his questioning glance.

If Beth had acted like that _before_ his proposal, Mick would have certainly confronted her and asked her to tell him what it was that was torturing her so, but now he too hadn't the courage to do so, because a tiny part of himself was still afraid she would change her mind, or would at least ask him for a little more time to think about it and this thought alone caused a painful stab in his chest. So he buttoned up his lips cowardly, and waited for her to bring up her concerns, hoping and praying she wouldn't still reject him in the end.

The rain that began to fall at some point, defined his inner mood a bit, as they hurriedly made their way back to the house, making it even more difficult to start a serious conversation with each other. And when they arrived in the house, soaking wet, they had so much to do with starting a fire in the fireplace, hanging up the wet things and getting changed, preferring as they did, to tease one another and fool around a bit, rather than opening up a subject that would surely upset them emotionally. For something like that they needed more rest and balance. And so it happened that they first prepared dinner together, ate and then snuggled against each other on the couch under a soft blanket to rest a little. It wasn't that they _weren't _talking to each other - they talked about everything that came to mind, just not Mick's proposal or Beth's problem that was very likely connected with it.

Of course, the warm body contact wasn't without consequences, led to them eventually kissing and caressing each other, and Beth soon lying under him on the couch, losing one piece of clothing after another, as he did. But apparently he had underestimated her need for talk, or her reason was simply stronger than his, ordering her to explain, for suddenly she shook her head and pushed him away from her so that he straightened a little and looked at her questioningly.

"Mick, we… we need to talk," she said hoarsely, and he didn't quite know where the anxiety and discomfort in her eyes was coming from, just looked at her puzzled.

"There… there's something…" She broke off. Had to collect herself to be able to continue and again that anxious feeling rose up in Mick, fearing the moment of truth had come and she would make a retreat.

"I don't know how…" She stopped again, closed her eyes. "I don't want you to fear that things will go the same way as they did for Gabriel, because it doesn't have to - it _won't_!"

He wrinkled his brow confused as she looked at him again, so pleadingly, so afraid. "It… it was a totally different time back then, when the thing with Laelia and also later with Janus happened. We live in a much more modern, more open society that can protect us and…"

"Wait - _wait_!" Mick interrupted her quickly and blinked at her in confusion. Why was she suddenly starting to talk about Gabriel and Laelia again? And this name…

"I don't understand. Why are you bringing this up now? And who exactly is Janus? This is the second time you've mentioned him and I…" This time _he_ paused in the middle of his sentence, because Beth's eyes suddenly became much wider and her mouth opened in astonishment.

"_Should_ this name ring a bell with me?" he asked with trepidation.

"He… he didn't tell you?" Beth uttered barely audible.

"Tell me what?" Somehow this didn't sound so good.

Beth breathed in and out a few times, only then she could answer his question. "Janus was Laelia's and Gabriel's biological son."

_Son_? Mick had to have misheard. Beth couldn't have said that.

"Laelia was Gabriel's wife and they had a child together, Mick," she voiced the impossible a second time and her voice trembled so strangely in doing so.

He shook his head, sat up entirely, because he somehow felt he could breathe better that way. There was such a strange pressure on his chest…

"Vampires can't have children," he said firmly. Nevertheless, his heart started to quiver strangely. And was now joined by this alarming feeling, this idea he couldn't allow, which made his intestines knot up further.

"Usually not," Beth admitted and also sat up a bit more. "But Gabriel isn't a normal vampire, and he probably took the cure and was then at least partly human. And Laelia… she was also special, like…" She paused, swallowed hard. "Just as_ I_ am."

He couldn't process her last words, ignored them, first had to cope with the idea that Gabriel had had a child.

'Don't think it! It's not possible!' something inside him shouted, tried with all its might to block these thoughts that had long since started to link the ever growing suspicion with all the strange things happening to Beth. 'You know this can't be!'

"I just assumed that Gabriel had told you about Janus," Beth went on softly now. "He told me he talked with you about the cell-transplantation."

Mick ripped himself violently out of his spiraling thoughts and looked at her again, now even more shocked than before. "_Cells_? You… you're not going to tell me now that these cells that were implanted in me were from his son?"

She looked almost apologetically at him, and he shook his head with an incredulous laugh. This was only getting better and better!

"He told me that the cells that where implanted in me were those of one of his descendants – nothing more," he uttered upset and ran a hand over his face as he tried to maintain control over his emotions, not wanting this new discovery to destroy this wonderful calmness inside him completely. "I don't understand. Why would he keep this a secret from me? How come he didn't tell me that he had had a child?"

He looked at Beth and totally without wanting to, his gaze roamed down to her belly. Why was he doing this? This was crazy!

"He… he probably wanted _me_ to talk with you about it…," she said, now very carefully and his heart rate increased even more.

"W… why?" He asked and was suddenly more nervous than he had ever been before. And the stress in his stomach grew more and more.

"Haven't you noticed that I've changed Mick?" Beth asked almost anxiously.

He shook his head, but then nodded. He was so confused, so terribly confused. "Somehow my blood changed you," he said, and suddenly knew perfectly well that that was only half the story.

"_We_ changed me, Mick."

"What… what do you mean?" he asked, though his mind had long since told him what it was - only he hadn't really wanted it to get through to him. The thought was so frightening, so unsettling… so impossible.

She swallowed hard, looked at him intently. "Have you never noticed it?" she whispered again. "Have you not heard it?"

He shook his head vehemently, didn't want to admit it, didn't want to allow this thought, _couldn't_ allow it. 'The heart beat! The heart beat!' It hammered in his head and his own heart was now beating wildly in his chest.

"You just have to listen closely," Beth whispered, unable to find the words that would make it easier for him to understand.

There was such a fear in his chest, so much confusion and disbelief and yet he closed his eyes and listened, listened to her heartbeat, focused on the small irregularities. Irregularities that no longer existed as he now understood, now that he listened very carefully, concentrated on the part of her body where the thumping sound was really located - her belly. Very quiet and much slower than the heartbeat of a normal baby, so hidden, so delicate. Mick opened his eyes again, completely stunned, with open mouth and eyes wide. That couldn't be, it just _couldn't_ be! It was impossible! And yet… there had been so many signs pointing to it: the circulatory problems, the fainting, the altered taste of her blood, her nausea, her extreme sensitivity… God in heaven!

He didn't realize what he was doing when he jumped up, staggered away from the couch where Beth now sat up, worried. No air! He couldn't breathe and his heart was pounding right up into his temples, making him lightheaded.

"This… this isn't possible…," he heard himself gasp, raising his hands in defense without wanting to. "I can't father a child. I… I just can't…"

"I know it sounds crazy," said Beth now distressed and he heard this tremor in her voice that told him how upset she herself was by now, how little it would take to make her burst into tears. "But it _has _happened. And you're _not_ a vampire anymore."

"No, you don't understand. Frank told me so. They did tests. I _can't _father children - not with a human nor a vampire woman… It's not possible!"

But it was so. Mick felt it somehow, knew it, had actually known it for a while. The idea had just been so absurd and so terribly upsetting that he simply hadn't accepted it.

"It _is_ possible," said Beth, bravely swallowing her own dismay with his reaction. "Under very specific circumstances and conditions it_ is_ possible. Gabriel and Laelia proved it. And you can hear it, Mick…"

He could. Still. He stared at her belly, ran his hand over his mouth, which was suddenly very dry and let out a stunned "Good God!" He shook his head again, trying to calm the emotional turmoil inside him with long deep breaths. But it was hard, so hard. A baby… a baby by him - a hybrid. God, how well could _that _turn out? What kind of baby would it be? He felt sick.

"Is it… is it a…" He broke off, couldn't voice what scared him the most.

"A vampire?" Beth helped him in a small voice, shaking her head at once. "No. It will be normal, Mick. Perhaps like me, with better functioning senses."

"How… how can you know that?" He stammered and all at once felt the urgent need to sit down, because his legs were suddenly so terribly shaky.

"Gabriel told me," she replied quietly and then pressed her lips together as if to pull herself together and not burst into tears. But he couldn't react; he was just too hysterical to be considerate of her.

"_He_ knows?" He uttered shocked and everything inside him cramped again.

"He knew it even before_ I_ did," Beth replied in a husky voice and Mick suddenly realized, understood why Gabriel had had to taste Beth's blood. He knew how the blood of a pregnant woman tasted – it had been the only way to find it out.

Mick tried to breathe quietly to calm his pulse, but that was easier said than done. Even if he had unconsciously felt that Beth might be pregnant - his refusal to even contemplate the notion had led to the fact that it was now hitting him all at once. He not only had to get used to the idea that Beth really was carrying his child, a child they had both created unplanned, but immediately had to fight against his fears and concerns that they would be bringing a baby into the world in _this_ difficult situation. A baby…

"And he… he said it would be viable?" he stammered on, not noticing how hard Beth was struggling to retain her composure.

This time she nodded, her lips firmly pressed together and bravely blinking against her tears.

"And it'll be normal?" He asked yet again, because he just couldn't believe this.

This time, Beth no longer responded to his question, but even avoided his eyes. Her chin trembled and she turned away from him, lowering her head. It wasn't long before he heard the first suppressed sobs. And that was all it took for Mick to come around again. The sight of her crying made Mick's heart contract painfully and all his tension was replaced by a wave of shame and guilt. He immediately rushed over to the couch and pulled Beth into his arms even before he was really sitting.

"I'm such an idiot…" he stammered affected and was relieved when she didn't push him away, but instead immediately clung to him, buried her face in his chest and let her tears flow. It hurt that he was again the cause of her tears, of the soft sobs, the repeatedly quivering of her narrow shoulders. Again he had hurt her with his impetuous behavior, hadn't seen how much this miraculous event in their lives had also worn_ her_ down emotionally.

"I'm so sorry, Beth," he whispered in her ear as he stroked her back reassuringly, rocking her softly back and forth.

She moved in his arms, lifted her tear-stained face and struggled visibly to get her emotions back under control. "I… I… did… didn't plan this," she brought out haltingly, and he immediately shook his head.

"I know… I know, Beth," he stammered, pressed his lips against her forehead, kissed her eyelids and her nose and then took her face in both his hands to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I love you, Beth. And I…" He breathed deeply in and out again, but still couldn't speak further on, just looked at her moved instead. A baby. She was carrying his child under her heart. _His_ child.

"I wanted to tell you a lot earlier," she sniffed and breathed in and out haltingly. "I… I just… didn't know how… I couldn't do it somehow because we were so happy and I didn't want to ruin it." She pressed her lips together and more large tears rolled down her cheeks, which Mick gently wiped away again, shaking his head.

"You didn't," he uttered hastily. "You mustn't think this way, Beth. Nothing has changed between us, won't change. I… I just needed to get a grasp on this somehow… I…"

A baby. He was going to be a father. He would have a family, a_ real_ family… Beth, he and a child - _their_ child! The miracle he subconsciously had always longed for had happened. It had just happened, without coercion, without fear, without pressure… maybe that's precisely why it _had_ happened.

It was at this very moment that something suddenly opened up inside him and let the thought of this miracle that was granted to them sink deeply into his very core. And suddenly it became quite warm in his chest and a feeling of infinite gratitude and unconditional love swept over him, made sure that he was choked with emotion and his nose began to tingle, announcing the tears that only seconds later filled his eyes - tears of unbelievable joy that began to crowd out all the other negative feelings. He clasped her face even firmer, while his lips moved, deeply touched, into a gentle smile. Beth blinked away her tears, seemed to sense the change in him and now took his face in her hands, came so close that their noses touched, they could breathe in the comforting proximity of the other one.

"You're giving me a… a baby?" Mick uttered very quietly and with a quite shaky voice and his timid joy turned into elation as Beth nodded, let him forget all the worries and fears that had bound him so tightly just now. He couldn't help it, he let out a chuckle and then his lips searched hers, kissed them with abandon, showed her how much he loved her for this and showed her what an incredible gift she was giving him.

"It… it will be the most beautiful baby in the world," he whispered against her lips and felt now the first of his own tears run down his cheeks. "And it will be wise and strong like you…"

"And like his father," Beth whispered and now also uttered a tearful laugh. "It will be a fighter like you."

"And terribly stubborn," he added, laughing, and kissed her again. Then he looked at her, full of love, and pulled her back into his arms, held her as tightly as he could, and closed his eyes. There had to be a reason why this had happened, why life had suddenly offered him all this, everything he had always wanted. Only a few days ago he would probably have only thought about the worst scenarios, would have been so worried about this unborn child and Beth that he would have surely lost his mind. But he was no longer this negative person who could only see the dangers and pitfalls lurking in the future. He knew now that there were other, brighter things to look forward to, a future worth fighting for. Suddenly life was speaking to him, showing him how the future could look. All he had to do was listen, to open himself up to it, just needed to find the courage to fight with all his might for this better future, to use his strength, his mind and his new abilities in a way that would clear a path into the life he so desperately wanted with Beth. He could do it, just needed to finally take the first step. It was time to leave the past behind and look towards the future.

"We can do this, Beth," he whispered into her hair. "Somehow we'll manage all this. And you'll be the most fantastic mother."

She raised her head, couldn't stop crying, but she smiled. "And you'll for sure be the most loving father the world has ever seen," she sniffed, and he had to kiss her again simply because she looked so adorable, with her hair all tousled and her eyes all puffy and red from crying.

"But one thing you must promise me, Beth," he said smiling, as he released her again.

She blinked at him questioningly.

"If it's a boy, by no means will we call him Elliot!"

Beth hesitated for a second, then seemed to remember, and began to laugh. "Okay, I can live with that," she said, and kissed him in turn.

Mick looked at her happily and gazed for a moment into the face of this beautiful woman who had brought him back to life in such a wonderful way and had revealed a future to him he desperately wanted. A future he would fight for with a vengeance.

"I love you," he whispered to her again. "You and all the wonderful things you bring into my life."

His eyes wandered down to her belly and suddenly there was this need in him to get closer to the miracle inside her body, to really perceive it – this time with a good feeling, without the senseless panic, without any worries or concerns. It was his instinct that guided him when he broke away from Beth and sank down to his knees between her thighs. And when he laid his head on her stomach, closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing, Beth paused, even held her breath.

There it was, the soft thumping that knew how to hide quietly from the outside world, as if it knew the dangers threatening it. But now that Mick was so close he could clearly hear that it was a separate heartbeat, the heartbeat of a tiny being. _Their_ baby, a life their love had created. Someday this little creature would be there in his arms, perhaps even grab his finger. He would find a part of himself in this child and it would call him 'Daddy'. Mick's throat began to cord up again and tears came as he raised his eyes and looked at Beth, finding the same emotion in her eyes which had seized him. She raised a hand, caressed his forehead and cheek with tenderness and he knew exactly what she was thinking: They belonged together; no matter what might still be ahead - forever.


	73. Unmasked

_Sorry. Can't really look through my eyes - that tired I am. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Loved your feedback and hug you. Wish you a great Sunday, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco and Jenna_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**Unmasked**

* * *

"… _perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being the helpless that wants help from us."_

_Rainer Maria Rilke_

* * *

Kernville wasn't a large town, but had at least two churches - both of which led us astray as we searched for the ancient vampire since he was near neither one nor the other. I didn't even need to get out of the car and scan the houses to determine this. With his blood in my veins, I would have certainly felt him, would have been able to perceive his distinctive energy field - but this wasn't the case. Of course, Josef Kostan wasn't one to give up so easily, and when Logan's laptop quickly informed us that there were a lot of other churches in the surrounding villages, we simply drove on, accompanied by the wailing and lamenting of our little geek - the thought of visiting Gabriel unannounced still scared the hell out of him - to the next village called _Wofford Heights_. Yet as we approached the place, I was overcome with the feeling that this time we would be right that somehow we would find our old friend here. And as we neared _Forsquare Gospel Church_, I became anxious again, because the tingling of my scalp, the dull feeling in my gut, immediately told me that Gabriel was really here. It was my own courage, which scared me a little now and caused my pulse to speed up, because I could still be wrong about Gabriel's reaction towards me and if that was the case… I really didn't want to think about what the outcome might be.

"Wait… slow down!" I commanded tense, looking out of the window. Right side. It had to be somewhere on the right.

Directly opposite the church was a two-story house painted white with a garage, in whose driveway sat an inconspicuous looking silver car with its trunk open. I sensed movement on the veranda and turned my gaze towards it quickly. It was a woman who had just come out of the house, carrying a suitcase and another bag. Tall, slim, attractive, long brunette hair… My stomach tightened.

"Stop!" I uttered tense and Alejandro immediately pulled over to the side of the road and stepped on the brake.

"It's Simone," Logan stated once again 'incredibly astute', as I was already opening the door to get out, my gaze fixed on the woman who had proved once again that even a Josef Kostan could skillfully be given the run-around.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Guillermo asked with deep lines of worry on his forehead, and I wondered whom he was really worried about: the young lawyer, because she would soon be confronted by me so surprisingly, or whether it was for me because I still wanted to tangle with Gabriel.

I shook my head quickly, without looking at him. "It's better if you stay here. I don't think it's going to improve Gabriel's mood any if we all converge on him at once."

I didn't wait for my friends to reply, just walked off, heading straight for Simone, my eyes directed towards her back as she stowed her luggage in the trunk of the car. She seemed to be so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that someone was approaching her who could very well be a danger to her. But truth be told, my anger towards her had almost completely dissipated while searching for Gabriel's hiding place. The call I had recently made was probably to blame for this. It actually hadn't much to do with her, but it had opened my eyes a little more to the strange world in which we vampires lived.

It had been Mick I'd talked to. I hadn't wanted to go into my conversation with Gabriel unprepared and had therefore asked him to tell me everything he had learned so far from the old vampire. To say that I was dumbfounded and shaken after the call was an absolute understatement. I was shocked, stunned to the point of paralysis. Every vampire that I'd ever known had had his secrets, but Gabriel… Gabriel was definitely the king of some of the most guarded most earth shattering secrets I'd ever heard. It wasn't that I couldn't understand the dealings and entanglements between him and the Legion, but that he'd been capable of covering this scandal up, this harrowing story, to twist it so much that no one knew exactly who had done what, when and how - that was what had disturbed me so much, for it showed just how quickly one could affect, manipulate and exploit vampires as well. Well, Gabriel hadn't done it for personal gain or power, had only wanted to bring about peace between humans and vampires and believed that this was the only way he could achieve it. But there were others who thought differently, whose intentions weren't noble, who were using vampires and humans to reach their own selfish goals. The influence of the_ Cercle_ was the best proof of that. And if they ever learned of Gabriel's personal story - I didn't even want to_ think_ about it. Gabriel's secrets had to remain a secret for as long as the _Cercle_ existed and our world was one of mistrust, fear and secrecy. And as long as that was so, I couldn't condemn the people who'd been pulled into that world, for they were automatically led into the temptation of adapting themselves to our behavior. How could I criticize Simone? How could I despise her for a behavior that, if I were honest, I'd been guilty of for centuries? She'd done nothing malicious, hadn't injured, killed or threatened anyone - not even me. That was more than I could say about myself. There were many times I'd lied and even killed to gain more power and wealth. And _my _secrecy about things that had happened in the past had been a contributing factor in my best friend suffering so much in the last year that he'd almost died. I couldn't accuse _her _of anything like that…

Simone stopped abruptly, had probably just now noticed that I was approaching her, even though I had been very quiet. But if you'd spent as much time around vampires as she had, at some point, you'd probably be able to feel when they approached you too. I saw her chest expand with a deep breath and stopped close behind her, waiting for her to turn around to me.

She did, slowly and with lowered eyelids, lifting her gaze cautiously. There was slight fear showing in her eyes but more than that deep regret and sorrow, and something stirred inside me, began to ache and cramp.

"I… I'm so sorry, Josef," she whispered, not bothering to greet me first. "I… I don't know if you want to hear this, but… you mustn't think that what's developed between us was just an act - because it wasn't." She looked at me heartfelt and all I could manage was a silent nod. My throat was suddenly so dry, making it impossible for me to answer her.

"I… I never meant for it to happen, but I really did fall in love with you," she continued in a shaky voice. "That you must believe. And when Mick was kidnapped, I told Gabriel, that I could no longer work for him that I really wanted to lend you my support as a friend and not have the feeling that I still needed to spy for him. But he told me that it was now more important than ever to find Mick…"

"How long have you been working for Gabriel?" I now voiced one of the many questions that still weighed heavily on my mind.

"Since my brother's death," she returned quietly. "It was a vampire of the Cercle who killed him Josef. I… I just wanted to find out who did this. I wanted revenge. And Gabriel…" A small smile appeared on her lips and I realized with astonishment that she really liked the old vampire. "I've known him practically all my life."

I raised my eyebrows astonished, couldn't hide my surprise with this statement.

"My mother was one of his favorite Freshies and even when she eventually married, she still kept in touch with him," Simone added explanatory. "He has always supported us and helped when we found ourselves in need - even here in the States. He was sort of a good friend of the family."

"A good friend?" I repeated a bit annoyed because I didn't like at all how enthusiastic she had sounded when talking about Gabriel. "He also placed you in great danger with this job Simone. Freshies lead a pretty dangerous life."

"He didn't want me to do it in the beginning," she instantly defended him and made me even angrier in doing so. "He said he would hunt for my brother's murderer alone, that it would be too dangerous for me, but I told him _I_ wanted to do it. He knew I was serious, so in the end he decided to take me under his wing and teach me everything I needed to know in order to move inconspicuously among the vampire society and how to gather information. And he protected me as best as he could. That's how it worked for years."

"Did you find the vampire responsible for the death of your brother?" I just had to ask.

She nodded with a small smile. "But someone else killed him."

"Who?"

Her smile became a little wider. "Mick, with _your_ help."

I hesitated a second time, looked at her dumbfounded.

"His name at the time of his death was Dr. Pierce Anders," she said, and that name indeed sounded familiar to me. "He worked as a plastic surgeon in LA. He was killing people with rare blood types to take their blood and sell it."

"Oh! I remember," I replied, and even now in retrospect, felt a little pride in the fact that I had helped Mick with this problem. Actually, the bastard had died much too human. "And he was a member of the Cercle?"

"Yes. Gabriel says the Cercle had infiltrated the vampire community in LA to a much greater extent than he had ever guessed." She looked at me a little shamefacedly. "He… he also wasn't so sure that you might not belong to them as well."

That hurt and I really had to swallow. Well, I did have a reputation for behaving in a bigmouthed and arrogant manner in the vampire community and had often not spoken in a very polite tone about humans, but the Cercle du Sang played in a totally different league, was much more aggressive and fanatical than I ever was.

"So therefore your ruse," I noted a little sad.

She lowered her eyes and for a few seconds there was oppressive silence between us.

"You must hate me," she finally replied softly, looking at me again.

"No," I replied, without having to think about it. "To tell the truth, it kind of impresses me that someone was able to pull this off – to wrap Josef Kostan round their fingers so much that he doesn't even notice when something is going on behind his back."

She tried to smile but the tears that rose in her eyes now, made that smile look very pained.

"We still had a lot of fun with each other – didn't we?" I replied with a swelling ache in my chest and had to raise my hand to gently caress her forehead and temple.

She nodded bravely, blinked against the tears that also wanted to come to my eyes. "We had."

"Where are you going now?" I asked quickly, before the whole thing became so emotional that I indeed lost my control here, and nodded in the direction of the luggage stowed in the trunk.

"To Europe," she replied as I regained a little composure. "I'm flying to Paris first to visit some relatives. Gabriel thinks it might be best if I take a long holiday outside of the States and I think he's right."

I nodded understandingly, even though the ache in my chest instantly grew more intense. The fact that Simone was under Gabriel's protection didn't necessarily mean that some other vampire, who might feel betrayed by her, wouldn't find her and lose control of himself and kill her. She was safer in Europe - mainly because there, Gabriel appeared to have more control over the vampire community. Nevertheless, the idea of letting her go, of not seeing her for a long time, maybe even years, still hurt and I really had to struggle with myself, to keep from pulling her into my arms and telling her that she should stay with me, that I would protect her somehow.

She managed another tense smile when I said nothing more, then closed the trunk and walked hesitantly to the driver's door. I couldn't help it - I followed her instinctively.

"I think when this is all over, I'm going to be in need of a vacation myself," I managed to say. When she again turned around to me, her face lit up immediately because she seemed to sense what would come next. "Europe doesn't sound so bad. I haven't been there for some time though and if you wouldn't mind, maybe you could recommend some resorts to me …"

There they were, Simone's lips pressing against mine, full of longing and I closed my eyes automatically, returning the kiss with fervor, showing her in doing so how much I had taken her to my heart. It wasn't a passionate kiss - no, it was a warm, firm kiss, a kiss of farewell, which contained the promise that one day we'd see each other again, that maybe we'd give, what had developed between us, a chance to again become a real relationship. And as we both let go of each other, we smiled wistfully, but warm and without hiding our feelings from each other.

"Take care of yourself," Simone said softly, and I replied with just a quiet "Ditto" before she opened the car door and got into the car. As hard as it was and as much as it hurt when she started the engine and drove off, it felt right to let her go, was right and important for both of us, because this separation would gave us both the time we needed to process everything, to figure out what we wanted and to see if the feelings that had arisen between us, were indeed strong enough to withstand the ups and downs of a closer, and more serious relationship.

But I hadn't much time to process this farewell, because the tingle in my neck was back again and when I turned to the porch I realized the person who had just stepped out of the house was actually someone else I had a score to settle with: August.

He had been looking towards the parked car of my friends, but now his eyes were directed at me and he nodded. I immediately set in motion, and within a few quick steps was on the stairs and even faster to August, who was standing in front of the door. I silently pushed past him into the house because during my conversation with Simone, the sun had already started to bite into the back of my neck uncomfortably. I looked around briefly. Nice… This house for all its simplicity was indeed set up very nicely. And it was spacious and bright – just like my taste.

"Did you make up with her?" the Doc, who had followed me with a worried frown into the house, actually dared to ask and I turned to him raising my eyebrows with indignation.

"What do _you_ care?"

My gruffness seemed to disturb him slightly, because he immediately took a small step backwards, and then shrugged his shoulders a bit helplessly. "She… she was just so afraid of your meeting…"

I nodded sternly. "And rightly so, she betrayed me."

My words didn't fail to have the desired effect. August immediately lowered his eyes and gave a contrite impression. "She never meant to harm you," he murmured, and I was sure that he also spoke of himself. "She only wanted to help and thought that she was doing this for a good cause, to avert danger from the community. And sometimes it happens that you don't know for _whom_ you're really working and for what reason…"

"Does that make the deceit easier?" I probed coolly. I wasn't going to make it as easy for him as I had with Simone.

August let out a soft sigh and shook his head resigned. "Probably not. But maybe it will put your mind at rest when I tell you that in the beginning I thought I was working with another dedicated vampire-doctor, who had nothing to do with the Legion or the Cercle du Sang. Gabriel told me back then that he had been involved in the development of the cure and wanted to help me find the best treatment for Mick. He also said he was already working with you and helping you without you even noticing it. And then, when I realized that this wasn't true…" He sighed again. "… it was already too late."

I looked at him for a few heartbeats, quietly and very thoughtfully. "Did you inform him at that time of our whereabouts?"

He immediately shook his head. "No. He did ask me though, but I didn't tell him - not even when he threatened me. You have to believe me. I wasn't that trusting."

I nodded understandingly. Simone. It must have been her. She knew Gabriel better, trusted him and probably felt pretty confident that he wouldn't harm any of us. I breathed in and out deeply.

"Well, I'll think about whether I can forgive you," I replied, looking over to the stairs that led to the upper floor. "On condition that you stay out of what Gabriel and I have to sort out."

"But…"

"No but!" I dismissed him now strictly. "I'm going up there now to confront him, and you're to stay down here!"

"He's still in bad shape, Josef," August insisted on warning me. "He needs lots of rest - especially after the exhausting meeting."

I frowned and narrowed my eyes. "Did he tell you not to let anyone up to see him?"

August responded with a much delayed shake of his head. "Somehow he even suspected you'd show up here. But - Josef, he's really not well. And asks too much of himself all the time. If we want him to continue to lead us in this war, we need to spare him - otherwise we'll lose him!"

"What exactly is making him so ill?" I had to ask him now.

"A poison that is specially designed for vampires like him - vampires who are special, who are still partly human," was the not so pleasant response. "This poison has been around a long time and Gabriel had already come into contact with it once before. But back then and only in the last second was an antidote found and saved him. Gabriel put the poison aside and hid it along with the antidote. How it got into the hands of the Legion, we don't really know yet. And it's certain that they researched it and developed it further to use as a weapon against Mick. And as potent as it is now, he would be seriously affected by it. We suspect, however, that the Legion has the antidote for it, and wanted to use it to lure Mick back into their hands with it. Only it didn't hit Mick but Gabriel."

"But he feels better now," I replied, knowing full well that this couldn't be quite right.

"Yes - the only question is for how long," said August in resignation. "I'm currently trying to develop a remedy using the old antidote and this seems to be working, at least partially, but if I'm honest, I'm not sure if it will help Gabriel in the long run. We need the antidote the Legion has - or at least their formula for it."

I nodded thoughtfully, and then pointed with my chin toward the door. "Frank is sitting outside in the car. It may help you if he takes a look at all this. He's been with the Legion for a while now; maybe he knows something about the poison and the antidote and could really help."

"I've thought about that too," said August and cast a careful gaze at the ceiling, then continued in a low voice, "but Gabriel didn't want me to contact Frank. He told me Mick would need him more. If you ask me, he doesn't really want to recover completely again."

"And if _you_ ask _me_, I wouldn't bother about what he tells you to do," I replied just as quietly. "You're a doctor with heart and soul August – since when do doctors listen to what their patients are telling them?"

August looked at me somewhat perplexed, and for a few seconds wasn't sure what to say, but then he nodded slowly. "You're right," he admitted. "I haven't really looked at it from that perspective yet." He looked over to the door. "You say Frank's sitting in the car?"

I gave a little smile and that was enough for him to set into motion and head for the door. I myself took another deep breath, straightened my shoulders and then began to walk up the stairs.

The upper floor had several rooms, but I didn't need to look into any of them. My connection to Gabriel was strong enough for me to know which room he was in. The door was open, and the breeze of fresh, cool air, flowing towards me, told me with certainty that all the windows in the room had been opened to lower the temperature in there.

I was right, but all the blinds had also been lowered as well to keep the light of day out as best as one could - a sure sign that the old vampire was indeed still in his recovery phase. But he wasn't lying in the wide bed, which stood in the fairly spacious room, or sitting in one of the armchairs by the window as was normal for a person weakened by illness. Instead he stood in the middle of the room, a mobile phone to his ear, with one hand propped on his hip and his eyes closed, because the conversation seemed to exhaust him so much.

"Yes – I've already written to you about this," he said now in an anxiously patient tone. "He's doing well again and you can count on that remaining so. I'll personally see to it."

"You've said that before," I heard Gabriel's interlocutor, when I, without being prompted, entered the room and strained my hearing just a bit more. But the man's clearly worried voice wasn't familiar to me. "And what happened?"

"I've made mistakes and you know how much they weigh on me," Gabriel quickly replied and his eyes wandered over to me a little insecure. _Insecure_? Gabriel? I was shocked.

"But if you return to the States now, in _this_ situation, the chances that your cover will be blown is tremendously high," Gabriel went on quickly anyway. "Then it will have all been for nothing: all your years of work, all the hardships and the suffering…"

This time, it remained silent on the other end of the line.

"The _Cercle du Sang_ is a danger to us all," Gabriel added gravely. "For humans _and_ vampires who want to live in peace. Its destruction is of the upmost importance – that has become clear to me in the conflict here once again. And as hard as it is, we cannot allow ourselves to be guided by our emotions right now. Neither yours, nor mine, nor anyone else's…" Gabriel's eyes landed on me again and I knew full well that he also wanted to admonish _me_ with his words.

I heard a faint sigh from the phone. "Okay. I trust you and really hope this time it's not stupid of me to do so. I think I'd be informed quickly enough here that if something new were to develop I'd still have time to handle the matter myself."

There was a small threat heard in the voice of the stranger, but Gabriel didn't react to it. "Take care!" he only said instead, and then broke the connection. Gabriel closed the phone and looked at me again. He didn't smile, but I had the feeling that he wasn't hostile towards me, but even rather relieved that I had appeared here. He threw the phone in a casual manner onto the bed next to him, then crossed his arms over his chest and eyed me up briefly.

"So, without weapons and escort?"

"I thought I'd play the obedient subordinate first before calling the other 'rebels' in", I replied with a calmness that really did the old Josef Kostan credit.

"The others are waiting outside in the car?" Gabriel asked and I nodded affirmatively. He let out a chuckle and shook his head.

"I don't know what it is with you. Here I am, trying to get you under control, to scatter you every now and then to prevent you from going your own way and no longer sticking to the plan, but the minute you're left alone and I turn my back, you're all stuck together again and are as thick as thieves." Another stunned, amused shake of the head followed his words. "Today, this awfully young, usually rather timid vampire Seth comes to me in the morning and asks when he'll finally be allowed to return to 'his' team. He misses you so much that he doesn't really work all that well when he doesn't have 'his folks' around Simone… she's not able to work at all anymore." The old vampire sighed deeply and heavily, walked over to one of the armchairs and sat down on it heavily. Then he put his head back and closed his eyes. For whatever reason, it didn't seem as if he wanted to go straight for my throat and punish me for my improper behavior, so I boldly approached him.

"Can you explain to me why you used Simone to spy on me?" I asked out right, even though she had just explained it to me. I wanted to hear _his_ version of the story.

"Is this so hard to understand?" Gabriel asked in return and didn't even bother to lift his eyelids again. "You'd become, fairly quickly, one of the most powerful vampires in the States and had a big influence on the vampire society there and were held in high esteem." He now opened his eyes again and was looking for my reaction. "The community here had alienated itself more and more and developed a certain hostility towards the vampires in Europe. Very little of what was going on here had gotten through to us – it couldn't continue that way, especially since I had a feeling that the _Cercle_ would spread out in the States again, and attempt to win over many new members among you.I wasn't even sure if you'd already joined them. And the best way to find out was for me to somehow get a couple of my people close to you. Simone was just one spy of many. I never would have guessed that she'd become so useful to me one day."

"It was she, who betrayed to you where we were hiding, wasn't it?" I asked and Gabriel's nod didn't surprise me.

"She assumed I wouldn't hurt you."

"Was she right? Did you really, from the very beginning, not intend on hurting us?"

He only looked at me thoughtfully for a few heartbeats, and then took a deep breath. "I told Simone that I wanted to get an idea of what was going on and that was the truth. I wanted to see Mick, wanted to know whether he was still a civilized being, whether he could be re-integrated into society. I knew a lot about the research Josef, but I didn't know _exactly_ what the Legion had done to Mick. I actually thought…" He stopped, lowered his gaze guiltily, but then looked at me again with a more unfazed expression. "When I heard the Legion had him, I was convinced he would be dead within days. This is what happened to all the vampires who preceded him. There were also communications from time to time that he really _was_ dead. The Legion didn't want it known that they had been successful in their experiments for the first , it was a real shock when I heard that Mick had been freed by you after a_ whole year_ in the labs, and that he hadn't died in the aftermath either. When Lance told me he was a wild beast that couldn't be controlled, I had believed him at first… especially after all that time in the lab…" He shook his head filled with consternation. "And then I heard something completely different from August. I realized then that I had to see him in person, to form my own opinion on everything - even _before_ everyone else around you started to freak out and fight amongst themselves. I didn't want to harm him - I had pretty quickly formed the opinion that I needed to protect him somehow."

"How long, before you showed up in Mexico, did you know everything about us?" I asked perplexed.

"August informed me the day after Mick's, 're-awakening,' about everything," Gabriel replied without hesitation, and I really had trouble keeping my anger regarding that hidden.

"So soon?" I asked, tense and Gabriel nodded affirmatively.

"And you completely stayed out of everything until your arrival in Mexico?"

Gabriel became silent again and something in his eyes told me that this wasn't quite the case. My mind started working at full speed to try and figure out in which situation Gabriel had already intervened unnoticed. Probably through August or Simone… There it was!

"Talbot!" I blurted out. "Beth's meeting with Talbot! Simone was supposed to keep an eye on her and it really surprised me that she was able to escape so easily from the hotel to meet with the lawyer…"

Gabriel still said nothing, just looked at me straight-faced, but I knew my ingenious mind had once again come to the proper conclusion.

"You arranged this, didn't you?" I asked, now even a little more forcefully. "Why? Why did you have to put her in danger like that?"

"It was absolutely necessary in order to get in contact with Talbot and somehow win him over," was Gabriel's reply. "You have to see that now too!"

"Beth could have died!" I reproached him angrily.

"No!" he immediately stopped me. "She was never alone, neither through the meeting nor in the shopping center. I had someone there, someone who was able to intervene without being seen and even took care of a few men, discreetly. And if Max and his team hadn't arrived in time to get Beth out of there; _my_ man would have taken over. Nothing would have happened to her."

I couldn't help it - I was angry, even after the fact, that I hadn't noticed Gabriel's intervention. I was annoyed that he had been able to play his hidden game with us even back then.

"I never would have put Beth in harms way, Josef," the old vampire added. "Back then, I didn't realized how important she was for Mick, but she's a Sangsujet and I'm committed to protect her."

"Like Mick?" It just burst out of me and I had the feeling that Gabriel, at least inwardly, winced a little. He gritted his teeth, but continued to hold my challenging gaze. He said nothing further and I now took a seat in the chair opposite him.

"Do you know what question always comes up in me over and over again?" I finally said. "The question of what you'd planned on doing in the fight against the Legion from the very beginning. I'd really like to know this."

"Why?" Gabriel asked in return and rested his chin in his hand, lifting his eyebrows questioningly.

"Because initially I had certain assumptions about _His_ great plan, and would just like to assure myself that you would have never considered these ideas."

"What ideas?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "That you were planning to hand over Mick to the Legion as part of some new peace negotiations."

"Do you think I would be capable of doing something like that?"

"Yes," I gave back without hesitation.

Again this wordless staring. The man really had a knack for creating this unbearable thrill.

"I had planned to kill him myself, if in fact he really was behaving like a rabid beast and could never live in society like a normal person again," Gabriel finally deigned to answer me - mercilessly honest. "But I would never have returned his body to the Legion. The research, which was run by this organization, is of no interest to me."

"That means you never intended to use Mick as bait or to blackmail the Legion with him?" I just had to dig deeper, still in doubt.

"That's not what I said," the old vampire replied immediately. "It would be stupid, would it not, if I hadn't considered it?"

"That means you're still thinking about it today?"

Gabriel was stuck for an answer again, but this time pressed his lips together anxiously.

"Well," I said angrily. "What about me? What role is foreseen for me in your great plan? You knew all along that I had hidden Mick and Beth - wherever. And you probably also know that I've met Talbot to share information behind your back. And yet you've not punished me for it. So, what's the reason for this?"

"Mick and Beth _needed_ this break - _urgently_," came Gabriel's immediate reply this time. "So in this respect, you've actually carried out my wishes. I knew you'd do that - I already know you that well. In regard to Talbot…" He inhaled audibly through his nose. "I think in light of the tremendous stress we're all under, I can forgive this unauthorized action, once - as long as it stays between us. Such a thing will certainly never happen again in the near future and we'll all work towards the same goal again."

"As long as I know what the goal is and can tinker about with it, I've no problem with that," I replied with a little too friendly smile.

Gabriel furrowed his brows and I saw the first sparks of anger flash in his bright eyes. "Are you seriously setting conditions for your future collaboration?"

"Do _you_ seriously think I've no right to do so?" I asked back, knowing full well that I was going out on a limb right now.

Gabriel uttered a noise that sounded like a mix between an indignant snort and an incredulous laugh."Don't press your luck, Josef. My patience is not inexhaustible, and with most people I'm far less indulgent. You move outside the rules and guidelines only as far as _I _allow you to!"

I probably should have backed off at this point, looked for a better way to convince Gabriel that he couldn't continue to govern everything alone, but somehow his words had angered me to the point that I'd lost all respect and fear of him.I even leaned in a little towards him, looking him fearlessly in the eyes. "Explain something to me: Where and when were you appointed the chosen ruler of this world? Or, no…" I waved off annoyed. "Actually, I don't even want to know, because you know what: We no longer live in an age of Roman Empire no longer exists and hardly anyone remembers the Sumerians and their wanna-be to tell the truth - I'm tired of being bossed around by someone who still lives in the past and believes that today's problems can be solved with yesterday's methods. It's already enough that you killed your own family with this - I won't let you do the same to _mine_!"

Gabriel's normally so hard-to-read facial expression reflected, even as I was still speaking, all the emotions churning in him during my little speech: disbelief, outrage, horror, shock, dismay and anger. Anger being the feeling that far out-weigh the others in the end - so strongly that Gabriel suddenly shot up from his chair, with a deep, extremely menacing growl, and in the same movement launched himself at chair toppled over backwards with us, but I hardly had time to feel the impact, because I immediately sailed, with tremendous momentum, through the room and crashed with such force into the nearest wall that even the wood behind the crumbling plaster gave way with a crack. The breath was knocked out of me and I felt as if every bone in my body had brokenin this collision,but I didn't have a lot of time to think about my possible injuries or even feel the pain, because just seconds later, Gabriel was throwing himself at me again and one of his hands closed tightly around my neck, while the other clutched at the collar of my shirt.

"_How dare you_?" the old vampire hissed at me from between clenched teeth, and I stared at his sharp fangs that were so close, were just seconds away from digging into my face. Nevertheless, I bravely grabbed his hand, pulled at it and loosened the vice-like grip around my neck even in my transformed state and only with great effort, so that I could at least croak a few words.

"Go on! Kill me!" I growled, baring my teeth. "Show me your true face - but don't think for a minute that I'll continue to allow you to use us or even Mick as you please!"

Gabriel's face twitched with suppressed rage and yet he did nothing, just held me, breathing hard, staring at me with his glowing white eyes, as if he wanted to rip me to shreds at any moment. No, actually he was no longer staring at me, but my hand, which had clawed into his - or rather what I was wearing – Mick's ring.

The ancient vampire facial expression changed again. An expression of shattered realization began to spread across his tense features and his grip around my neck loosened even further at once. Only seconds later he let go of me completely, still looking affected at the ring. He ran a hand over his face, shook his head and turned away from me.

Only when he really put some distance between us, did I dare to draw a deep breath again. My own anger had been stronger than the fear that had gripped me at the same time, but now it fell away and my raging heartbeat and shortness of breath caused a slight dizziness, so I had to brace myself quickly against the wall behind me, to keep from going to my after a few seconds of deep, regular breathing did my system calm down enough to allow my legs alone to carry my body weight again, so I could take a few uncertain steps towards old vampire stood with his arms crossed, cramped before his chest in front of a window, still breathing too quickly, and stared blankly through the cracks of the he too had also seemed to have calmed down - at least this raging anger had disappeared, this I could feel , what I couldn't feel was whether he'd be responsive again, and so I held back, sat myself halfway into a still standing armchair, because my legs were still too shaky, and set there waiting to see. I didn't need to wait long.

"You really would die for him, wouldn't you?" Gabriel said softly, without looking at me and if I wasn't mistaken, there was a hint of admiration in his voice.

I didn't answer him because basically I knew he needed no answer to the question. He knew it long ago.

"I mean, you must have known that to hide him and Beth away, without informing me, could have easily cost you your life," he continued. "Just like any other action set in motion against my orders."

"I just love the thrill," it slipped from my lips without any real thought.

Gabriel looked at me seriously and very thoughtfully. "You're not an easy person to assess, Josef. On the outside, you're the cool business man for whom nothing else counts other than power and wealth, but inside…" He paused, eying me up with a surprisingly benevolent expression. "It's rare to meet anyone who acts so selflessly… who can love so selflessly. Such friends aren't to be found so often in this world."

"Mick and Beth aren't just my friends – they're my _family_," I corrected him. "I'm serious about this - always have been."

I saw him nod and then he finally turned to me, with unexpectedly soft facial features and an expression of deep emotion in his bright eyes. "I know. I've actually known right from the beginning but I just couldn't really believe it, even after the events in Mexico." He let out a soft sigh. "I wanted to, but I couldn't. I don't have a lot of confidence in most people. But perhaps I should - maybe its finally time I start to trust in the love that's developed between all of you and that can't be shaken by anyone or anything. Perhaps I should really trust the idea that one can achieve more together with many people, than you can on your own. It's just that's terribly difficult when you're used to taking care of everything all alone, to tell others what to do and to see to it that each one does his particular assignment conscientiously."

I nodded understandingly and added a faint, "I know exactly what you're talking about" that brought a small smile to his face.

"Then you probably know as well how hard it is to let go of the role of the sovereign - especially when most people around you love to see you in this role, just so they won't have to take on more responsibility themselves."

"That may be because you embody this role remarkably convincingly," I replied and Gabriel let out a mirthless laugh.

"It's not that hard. I was _born_ into the role of the sovereign."

I pulled up my eyebrows and tilted my head slightly. "Is this a discreet way of pointing out that at some point in your life you were a prince or something like that?"

He looked at me with this sad smile that told me he wasn't too fond of recalling this time.

"I was born in 2685 BC, the son of the king of Uruk," he said very softly. "My mother was worshiped as the goddess Ninsun and my father as well was raised to the level of a deity."

I couldn't help it - I raised my eyebrows seriously impressed. I hadn't judged Gabriel to be quite that old and I certainly hadn't expected that he had really once been a mighty king.

"After my turning it was said that I was to two-thirds god and only one human," Gabriel continued. "I stood above all things, felt omnipotent and invincible, as I became king myself. But I wasn't a good sovereign, selfish, narcissistic, tyrannical - what I wanted, I took without regard for the feelings and wishes of others, without remorse, without a heart. Actually Luis and I were not so dissimilar."

"But unlike him, _you_ changed," I objected.

"Yes, because I had had a lot more time to do so and because I had been favored by fortune," the old vampire said softly. "I met the right people - people who helped me to know myself, to change, to understand the world better… to find true friendship, to feel real love…" He paused to take a deep breath. "When you come to live as long as I have, when you witness the history of this world first hand, see so many great people come and go, when you accompany them partway, learn from them, then you change, you change your attitude toward life, toward this world, toward everything. To have power, to rule, can feel good but it can also be lonely. Despots have no real friends and even have to be wary of their own family. They live a life of fear and mistrust. And I'm so sick of that… so sick…" To emphasize his words he shook his head and sighed softly.

"Then why do you go on like that?" I had to ask. "Wouldn't it be easier to just fake your own death and settle down somewhere where no one would look for you?"

"It would be certainly," Gabriel replied, and just the thought brought a little more life into his sad eyes."But it's not as if I never tried that before. I've tried it again and again and each time my retreat has had consequences, consequences which have cost many innocent people their lives. Because suddenly, at some point, everything starts to collapse and those lusting for power only bring suffering and misery to everyone else, whether they're humans or vampires. The co-existence of vampires and humans has always been difficult to maintain and I'm so deeply involved in all the agreements and contracts between these two parties that it simply hasn't been possible for me to retreat without bringing about great harm. I'm _forced_ to remain in the role of the monarch of the vampire community – at least as long as the problems between these two species are not cleared."

"Okay," I said thoughtfully, "but isn't it about time to introduce a different… 'system of government', to maybe even bring a few old _reasonable_ vampires in on the responsibility and develop some new rules for the coexistence with the humans? Then the pressure would be taken off you and you could retreat without risking the world coming down…"

"Does this mean you're volunteering Josef?" Gabriel asked back with a small smile, but there was such a look in his eyes that told me this wasn't really a joke. And that scared me.

"I can't imagine there are currently too many other vampires, who'd care to see me in this role," I avoided his question skillfully. Apparently, not skillfully enough.

"I think in this respect, you're wrong," were Gabriel's next seriously scary words. "From what I've heard, you're still highly regarded by most vampires, _because_ you've been so loyal to your friends in this crisis."

"What exactly are we talking about here?" I asked a little nervous now. "Do you really plan to establish a different type of ruling system in our community, assuming that we can safely get out of this crisis?"

Gabriel took a long deep breath through his nose, leaned against the window sill behind him, crossed his arms again over his chest and looked down - way too thoughtful, too seriously.

"I'm assuming it will be necessary," he finally said, raising his gaze again. "When you met with Talbot - what did you discuss?"

I didn't immediately respond to his question. My own thoughts had taken on a life of their own and were heading in a direction I didn't care for at all.

"Has Talbot told you whether he's been successful in passing the CD on to his uncle or not," Gabriel continued to ask.

"I… we…" I stopped, started anew. "He hasn't been able to do so yet, but he will continue to try."

"And how far were _you_ able to get with the CD?" was Gabriel's next question that took me off guard. I blinked a few times, and had problems finding my next words.

"You… you knew that we copied it?" I stammered, completely unnecessary.

Gabriel nodded, smiling half-heartedly. "I at least expected it, when I informed Mick about the CD. He has a tremendous need to stick his nose into everything, ignoring instructions without restraint."

"You _wanted_ him to do that?" I asked bluntly.

"Part of me hoped he would," Gabriel confessed with a soft sigh. "Another part was afraid of it and urged Malik to make the encoding as insurmountable as possible. But in the end its better if Mick and Talbot are informed about everything and you all know what my plan looks like."

I tilted my head slightly and looked at the old vampire thoughtfully. "_Do_ we know it? I mean, is that what you're telling Ruthers there on that CD, what you were really going to do and what you still plan to do?"

Naturally, the old vampire remained silent again, but in his expression there was nothing denying it, no cool consideration of what he might tell me, but instead a touch of helplessness. "I don't know," were the apt words, and he shook his head about himself. "I… I really don't know anymore. The only thing I'm sure of is that I won't be here in the end. And you have to let me go. No matter what happens - for Mick and Beth and all the other vampires and humans who want to live in peace with each other - you _have_ to let me go!"

"Then you really want to sacrifice yourself for all of us?" I asked with great unease.

"I don't _want_ to, I _have_ to!" Gabriel gave back immediately. "I'm already sentenced to death by this poison in my body, Josef. Why shouldn't I use this little remnant of life still left in me for negotiating with the enemy. They are possibly the only ones who can cure me - and they aren't going to until I surrender myself to them. Why shouldn't I do this under _my_ conditions?"

"But you put the video together _before _you were poisoned," I objected. "What was your original plan?"

Gabriel's bright eyes rested thoughtfully on my face for a moment and I feared that he wouldn't answer my question, but then he took a deep breath again. "I had hoped to make Rudolph and Ruthers see reason, to convince them with absolute honesty and disclosure of old secrets and agreements that we are not beasts and could arrange peace and a coexistence between vampires and humans. I thought that if I could only reach them, we could reform the Legion, the contracts and also the system of power in the vampire community; that we could provide a basis on which we could all live together again and work together - better than ever before."

"And you don't want to hold on to that any longer?" I asked, surprised. "Why?"

Gabriel avoided my gaze, staring back at the ground and appeared to be unable to cope with his own emerging feelings properly. Not only his quickening breathing and tense posture told me that, but the tingling in my temples, the hopelessness and despair that brushed me at the edge of my consciousness.

"They_ have_ to make it, Josef," he said now very quietly and strangely hoarse. "They should live the life I've always wanted for myself so eagerly. Free of worry and fear. They should be able to forget all this, to be free, be happy… they deserve it so much."

Mick, he spoke of Mick and Beth, I quickly understood and it touched me deeply, shook my own feelings of concern for my two friends. At the same time I was also aware that Gabriel's and my wish for them was completely least as long as the Legion still existed, as long as there were people who knew about Mick and the research or even about the history of Gabriel… Good God! That was it! This was the 'new' plan Gabriel had developed! That way everything made sense: The search for these old books, the capture and sparing of Ritchcroft and Gallagher, Gabriel's self-sacrifice, the desire for the meeting of the powerful. He had to have had this idea somewhere in the back of his mind, at least as a last resort.

"You want to wipe out the history," I brought out in disbelief, "… all evidence that you, the Sangsujet and the research with the blood had ever existed. You want to destroy everything and kill all participants of the negotiations."

Gabriel looked at me, nodded, barely able to hide his own shock of this insane plan from me.

"But why Judge Ruthers? He has nothing to do with this!"

"It will look like an attack by the Legion on all of us," Gabriel said softly. "Maybe he will survive, maybe not. I've arranged everything so that no suspicion will fall on us vampires and the government will obtain all information about the Legion to destroy them once and for all - and you, the staff of old _reasonable_ vampires I've formed, you will support them with all your might. With Talbot on our side that won't be a problem. He will assume the role of his uncle as a mediator between the two worlds and he will fill them in better than any of his relatives before. Of that I'm certain. What's important is that the new management staff of our vampire community takes care of the _Cercle du Sang_ and brings to an end, what I once started…"

"Wait – wait!" I raised my hands commanding a halt and shook my head. "I understand that there is such a plan - for _emergencies_! But you can't seriously take it into consideration _now_! Haven't you always talked about there being a way to resolve this whole thing peacefully?"

"Yes, but with what consequences?" Gabriel replied surprisingly angry. "And for how long? I would… I would love to still think as I did a few weeks ago and still seemed to until recently: You have to make sacrifices for the greater good, decide in favor of the many and not fight for the destiny of an individual. But _this_ single fate, _this_ one person and his story has gripped me and holds me tightly… and I can't… I can't think like I did before…" He inhaled deeply, ran both hands over his face. "God! I just don't know what to do anymore!" He uttered a mournful sound that mirrored his own clueless and helpless state, and he let go, let his mask drop completely, and showed me by his whole downcast posture just how much his own feelings castigated him.

"Over the last few decades I've tried not to let anyone get close to me, to not develop any feelings for others, to not build relationships…and now this throws me completely off track. I have developed feelings for Mick and Beth that are not allowed to be there if we all want to survive this intact; feelings that affect my thinking and actions in a way I can't allow." He took a strangely hesitant breath. "I have… this, this totally wacky idea that… that fate in some way wants to hand me back the family I'd lost – that it's giving me back my son and a daughter, I could never have. And it's so… so captivating that it makes me work out plans that I shouldn't allow myself to make if I don't want all this to end up descending into total chaos. And yet I can't help but consider that these plans are the only right ones."

I didn't know what to say to that. The openness and emotionality of the ancient vampire blocked my thinking and at the same time touched me immensely.I could understand him - completely. Mick had turned my life upside down as well, had changed my thinking and had often strongly influenced my actions. Some people could do this. Some people were simply special and made you want to preserve and protect them, prevent by any means necessary, that they were harmed - even if you were not always able to do so.

Gabriel's story with respect to Mick however, was even more special than mine. I knew that since I had spoken to Mick on the phone, and Gabriel's situation was particularly trickier because of his role in the vampire community.

"The whole time I thought my long life would allow me to find my wife again, to make up for what happened to her because of me," Gabriel went on in a broken voice and I actually saw tears glistening in his eyes. "The whole time I was looking for _her_, longed for _her_ and had completely forgot that my son might come back to me too. I was so… blocked with my longing for Laelia. I… I never perceived Janus as an individual, even when he was still alive. He was what was left to me of Laelia, a part of her, which I loved so deeply and profoundly because of _her_ - never for his own being. I've never given him the place in my heart, he deserved and even when he was taken from me, I wasn't sure, if it wasn't really Laelia I mourned for again."

He shook his head, shaken by his own behavior. "I don't want to know how many times in my long life Janus and I have already met, how many chances to reconcile with him I've already missed. Life has given me so many clues and I ignored them all, didn't pay attention to what fate was trying to tell me - with Mick as when I was with him in Greece, when I read Frank's notes and really got to know him, I was overcome by the feeling that I had Janus back for the first time. I repressed it, tried to fight it, but it became stronger and with it came this terribly guilty conscience…" He closed his eyes, tried to maintain control. "You've no idea how heavy the guilt weighs on me, because I let these terrible things happen to him - just because I didn't want to get involved because I believed I would endanger him or others even more, or to betray my duties to the vampire community when I did so. But now I think that basically I've just been afraid of coming into contact with people like him, afraid of harming yet another person with my huge deficit in terms of interpersonal relationships." He let out a deeply sad laugh. "I may be an excellent strategist and daunting sovereign - but as a partner and father I've always been a failure."

"Well, then that makes two of us," I ventured to add with a little smile. "Well, okay, I won't be able to experience the pleasure of being a father - God forbid! - but in terms of relationships…" I shrugged my shoulders. "_Failure_ is a hard word, but I think it's also quite fitting in my case. But I've learned something through this friendship with Mick and Beth - something incredibly important: Without love, friendship and trust in his life, every person is going down. You cannot exist alone in this world and you should take every hand that's offered to you by honest, warm-hearted people. And if we want people to love us, then we must allow it and not run away in fear, or even attack those who want to approach us. To love can sometimes be painful, but to _not_ love basically means you'll live an empty, dead life - it makes us really and truly undead. And this is such an unattractive word…"

Gabriel's lips lifted into a small smile. "I think we're more alike than we previously thought," he said, and I returned his smile, only a little wider.

"Oh, as _you_ thought – actually _I've_ always seen myself on the same level as you," I purposely misinterpreted his words and made him even utter a chuckle."But to come back to the real issue: If you really feel you've found your son in Mick - and with this cell transplant, this idea is admittedly not that far-fetched - then I wonder what you're still doing here. You should be long gone and talking with him about it."

The laughter that Gabriel uttered now was much sadder than the last one. "After all these secrets Mick surely doesn't want to spent any more time with me. He hates me."

"No." I shook my head determined. "He might be mad at you and may have lost a little bit of confidence in you, but that doesn't mean it has to remain that way. We're talking here about Mick St. John! 'Noble and good' is written on his forehead. And he once said to me that being able to forgive, is one of the greatest strengths a person can possess. And he doesn't just say these things - he _lives_ them."

"Do I even deserve that?" Gabriel asked softly.

"I think that you need to leave this decision up to him," I replied, and Gabriel nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"And, about this horrendous plan…" I inhaled audibly. "There are certainly other ways to get around this whole dilemma and still give Mick and Beth the peaceful life they deserve - and us as well, by the way! And we have so many smart people around us. If we bring them all together and involve them in the planning and decision making, then there's no question that we'd arrive at the most optimal solution to the problem. All this is simply too huge to be carried by one person!"

"I know," Gabriel sighed and indeed a part of his tension seemed to evaporate slowly. "It's just I've been cheated and betrayed so often in the past - it's a wonder I'm still alive. It's because of that that it's so hard for me to trust others. I have often had the experience that to share knowledge, to let others in on your plans can be very dangerous, and may ultimately hurt you and others immensely. Things often ran smoother when I took care of them on my own and no one knew what I had planned."

"And when exactly was the last time you put your trust in someone that betrayed you in a dire situation?" I just had to ask.

Gabriel thought for a moment. "1789, shortly before the French Revolution."

My eyebrows wandered upwards a bit and I breathed in audibly. "Don't you think enough time has passed to try it again?"

He looked at me somewhat surprised. Then his lips twisted into a real smile. "You know, you're right."

"I hear that a lot," I waved off and once again I could hear the old vampire laugh.

"So, what's your advice on what I should do next?" he asked and was quite serious with his question. Really very flattering…

"To gather all vampires you totally trust here and consider together with them how we should proceed in the negotiations with the Legion and Judge Ruthers to achieve what had originally been on your mind _before_ your emotional crash."

He thought for a moment about my advice and then nodded in fact. "I'll start this immediately," were his words that made my ego grow immensely. Josef Kostan - the new, close adviser of _Him_. What a career jump! Creepy…

"And we need to involve Mick again," I added quickly, thus preventing my fears concerning my new, hopefully only short-lived role as a consultant, from penetrating my mind even deeper.

"No, Josef!" Gabriel shook his head vehemently. "You acted correctly when you sent him away. He's suffered enough in this war. _We_ should deal with this alone and not burden him with it anymore."

"That's how I thought too - back _before_ Mick was kidnapped," I gave back immediately. "I thought to myself: He's so young and he's already gone through so much in his previous life - he should try to be happy with Beth and not be burdened with the history of the Legion. And that's exactly how he unwittingly found himself in the legions hands. Mick is involved way too deeply. You can't keep him out of it anymore and he won't put up with it once he has recovered. Believe me – he'll want to at least be informed about it and put in his two cents, even if it's only by phone."

Gabriel first said nothing, only moved silently and deeply thoughtful around the room and then stopped in front of the chair that had been knocked over with me in it.

"Were you not already planning to go to him?" he asked, looking at me again.

I nodded, frowning.

"What do you think about first developing a plan with the others and then you go to him to inform him about everything? Then he's not entirely left out, but is under no pressure to come up with a solution to all our problems and perhaps even sacrifice himself heroically."

I thought for a moment about his suggestion and then nodded. Gabriel was right. We should burden Mick as little as possible, without giving him the feeling of being ignored in our decisions. Thus he was spared, without really realizing it. And he could really use any relief he could get, I was certain.

"Good," I said and watched as Gabriel set the armchair back on its feet and gave a small, but actually a little bashful smile.

"Then… I'll now go get the others, right?" I added.

The old vampire nodded and now sat down heavily into the armchair. It seemed that our little discussion had worn him out physically far more than it seemed and I decided to take my time gathering the others.

As I went to the door, my mind went back to Mick and I realized that I was really looking forward to my visit with him and Beth. Not only because I missed them, but because Mick had also let me in on his, not so surprising future plans over the phone earlier and had asked for a small favor. I stopped at the door frame and furrowed my brows thoughtfully. Then I turned back to Gabriel, who had already closed his eyes.

"You don't happen to know if there's a jeweler nearby who sells wedding rings, do you?" I simply asked into the silence.

Gabriel raised his eyelids and looked at me a little surprised for a moment, but his mind evidently was still working well enough, despite being tired, to immediately make sense of my question. It was the joyful lighting up of his eyes that told me that. Nevertheless, a wide grin appeared on his face that almost made him look healthy again.

"Let's try to become really good friends first and _then_ we'll see," he grinned broadly at me and this time I was the one who let out a quiet chuckle, before I left the room smiling. A friendship with _Him_ – well, that sounded interesting indeed!


	74. Restless

_It's Saturday and I'm back with a new chapter as usual. Fat hugs to those who wrote a comment__ for me. You're the best! I've now a few days off and time to relax and go on writing, so I'm quite sure to be able to post the next chapter next Saturday again. Hope you'll enjoy this one and maybe leave me a comment again. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**R****estless**

* * *

"_I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves."_

_Alexander von Humboldt_

* * *

Sometimes the changes came so quickly, one right after the other, that there was hardly time to breathe in-between, to turn from one direction to another to see what was coming at you next. It was almost impossible to develop a plan for the future, to think about how life should proceed, with the rapid change of events.

Mick had just begun to envision a future with Beth as his wife – putting the whole story with the Legion out of his mind because he just couldn't imagine it otherwise - and the next moment there weren't just the two of them any longer, but three, something he hadn't expected at all. Since this shocking but so overwhelmingly good news, his feelings had fluctuated between euphoria and, if he was honest, panic. For the rest of the day yesterday it had been considerable difficult for him to keep these conflicting emotions hidden from Beth, for her sake. Sleep that night however hadn't really been possible, especially since Beth had had a pretty restless night herself. He had eventually nodded off in the early morning hours only to be awakened with a start by a terribly confusing and frightening dream that Mick, only now, as he stood on the porch staring absently into the sunlight flooded forest with a cup of coffee in his hand, seemed to fully understand.

He had been back in the lab, not as a subject this time but as an avenger, heavily armed and clad in a protective vest. He'd slaughtered anyone who had attempted to cross his path, and had thoroughly avenged what they had done to him, taking sadistic pleasure in the pains of his victims. But shortly thereafter something had distracted him, a strange slapping noise on the pavement, a soft giggling behind him. He'd turned around and had been petrified, shocked, and appalled. Through the long tiled corridor, now littered with corpses, something crawled toward him on all fours, a toddler, who, on his hands and knees slipped through pools of blood, beaming at him and then reached out one of his pudgy, blood-smeared hands toward him, uttering a clearly understandable "Dada". Mick had become short of breath, had staggered backwards against a wall, barely able to cope with this horrible sight. But it got even worse: The closer he had gotten to him, the older he became, until eventually a fully grown adult male lay at Mick's feet, stretching out a trembling hand toward him, uttering a weak "Dada" a second time, before Mick realized it was Guillermo who lay there. And then he had woken up covered in sweat and gasping.

Fortunately, he hadn't roused Beth with it and had left the room as quietly as possible. And now he stood here on the porch, deep in thought, mulling over this dream, his future role as a responsible father and husband and the problems they still had to deal with, the dangers that were still out there waiting for them.

He knew only to well it wouldn't be easy, especially with Beth's pregnancy and their shared determination to stay together and face their future together. No-one needed to tell him that. What he hadn't expected to do so soon was to worry whether or not he _could _be a good father. The wild animal in him and the traumatized human were definitely still there, just as his thirst for revenge was - but could he still afford this as a father-to-be, was he allowed to leave a trail of death and blood his own child might have to go through at some point and perhaps even have to pay the consequences for? This dream had actually answered his question once and for all… He had already made the mistake of being guided by feelings of revenge once, had already yielded to the most primitive side of his being - with fatal consequences.

His desperate need to avenge Marisa had almost cost Guillermo his life. Josef's plan to rescue Isabella and Manolo from the hands of Federico Sanchez had been a simple one, and it would have worked out without major difficulties if Mick had stuck to it. But he'd seen red there in the house where Federico had resided with his gang. He had, as he had entered the villa with Guillermo through the service entrance, discovered two of Marisa's murderers in a back room in the process of draining a young woman - and he'd lost control. He had thrown all caution to the wind, had instructed Guillermo to stay out of it and had then stormed the room alone. He had overpowered and incapacitated the two men in an instant - only what he hadn't expected was that there would be a third man in the corner, who'd suddenly rammed a stake into his chest. The vampire had pulled out a long knife, and had lunged forward to cut off his head, but in that moment Guillermo had appeared and launched himself courageously at the superior man. It had been a short struggle that ended with Guillermo falling next to Mick on the ground with severe bite and stab wounds. And it probably would have ended in disaster, had Guillermo not been able to muster the strength to grab the gun next to Mick at the last second and empty an entire magazine of silver bullets into the laughing vampire's head. When it was over the Mexican's eyes had sought out Mick's. Mick could still see them right in front of him, as he thought back… this pleading look, this fear of death…

* * *

"_Help… help me," Guillermo moaned only very weakly, but Mick couldn't move, could again do nothing as he watched another person he cared for die right in front of him again - through his own fault, his thoughtless actions. _

_The young Mexican was moving, his face twitching with pain, as he turned to the side, groaning, and stretched a hand out toward him, trying to get hold of the stake in Mick's chest. But his arm wasn't long enough, and his strength not sufficient. He let his arm fall back exhausted, closing his eyes. Mick could hear the strain on Guillermo's heart as it tried to compensate for the loss of blood in his body and everything in him cramped up. The young man didn't have much time left - just like the woman on the ground behind Guillermo who was breathing heavily, slowly bleeding to death, as she uttered a strange name occasionally. _

_Mick tried desperately to rally his remaining energy, to let it flow into his arm and somehow get it to move, but it was a losing battle, his body was completely paralyzed._

_Guillermo was moving again, Mick could feel that now because the Mexican's fingers were brushing his. Mick moved his eyes with great difficulty, had at least managed to look at his weakened friend again. Guillermo had again lifted his head, but his eyes didn't rest on Mick's face. His gaze had seized on something else: The long knife, the other vampire had dropped. It was close. Guillermo stretched his hand out toward it, finally reaching it and pulled it toward him, and suddenly Mick realized what his dying friend was thinking, what he saw as his only chance to save his own life after all. _

_Mick'__s stomach turned and his heart began to beat faster, in the same rhythm as the words that hammered in his mind: 'No! No! Please don't!' But at the same time, he had accepted that it was the right thing, that he owed this last act of friendship to Guillermo. He couldn't deny him this, as much as he hated his own life, and as much as his whole being fought against this. And when Guillermo searched his gaze, breathing heavily, looking at him imploringly, he gave him his approval against his own resolve - silently and motionless, but Guillermo somehow felt it, because at once there was so much gratitude in his eyes, so much hope. _

_Mick felt the sharp blade of the knife cut into the skin of his wrist, felt the searing pain that moved not only through his arm, but also shot up into his heart, seemed to make it cramp and beat a lot faster. Guillermo used all his remaining strength and pulled on Mick's arm, drawing him a little closer so he could press his lips with great difficulty to the deep wound in Mick's wrist. And then he drank, took in the devilish blood that within a few minutes would possibly turn him into a bloodthirsty monster, a creature of the night. _

_Mick closed his eyes. He couldn't watch this, couldn't watch as humanity disappeared from the eyes of his dear friend, as he himself became the father of a being that he despised deeply in his heart. But Mick's other senses wouldn't let him off so easily. He could hear how Guillermo's heartbeat slowed after he stopped drinking and his head fell to the floor at his side. And he could feel when the transformation began, could feel a strange energetic tension between himself and the dying man next to him that forced him to lift his eyelids once again._

_Guillermo had closed his eyes and he had become very pale. His breathing was becoming very shallow and halting, and his heart beat irregular and weak. And although he couldn't move, a terrible struggle raged within him, a struggle from which, in Mick's eyes, he could only emerge as the loser. He'd either die or survive the transformation and actually turned into a vampire, losing his humanity. _

_The minutes passed like hours, until Guillermo's heart suddenly stopped beating and his breathing came to a halt. Mick's intestines laced together painfully, became as stiff and cold as his body. Lost… again he had lost a friend. And might loose many more, perhaps a whole family would die because of his careless action, perhaps Josef might also run into serious difficulties. Perhaps… _

_A throbbing. Mick held his breath. He had heard it clearly, the opening and closing of the valves of a heart chamber close to him… There it was again and it clearly came from Guillermo. Slowly the heart of the Mexican began to beat again, in this strange, far too slow, irregular rhythm, which could only be possible with the hearts of vampires. And then the young man began to breathe again, just as slowly, just as strange. _

_Mick didn't want to feel relieved, but he couldn't help it. Guillermo had wanted the turning, hadn't wanted to die. This young man's wish had been fulfilled and Mick could at least in some small way make amends for the debt he had taken upon himself with Marisa's death. _

_Guillermo'__s eyelids began to move and only seconds later lifted, exposing the white-brown iris of a newborn vampire. He blinked a few times, seemed to be trying to clear his foggy mind, but didn't succeed completely. Mick could feel that - just as he felt the painful hunger of his fledging, that burning thirst for human blood that was even stronger than most newly turned vampires due to his earlier injuries. He moved his limbs, his face contorted with pain, straightening slowly while breathing heavily, only to then look around harried. _

'_Look __this way!' Mick pleaded inwardly. 'Look at me! Look at your Sire!'_

_The miracle happened, the Mexican's eyes darted to him, looked at him, baffled, looking for help. _

'_The stake! Pull out the stake!' Mick thought again and again, and Guillermo actually slipped closer to him despite his hunger, stretched out his hand toward the stake. _

"_Stevie…"__ It was just a faint whisper coming from the direction of the woman, barely audible to human ears. But Guillermo was no longer human and had heard her, just as he must have smelled her blood long before. But now she had made him aware of herself, had reminded him what he longed for so painfully. He lowered his hand and turned to the woman who was still lying not far from him on the ground, dying in her own blood, without either of them having had the chance to save her. Mick turned hot and cold at the same time and his stomach took a nasty turn, as Guillermo moved on hands and knees toward the woman, knowing his friend wasn't doing this in order to help her. He wanted to feed from her, to use what little blood she still had left to get his own strength back. His survival instinct was stronger than any compassion and there was no one else there to step in and allow the woman to die in peace. _

'_No, don't do that! Don't do it!' Mick shouted inwardly, but Guillermo didn't hear him anymore. He pulled the woman's limp body into his arms, and only seconds later sank his fangs into her neck and began to drink her blood greedily. It was a terrible sight, but this horrible pain, the oppressive feeling of guilt, this pressure in Mick's stomach only came when the woman's gaze was directed at him so pleadingly, so helplessly, so horrified. There was a silent plea of 'help me' on her lips, the same plea, that Marisa had had in her eyes, only this time _he_ had created the creature that had brought about her death. It came quickly, the light of life in her eyes died quickly. And as her eyelids slowly lowered, so did Mick's. He had to forget what he had seen; had to forget what had happened to suppress his feelings, at least while Guillermo was still close to him, while they were here and had a job to do – for Guillermo's sake and that of the rest of his family. He owed it to him… owed him… as a friend and as his Sire…_

* * *

Mick had been far from being a good 'father' to Guillermo. He had wanted neither the turning, nor the care of him afterwards. It had only been his guilt over Marisa and her family that had driven him to give his silent consent to Guillermo and to allow this turning to happen, and when the young vampire had gone for the poor, dying woman and Mick had again been unable to intervene, he had even hated Guillermo for a brief moment. Of course Guillermo had had to do it, to get his strength back, and that he had then freed Mick from the stake first and hadn't left him to take his revenge on Frederico Sanchez as a wild beast, had actually been impressive proof of the young Mexican's strength of will and reason.

Mick had been able to suppress his own feelings enough so that he and Guillermo had still been able to help Josef and Alejandro save Isabella and Manolo, but after that this uncomfortable feeling, this contempt for himself and this helplessness regarding his fledging and his unwanted role as a Sire had immediately returned. Of course he hadn't wanted to let Guillermo down. Of course, he hadn't really wanted to get out of his responsibility, but Josef had intervened fairly quickly and had maintained that a vampire, who couldn't even accept his own existence, would also not make a good Sire. He had, in just a few hours, organized a surrogate Sire - an acquaintance of his who loved to familiarize 'newbies' with the world of vampires, and had assured Mick that an emergency turning was an exceptional situation, and often resulted in a change of Sires, which was best for all involved.

Even now Mick wasn't so sure if that was really the truth or if Josef had just wanted to ease his conscience at the time. The fact was however, that Josef's friend had done a very good job and had been able to turn Guillermo into a pretty decent vampire in a very short amount of time. The Mexican had never been angry with Mick about it. Quite the contrary. He was incredibly grateful to him and had responded to the change of Sire with remarkable understanding. He had made it easy for Mick to return to a relatively relaxed and friendly relationship with him. Of course this bond that only Sire and Fledging felt, had remained and had them both seek the proximity of the other, but both, without coming to an actual agreement, had kept the events surrounding the turning out of their continuing friendship since that day. They had never forgotten it, but they had never talked about it again either.

But now, with the news of a new addition to the family, this dream, everything had surfaced again, as clear as if it had only happened yesterday, and with the memories came the guilty feelings of what had happened with Guillermo that had tormented him again and again over the years. He hadn't taken care of the young Mexican as he was supposed to, had put his education in the hands of another person, rather than face his fears and fight against his own prejudices and false opinions. And that's what caused an uncomfortable feeling in Mick's stomach. What if his child, after it was born, showed that it had more vampiric predispositions than they had expected? Would he again fall back into old patterns of behavior? Would he reject his own child and maybe even run away? Was this troubled side of the old Mick in fact gone so it would no longer pose a threat to those who loved him?

'Stop doubting yourself!' A voice from within warned him. 'You've changed! These things will not happen again!'

He took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders and nodded to himself in agreement. He _wanted_ this child and even thinking about it eventually being here, brought his heart to flutter and caused a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest. He would love it, would _never _push away the responsibility that came with raising a child in this world. He just knew and Beth seemed to know it as well. She had meant it when she had told him what a loving father he would be. She firmly believed that and her faith had only strengthened his.

They had talked a lot the previous day: about the baby, their relationship and the fact that they wanted to support and help each other wherever they could, because they both knew exactly what difficulties lay ahead for them. And Beth had finally begun to talk about the things that bothered _her_, after Mick had encouraged her. She had finally opened up and provided an insight into her own trauma. Of course for him they hadn't been pleasant topics they'd talked about, but they had turned out to be very important, because Mick had never been aware how much these issues had burdened Beth. He had, for example, never guessed that the year in which he had been held by the Legion, had been _so_ hard for her, but her tears, her muffled sobs and the pain shown in her eyes when she told him about it, had made everything more understandable for him and had once again made it clear to him how much she needed him in her life and that the idea that she would be better off without him, was complete nonsense. Meanwhile, he was ashamed of these thoughts, just as he was ashamed of having burdened her with so much in her condition. Although Beth was an incredibly strong, brave woman, her strengths had limits, and he had really exhausted them to the last degree. He owed her so much, had to make up for so many things.

He also had had no idea that Beth had once again been kidnapped by Coraline for a short time. That she had been put in real danger. He had decided to confront his ex-wife personally about that as soon as he had the chance. The talk concerning his feelings for Coraline, and how his marriage related to Beth's fate had been long overdue and probably more important than anything else that they had discussed. However, Mick was sure that Beth now felt much better, had been certain that he had finally let go of Coraline internally and that she would never again play a large role in his life.

Beth had cried a lot during their long talk and several times he had as well been very upset, but in the end this conversation had done them both a lot of good because it had provided for even more clarity in their relationship. Beth now also knew the details about Guillermo and Marisa and that was a great relief. Especially since she had shown him, regarding his former actions, a lot of understanding and had said very clearly to him that she was sure he would never show such behavior toward their child, no matter if it was born with two sharp canines or not. He would never evade his responsibility and would idolize this child.

He had believed her, actually still believed her. But even if he managed it, if he _could_ face responsibility, really tried to be a good father this time… could he indeed also ensure the safety of his child? Could he offer it a good life, protect it adequately? It was still not born, but that day wasn't that far away. Could he really manage to change his current life situation within this time frame so that the three of them could live life as a family in peace and security?

Of course, he had many friends who wanted to help him, who stood by him - with Josef leading the way, whose power wasn't to be underestimated. And then there was Gabriel, who Mick was still very angry with, but to whom he still had a certain degree of trust in. At least he was sure the old vampire would protect Beth, him and their unborn child. All his previous behavior spoke to that. With these two men you could certainly bring a lot of things into motion - assuming they hadn't 'assassinated' each other during their last meeting. Josef had sounded very determined on the phone but hadn't really revealed what had happened at the big meeting and what his own plan was now…

* * *

"_I can't give you all the details right now," Josef said in that dismissive tone that Mick couldn't stand. "But Gabriel's currently taking a pretty hard line and I'm not really sure what to make of it." _

"_Hard in what way?" Mick asked alarmed at once and Beth immediately came up to him with a worried face. It was always amazing how superb her senses worked. _

"_He's busted and executed Kurt," was the surprising news. "Probably to lure the other traitor out of hiding. And Patricia was punished for her inhuman and rather unauthorized behavior, as well." _

"_Patricia?" Mick repeated in surprise. "Is she dead?"_

"_No, but now human."_

_Mick'__s lips formed a silent 'Oh'. For a vampire such as Patricia this really was a cruel punishment. She genuinely despised humans. However, Mick immediately asked himself if that was really the only reason why she'd been punished so harshly, or whether the suspicion that she was also a traitor was hidden behind Gabriel's behavior. _

"_But I don't think Gabriel would have cared if she had died in the turning," Josef added. "The risk was pretty high." _

"_Why do you think he's acting in such a radical way?" Mick asked thoughtfully. _

"_I'__ve got a few ideas," his friend replied, "but I don't know for sure. And I need to quickly change that. That's also the reason for this call." _

_Mick hesitated. "What do you mean?" _

"_I'm going to go to Gabriel." _

_Mick was at a loss for words and Beth gasped audibly. _

"_W… what?"_

"_And therefore, need all the information you've received from him so far, Mick," Josef simply went on, ignoring his question deliberately. "If I want to confront him, I've got to know him and his plans better. I need to be able to understand him and the reasons for his actions. That's the only chance I'll have to reason with him, to make him see he can no longer take care of everything on his own, that he really needs to let us participate in his plan, and allow us to get involved in the decisions that affect us!" _

"_Josef you… you…" Mick shook his head in disbelief, paced a few steps up and down in the room. "Didn't you just say that Gabriel's taking a pretty hard line right now, and that you don't really know what's wrong with him?" _

"_Yeah."_

"_Has he asked you for a meeting?" _

"_No, but I don't care." _

"_Josef! You should be happy that he didn't tear your head off at that meeting!" Mick exclaimed excited. "Don't confront the man when he's in attack mode! You're inferior to him in terms of strength! At least wait 'til I'm back!" _

"_It'__s not about strength here, my dear friend, but about negotiating skills," Josef corrected him, totally his old self again. "And I've been negotiating since I could talk. All I need is a bit of information. And I believe you've enough knowledge about Him now that it could give me a huge advantage in the conversation." _

"_And… and if he still attacks you?" Mick asked still deeply worried. _

"_Then your ring will protect me," Josef reminded him. "He won't attack me - at least not in a way that I'll be seriously endangered. Trust me Mick, when it comes to old vampires and their weird strategies I know my way around them better than you young whippersnappers." _

_Mick let out a not so contented sigh. "Alright. Hope you know what you're doing… But if you're wrong, it might be best if you first tell me what you've discussed with Talbot and what plans you've secretly developed. Just in case…" _

"_Okay, okay," Josef interrupted him brusquely, thus preventing Mick from embellishing his possible demise a little more. "What do you want to know?" _

"_Everything."_

* * *

Mick had in fact heard 'everything' and had finally ended the conversation with very mixed feelings. Once he had even had to pass the phone on to Beth during the conversation, to rid himself of the tension and pent-up emotions that had arisen in him, with a little movement and deep breathing. It had been when Josef had confessed to him that there was a video of him showing how Gallagher had tortured him, and that Talbot had seen it as well. He had really wished he could put these things behind him, to be able to deal with his trauma more relaxed and unemotional, but in reality that was easier said than done - especially since he profoundly detested the fact that others had _seen_ what had been done to him, without him being able to do anything about it. That was _his_ past. Nobody needed to know about it and especially see it if he didn't want them to. Only the choice had been taken out of his hands because Gabriel had chosen to share this video, showing his darkest hours, the weakest most helpless moments of his life and by doing that, put him on public display. Even now, just thinking about it, his anger flared up in him and it was hard for him to calm down again - even though he had long come to the conclusion that this and other videos may be the ideal way to win Ben's uncle or other powerful people over. With Ben himself at least it had worked well.

The other thing that had upset Mick greatly had been Gabriel's plan to sacrifice himself for the negotiations, for peace between humans and vampires. Even though the old vampire was probably right that he could, by doing that, certainly get all the important persons involved in this thing at one table, it was still unthinkable to relinquish him in the near future as the leader of the vampire society. Lance had said in their last talk, that the vampire community would fall apart and chaos would break out in the world and Mick now thought he might be right. The vampires needed a strict but fair leader like Gabriel. And if they lost him, dangerous times would begin - especially for humans and thus for Beth, and their child.

No, Mick would ensure that nothing happened to Gabriel. There had to be another solution, a better, less drastic one. This path of violence and self-sacrificing wasn't the way to go. He understood that now. But what possibilities were there then? What else could they do to resolve this conflict? To negotiate was right - but on what basis and with which goal? What were they trying to achieve anyway? And who then could help them achieve these goals? How could they make this world a better place, without pressure, without violence, if the other side was counting on the exact same measures and when his own need for revenge was so great?

There it was again, the panic, this feeling of pressure on his chest. Mick breathed deeply through the nose and then took a large sip of his now lukewarm coffee. He urgently needed to remain calm, by no means could he allow himself to fall back into his old patterns of behavior, only it was now clear how incredibly difficult that was going to be in their current situation.

If he was honest, the urge to pack their bags, get Beth and take off someplace where no one could find them, was strong. The reason he didn't was first, he knew Gabriel hadn't been able to save his wife and child that way either and secondly, his friends, his other family who trusted him, had been through thick and thin with him and he would be betraying them by doing so. He couldn't do that to them. His friends meant too much to him to do this.

From inside the house he heard noises and closed his eyes briefly. Beth. She was awake now and looking for him. It wasn't long before she appeared on the porch, with swollen eyes from sleep and tousled hair and the hint of worry in her eyes.

"Hey," he greeted her with a gentle smile.

She said nothing, just hurried over to him, put her arms around his waist and snuggled up to him, pressing her face against his chest. He put an arm around her automatically, pressed his nose into her hair and closed his eyes. His panic attack had no chance in the warmth that spread throughout his whole body now and his worries moved further away - at least for that moment.

"Would you mind if I tie me up to you?" he heard Beth mumbling into his chest after a little while with a voice still scratchy from sleep. "Then you'd have to take me along with you everywhere and I'd never have to wake up alone again."

Mick opened his eyes, smirking. "This could be a little cumbersome in some situations…"

"Oh, how…" She didn't look at him, but he felt somehow that she was grinning herself.

"While driving… cooking…" he began to list.

"That depends on _how_ I'm tied to you," she interjected. "And I could change the position every now and then…"

"Going to the toilet…"

She lifted her head now and her smile became a bit embarrassed. "Okay, we can certainly agree on a few separations a day…"

He just laughed, bent forward and kissed her tenderly.

"Are we already in the bribery phase," she murmured against his lips. "What do you have to offer?"

"True love," he replied with a smile and kissed her again. She uttered a sound of pleasure and as his lips released her again, she snuggled up tightly to him.

Mick leaned slightly to one side to put his coffee cup on to the railing of the porch, wrapped his arms tightly around her warm body and buried his nose again in her hair, inhaling deeply.

"Was the nightmare very bad?" Beth asked softly after a little while. Of course she knew what had brought him out here on the porch so early.

"It was different than usual," he just replied quietly. "And confusing."

"Did it have anything to do with our baby?"

Mick hesitated. He didn't want to burden Beth with that. She had enough to handle with her own worries.

Her grip around his waist loosened a bit and she raised her head, looking at him quizzically. "You still worry about our future, don't you?"

He nodded silently.

She raised a hand to his cheek and stroked him gently. "I do too. And maybe it really is time for us to think about what _we_ can do to fight for the future, the kind of life we want to lead. I think we now have enough strength for that."

Again he had no other choice but to nod.

"When will Josef be here?" she asked next.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "He said he would call us again today to give me an exact date, but I think he's flying out here today or tomorrow anyway."

"Maybe we should put a few ideas together on how we think the best way would be out of this by then," Beth suggested and raised her eyebrows questioningly. But Mick didn't respond to her gaze, instead looked toward the forest. He'd noticed someone approaching them. Humans. But they were being too loud to raise suspicion.

Beth tensed somewhat in his arms and turned around, because she could now also hear the cracking of branches under their feet. And then they were visible: a man in jeans and shirt, around his mid-thirties and a little girl, aged five to six years in a pretty, colorful dress. He was carrying a bag and then waved to them with a friendly smile while the child stopped cautious and clung to her father's free hand, hiding behind him.

"That has to be Mr. Hemming with his daughter," Beth said and Mick frowned.

"The pastor? He doesn't really look like one."

"Speaking of looks…" Beth's eyes wandered over her body, clad only in a nightgown, which showed only too clearly through the thin fabric. "Maybe I should quickly change my clothes…"

A slight smile played around Mick's lips as he nodded. "Maybe you should - or you could just go in and wait until the man's gone, then maybe we could figure out together whether you _really _need more clothes on…"

She made a face at him and then hurried into the house, grinning. Just in time, because Hemming had now reached the stairs of the porch and came up to Mick with his daughter giving him a cheerful, "Good morning!"

"My wife sent me over with fresh bedding for both of you," the pastor smiled as he had reached the top. "She says it's time for a change. But basically she just wanted me to ask you again if you'd perhaps liked to come and have dinner with us."

He placed the bag on the small table on the porch and began to unpack the linen, while the little girl clung to his leg, looking at Mick with wide eyes. It was strange, but now that Mick knew that he himself would soon be a father, it was suddenly a very different feeling to meet a child. Because immediately he thought of how it would feel to have his child cling to his leg, what it would look like at that age, if he would see similarities between his and his child's face. It was exciting thoughts, thoughts that even prevented Mick from responding in any way to the pastor's words.

"She's really an outstanding cook," Mr. Hemming added and now looked at him again, casually stroking his daughter's hair and only now did Mick really observe him. He was a strong-built man, with a round, friendly face and bright sparkling eyes. His dark hair had already started to recede a little on the sides and Mick was surprised that he had to have had a few ear piercings at one time, because the holes were still clearly visible. Really unusual for a pastor.

"And after eating you feel like you could almost uproot whole trees, with _this_ energy that you get through her food," the young man added with a laugh, raising his eyebrows encouragingly.

Mick managed a smile and nodded. "I'll need to talk to Be… Tess about it," he promised half-heartedly, and his eyes moved as if hypnotized to the child again who seemed to feel so safe behind her father that she now even ventured to smile at Mick, making his own smile widen instantly. She had the same bright blue eyes like her father, with the same cheerful sparkle in them.

"Well… unfortunately I can't go home with that," the pastor replied, shaking his head. "I'll need a definite yes or no."

Mick glanced through the open door into the house, but Beth wasn't to be seen yet. If he wasn't mistaken, she was in the bathroom right now, so it would take some time before she'd reappear.

"We and the kids would be extremely happy," Hemming added and the little girl nodded overzealously.

"When would we need to be there?" Mick asked hesitantly, but still looked at the girl because his mind had wandered again to his own child and the idea of whether it would be a boy or a girl.

"I think, between one and one thirty would be all right," the pastor replied pleased, and now Mick looked at him again, looked into his beaming face.

"Okay," Mick simply decided to agree. He knew Beth wouldn't object. She'd spoken so positively of Mrs. Hemming and a little distraction from the current problems wouldn't hurt them either. "We will be there."

"Great, you won't regret it," the pastor promised, while Mick's eyes were already back on the child's radiant face. And suddenly there was this deep need to voice at least one of the many questions that had been haunting him since yesterday. It was usually not like him to bother a complete stranger with such private matters, but somehow he had the feeling that this man could really help him, that he would have an open ear for his worries. He seemed so warm and open, and he was a father himself… and a pastor on top of that…

"What… what's it like?" Mick brought out hesitantly just as Hemming started to turn to leave and caused the man to stop, frowning questioningly.

"Being a father, I mean," Mick added explaining and almost immediately regretted having voiced this question. What had gotten into him?

The much younger man now drew his brows together a little pensively, seemed to need to take stock of himself. "I would like to say 'just wonderful' but then I'd be lying. It's… very stressful and nerve-racking - especially in the beginning, when you don't have much time for yourself or your relationship anymore…" He looked down at his little daughter who still had her eyes fixed on Mick. "But once you hold your child in your arms, hold this little miracle you've created, you're overpowered by a feeling of heartfelt love and warmth, a feeling that's so indescribable and incomparable, because… because you simply feel that this little person is a part of yourself, a part that belongs to you forever, that you will never want to give back, for which you would do _everything_. That makes it all worth it - all the effort, stress and trouble. When a child is born out of love - out of deep genuine love, all the joy they bring far out weighs any pain or restrictions, and it even brings you closer together as a couple, makes the love even greater rather than weakening the relationship or even breaking it up."

Mick nodded deeply touched, had to clear his throat. "Aren't you afraid?" he asked softly.

"Of what?"

"Of what this world could do to your children," Mick added depressed.

"I was incredibly afraid in the beginning," the pastor admitted openly. "And even now there are days, when I hear about terrible news around the world, in which I worry and the fear returns. But you know what I say then? The world may be a dangerous place, but if I tried to protect my family from all the dangers of this world, I'd have to lock myself in a bunker somewhere with them and never come out again. And what kind of a life would that be? I would then also miss everything beautiful in this world, all the things that make life worth living." He looked into the woods, breathed in the fresh air deeply through his nose. "Life always has two sides," he continued. "A bright side and a dark one and neither can be shut out completely. We just have to learn to take a bit of light with us when we stumble into the dark so we can find our way out again. Because there's always one or the other. In my case, this light is my faith in God and love - what that is for you, you'll need to find out for yourself."

"I already did," Mick replied softly. "I'm just afraid that someone could take it away from me again, could destroy it because I don't know if I can protect it well enough."

Hemming nodded understandingly. "That, unfortunately, nobody knows. But often it's enough to try with all your might."

"Yes, sometimes," Mick added, with doubt obvious in his voice.

The pastor narrowed his eyes. He looked at Mick silently for a long moment, then he drew breath again. "Can I ask you something?"

Mick hesitated a moment, because there was an expression in the man's eyes that didn't please him, that told him he could see right through anything, that this, already far too intimate conversation would perhaps take a turn he might not like. But he finally brought himself to nod.

"The two of you… you're not really a married couple on their honeymoon, are you?"

Well, this was indeed surprising and Mick stood there with his mouth open for a moment, while his heart took a little jump and then kept on beating far too quickly. What could he do? How should he react to_ that_?

"My wife came to me immediately after your arrival," the pastor began to explain at once. "She told me that you both looked as if you had gone through something really bad and were perhaps looking for a safe place where you could get your strength back. She felt so sorry for you - especially because she immediately liked you. And since Mr. Kostan also said we should pay close attention to both of you, meet your every need and ensure that you really recover…" He stopped, looked at Mick compassionately and incredibly warm, and a part of Mick's discomfort disappeared instantly. "I don't know who you're hiding from and what had been done to you, but don't worry, your secret is safe with us. I owe Mr. Kostan a lot and I recognize good people when I see them." He paused again.

"I just want to give you some advice: The worst thing that happens in most crimes is that they're kept secret that only a few people dare to go public with them, to ask for help from the society in which they live. They don't trust in others; no longer believe that other people can still help them. They've lost faith in the good that's in people. It's in fact similar to believing in God: It's dying out. But we need it so much, especially in crisis situations, and I believe that God and the good in every human being and thus in society itself still exists - probably - no, actually quite certain that it's even much stronger today than it was in earlier times. Our society _is_ better than it was a few hundred years ago. People have become more social, more tolerant, and more attentive to the problems of others. This is a chance - for anyone who's in need. You only need to step up to them and wake them, them and all the positive qualities hidden in them; you have to make them pay attention to the suffering; remind society of its obligation to each of its members, it can't turn away from. Human rights apply to each of us and when they're abused, a more modern society _must _intervene and help those that such a grave injustice has happened to."

Mick opened his mouth, started to contradict him, but nothing came out. What should he say? Of course not everything in modern society was wonderful; of course there was still enough misery, enough suffering, but he himself had never tried to solve his problems by going to one of these organizations of human society. He had been convinced right from the start that as a vampire he had to hide, that vampires regulated their own affairs in _their_ community that their existence had to be kept secret. And as far as he understood, Gabriel had never pursued a different strategy either. He had always tried to regulate everything on his own, so that none of the problems between the Legion and the vampires spilled into the human public. There were indeed representatives of human society who were aware of them, but they had also covered up everything that had happened as well, didn't want human society to know that it was being represented by them. And maybe that was exactly the problem.

Beth had just recently, in a relaxed moment, joked about the fact that she didn't understand why vampires hid themselves from people, since so many of them thought positively about vampires, especially when you considered all the literature, the movies and the fan bases built around vampirism. They had both been joking about the impact it would have on their lives if Mick became a famous vampire with a small fan base. Of course that had been a fantasy, it would certainly never become reality, but there was a small kernel of truth behind it. Nowadays, the unusual wasn't necessarily immediately condemned and pursued, but could possibly even find advocates, people who would speak up for them… And if his own blood could actually help sick people, if humanity could actually benefit from his unusual nature, then perhaps… quite possibly, human society might suddenly indeed guarantee the protection they needed. Of course they had to be very careful, but to completely rule out from the start the possibility that the society could help them, was basically stupid. In their situation, one should take into consideration any and all possibilities.

"You know," the pastor began to speak again. "It's usually much harder in life to fight for your rights alone than it would be together with other people. And the more there are the better. I have a friend who works for a highly respected human rights organization, and I could give you his phone number. If you need help, please tell me. I'm sure that there's something I can do for you."

Mick was too stunned, too consumed in his own tumbling thoughts to say anything, so he decided to simply nod again. He had to think through it all, had to really think about the pastor's words and offer. Previously, he would have quickly pushed it aside, would not have dared to believe that there might be humans out there that could possibly help him. But he also had never previously believed that humankind was capable of starting an organization that could be as dangerous to vampires as the Legion; would never have believed that he and Beth could be together and that one day he would even be a father. Previously _everything_ had been impossible. But the world was suddenly full of wonders and what had been before, wasn't true anymore. Why should it not then be possible for a half-vampire to summon his human rights and to ask the society in which he lived to help him?

The idea of revealing himself to even more people, perhaps even show the public what was going on was scary and yet it also harbored hope. No one had ever dared take this step or even think it - but maybe that's exactly why it was the right step to take when all other efforts had failed.

"Just think about it," the pastor added, after he'd waited patiently for a response from Mick. "You can let me know if there's anything I can do for you after we've eaten …"

Mick only nodded again oppressed and Hemming turned to leave. But this time it was his little daughter, who held him back. She just stayed and looked at Mick with knitted brows, as if she was thinking hard about something.

"Are you afraid?" the little girl asked and Mick blinked at her in surprise. Then he went down on his haunches, to more or less be at eye level with her, hearing Beth's steps from inside the house.

"I'll be okay again," he said and tried for a little smile.

The girl let go of her father's hand and walked quite boldly up to Mick, who raised his eyebrows surprised. Much more he couldn't do because the next moment the girl had bravely slung her short arms around his neck and squeezed him as tightly as she could. Mick held his breath and his throat constricted as it got quite warm in his interior, this touching gesture moving him so deeply that his eyes began to burn and he found it hard to breathe properly.

The little one drew back again, beaming at him. "Now everything will be alright again," she said proudly. "Mom says when you're sad or scared, then another person has to come and simply squeeze the bad feelings away - then everything will be fine again!"

"She's probably right," Mick gave back a little hoarsely and wiped his hand across his nose, to drive away the tingling there.

The girl nodded over-eagerly. "Do you have someone who can hug you tight if the bad feelings come back?" she asked now, and Mick's eyes went up to Beth, who had already been in the doorway for a while. She smiled, but her eyes had filled with tears, showing him how much the action and words of this little girl had moved her.

"Yes, I do," he said softly, and rose again.

The girl beamed all over her face. "Then everything will be all right," she said again, smiling when her father took her by the hand. "Mom's always right!"

"Yes, mommies always are," Hemming smiled and winked at Mick before he finally successfully went down the stairs.

"We'll see you for dinner," he called to them over his shoulder.

"Have you heard this?" Beth said with a smile, approaching Mick. "Mamas are _always_ right!"

Mick returned her smile, pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently. "I'll try not to forget that."

"And _I'll_ remind you," Beth replied with a smile and kissed him back, longer and more sensual than before.

"But I've also heard something else," he added.

Beth raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Especially _moms-to-be_ need a lot of affection and physical contact…" he said as seriously as possible, glad that his mind permitted it, that his physical needs quickly pushed aside his concerns and strenuous thoughts of their future.

"Is that so?" Beth giggled and kissed him once again more than passionately. It seemed as if she too had a strong desire to take a carefree and fearless pause from reflecting. "I should really count myself lucky to have found such a selfless man who devotes himself totally to _my_ needs…"

"Yes, indeed!" he grinned, and had her in his arms in no time, carried his smiling Beth quickly into the house. The future could really be contemplated much better if they were completely relaxed. And right now there was only _one_ way that could help turn off his thoughts completely, bringing total relaxation…


	75. Nothing Ventured Part 1

_Sorry. I have to make this short again, for it's again too late here in Germany. Here's the next chapter for you. Kiss and hug you for your dear, motivating reviews and try to be back next Saturday again. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**N****othing ventured…**(Part 1)

* * *

"_I think we all have something inside of us that becomes inflamed at the sight or by the knowledge of another one, and that we're all a light for the other ones."_

_Albert Schweitzer_

* * *

Beth's heart was beating fast, faster than it normally did, but not racing, not cramped. It beat quickly and rhythmically, not with fear and worry, but from excitement and determination - determination because they were now going to get the chance to take their lives back in their own hands and fight for a good and peaceful future for themselves and their friends.

Mick and she had had a long talk about the things that the pastor had told them, and they had finally come up with a plan that, although it wasn't without danger and whose execution would require great sensitivity and caution, could in the end really help them gain a large say in the possibly soon, upcoming negotiations, one that could affect all the decisions and agreements significantly. Yet they were both quite aware it could start something that would spin out of control and cause a chaos no one would be able to get under control for some time, and it was precisely for this reason that they had wrestled with their decision for quite a while. But in the end the advantages were clearly apparent and the positive effects of their risky plan had outweighed the danger, and Mick and she were now determined to carry out their plan.

The steps they now took towards the home of the Hemmings, were not only steps out of their dream world, of this seemingly forever-lasting feeling of peaceful, intimate togetherness, but were also their first real steps towards their joint, self-determined future. This they had both felt, was why they had sought, again and again, encouraging eye contact with each other and Mick eventually took her hand, squeezing it gently. Beth gave him a warm smile and they held on to each other until they reached the house.

From inside the house came the loud crying of a small child who had them both pause before the open door. They looked at each other again, somewhat indecisive and hesitant, but finally Mick shrugged his shoulders and simply knocked at the open door, while Beth gave a tentative "Hello?"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" It came right back and after a minute or two, the somewhat red, but happily beaming face of Mrs. Hemming appeared in the open doorway.

"Don't let yourself be put off by Sam's crying, just come on in," she said, quickly opening the door further, while making an inviting gesture towards the interior of the house that immediately enticed Beth to take her up on her request. The house was beautifully furnished, simple but tastefully decorated with light furniture and colorful curtains. Since there was no foyer or vestibule, they stepped directly into the living room in which a playpen also stood with the screaming Sam, who Mrs. Hemming now hurried to.

"I apologize - new guests just arrived a few minutes ago and my husband had to quickly leave to show them where everything is," she said harried and picked up the screaming child. "But he'll be back shortly." She sighed deeply and heavily, bouncing and swaying the child back and forth a little to try and calm him down, but it wasn't really working. She smiled apologetically. "Sam can't stand it when I'm cooking and there's no one else around to care for him." The young woman threw a hesitant gaze at Mick and Beth. "Would you mind holding him for a moment – just long enough for me to finish preparing dinner?"

She didn't even wait for a reply, simply approached Mick and held the child out to him.

"I… I don't know if that's such …" he started, although he now reflexively reached out to take the boy from his mother, "…a good idea."

The child immediately stopped crying, looked at him with wide eyes, dangling in the air before him at arms-length.

"Well, that works wonderfully," Mrs. Hemming rejoiced. "He currently focuses on my husband like that too. You must have a similar aura." She turned around quickly and hurried toward the kitchen. "I'm almost through with the meal. I'll come right back when I'm done," she called to them over her shoulder before she disappeared into the kitchen.

Little Sam continued to stare at Mick as he put his fist in his mouth and kicked a bit with his short, plump little legs, while Mick gave a slightly overwhelmed impression, not knowing what to do with the little boy. They presented such a heart-warming picture together that Beth uttered a soft laugh and simply had to step closer to the two of them, gently sliding an arm around Mick's waist.

"He seems to like you," she said with a slightly scratchy voice, as somehow her throat had closed up with feelings of affection for Mick, which had become so great she could barely hold it back anymore. To see him after her difficult confession, with a child in his arms, to feel his joy over their own child growing, feel how much he actually longed for a family and how this longing was slowly displacing his fears, touched her so deeply she really had to try hard not to cry. She just wanted to wrap her arms around them both and pull them close to her - simply because they had made it so clear to her that she too _really_ wanted this: Mick and she with a child in their midst. She blinked bravely against the burning in her eyes and leaned a little against Mick's arm to be able to look at the child better.

"He…" Mick swallowed audibly, seemed to be having the same problem with his voice as she was, to feel and think the same as she did. "He's so tiny…"

"He's already five months old, Mick," she replied and it became quite warm inside her, as the boy grinned at her, his chubby cheeks becoming even rounder for a moment. "That's not that small anymore."

"I know, but he's so… so _tiny_."

She let out a low chuckle and had to hug him closer to her. "Ours will be even smaller when it's born," she added softly, and a surge of excitement fluttered up in her stomach. One day their child would also be here, lying in their arms, stretching its hands out to them… A slight tingling in her nose was added to the burning in her eyes. She turned her gaze away quickly and looked over to the couch.

"How about we sit down with him?" She suggested and Mick nodded immediately, followed her and then sat down very carefully on the leather sofa, paying careful attention to hold the baby upright and not scare him in any way. But he needn't have worried. Sam seemed to feel absolutely safe and totally enamored with Mick. He'd become really active, giggling merrily, kept chewing on his fist and kicking his legs. When his feet touched down on Mick's lap, he began to push himself off and bounce up and down happily.

The expression in Mick's eyes turned from helpless to fascinated and Beth's heart almost burst with love for him. She had been so afraid to tell him she was pregnant, had been so worried as to whether or not they'd even have the strength or nerves to raise a child so early in their relationship, but now all these negative feelings had disappeared. To actually see Mick with a child in his arms made the idea of them becoming parents so vivid, so real, and made her see that this was the best thing that could ever have happened to them, despite their critical life situation. It was what they both needed, to have a goal in mind, a reason to fight even harder for their common future.

Beth reached out a hand towards the baby's fist and held her breath as his plump little fingers opened and then closed with an amazingly tight grip around her index finger. Sam chuckled and beamed happily at her too now with all the charm that only babies possessed and her heart melted like wax. Beth sought Mick's gaze and found he was already looking at her, full of affection and love, and his gaze said only one thing: 'Even though all this still scares me somewhat - I _want_ this. I want you and the child. Let's tackle the adventure of becoming a family together.'

Beth couldn't help it. She leaned forward and kissed Mick letting him know in that way that she shared his exact sentiments. Something soft slapped her face and she jerked back from Mick a bit, startled, looked at the bright chubby face of Sam, who reached out with his little hand once again and got a grip on a strand of her hair and pulled at it.

Beth held his hand laughing and quickly freed herself from the firm grip of the child, while Mick also chuckled.

"You've got really good taste there, Sammy," he grinned at the child. "Trying to get your hands on the hottest bride here in the area… But unfortunately I must disappoint you - she already belongs to me."

Sam eyes became even wider and he uttered a few unintelligible sounds. But Mick shook his head as if he understood him.

"Nope – that's not up for negotiation…"

Sam's mouth moved again into a delightful smile and he rocked back and forth happily, brought Beth and Mick's heart to melt again.

"How can one be so cute?" Beth exclaimed rapturously and she gently stroked the soft, blond hair that stood up in all directions from the boy's head. "If ours is only half as sweet, I'll cuddle and kiss it all day long."

Mick looked at her from the corner of his eyes and raised his eyebrows with a grin. "As long as there are still a couple of kisses left for me in between, I have no objection."

She grinned at him and leaned toward him to show him how willing she was to do this, but steps and voices from the porch caused her to stop and quickly sit up properly again. Not a second too early, because the next moment a good-humored Mr. Hemming entered the living room, followed by his daughter, who gave Beth and Mick a bashful smile and then quickly hid behind her father.

"Oh, you're already here!" The pastor stated joyfully and came up to them. "And you've brought us a child! Is this your welcome gift?"

Mick blinked at the man a little confused and at first Beth didn't know how to reply either.

"Daddy!" another clear voice scolded, and Mr. Hemming's daughter now felt obliged to step out from behind her father's back and put her hands on her hips indignantly. "This is Sam!"

The pastor raised his eyebrows in surprise, leaning toward his son, who had turned with Mick's support and stretched out his arms to him, and gave him a quick once-over.

"Really!" he exclaimed in mocked amazement, and now took his baby in his arms to inspect him further. "Looks like Sam…" The baby chuckled happily and even his sister began to giggle. "Laughs like Sam…" He raised his son further up, sniffed at his diaper and then screwed up his face. "Smells like Sam!"

The girl laughed hilariously and Beth and Mick couldn't help but laugh too. The pastor hugged his son closer and smiled at them both with a little more seriousness in his eyes. "Nice to have you here," he said, reaching out his hand toward both of them.

Mrs. Hemming was now back from the kitchen, loaded with dishes and glasses, which teetered precariously while walking. Beth got up quickly and ran toward her, grabbing one of the glasses just in time.

The young woman let out a sigh of relief, but then immediately shot an apologetic gaze at Beth. "I had wanted to be finished with everything before you arrived, but seems there was always something going wrong," she explained quickly.

"No problem," Beth replied immediately. "Let me help you with that, and we'll have everything ready in no time."

Mrs. Hemming looked disbelievingly over to her husband, who still had this large, friendly grin on his face.

"Your food'll make up for all that, sweetheart," he said and then looked at Mick, who had also stood up, not knowing exactly what he should do. "And while you set the table and bring the food, we men will take care of real men's work." He grinned at Mick now even wider than before. "Changing diapers!"

He gave a short but exuberant laugh and then walked off, while Mick cast a somewhat indecisive look at Beth. Only when she nodded encouragingly, did he begin to move and followed the pastor into the adjoining room.

Beth turned back to the somewhat timidly smiling Mrs. Hemming, took the remaining glasses from her, and followed her over to the realm of the living room in which a large dining table decorated with flowers stood.

"I'm really sorry," the young woman said, as she put the stack of plates on the table and began to distribute the dishes. "My husband has a really strange sense of humor - but he's a good-hearted guy."

Beth gave her a warm smile. "And it shows," she said. "And quite honestly – I'm used to this kind of humor, so is Mick - so don't worry about us. I think we'll get along just fine."

"Mick?" Mrs. Hemming repeated and Beth stopped in alarm. "Is that his real name?"

Beth didn't answer. Mick had told her the Hemmings knew they were here on 'vacation' under false identities, but that was far from actually telling them who they really were. On the other hand, it was only their first names and Beth somehow found the two so sympathetic that she didn't want to keep lying to them. Apart from the fact, that today the couple would learn things that hardly any other uninvolved human knew anyway.

"You… You don't have to tell me of course," the young woman turned, a little embarrassed, and looked down focusing on what she was doing again.

"No, I…" Beth took a deep breath again, sorted her thoughts. "Yes, that's his real name and I'm… I'm Beth." She put down the last glass, which she was still holding in her hand, and extended her hand to a now quite relieved looking Mrs. Hemming.

The young woman beamed at her and shook her hand courageously. "Paula," she said. "And I'm really pleased to meet you!"

"Me too," Beth replied wholeheartedly and meant what she said. It wasn't often strangers took a liking to each other right away and it felt incredibly good to once again have contact with ordinary people, to see and feel that this normal, peaceful life still existed around them.

"I hardly ever get to know people my own age here," Paula said, and now continued to distribute the plates and cutlery. "Especially women who have children or are about to have one." She smiled sympathetically at Beth and Beth stared back blankly at the young woman, resulting in the smile on Paula's lips becoming a little insecure again.

"What… how did…" Beth stammered, dumbfounded.

Paula shrugged her shoulders a bit helplessly and stepped up to her. "I'm not sure… I… I just seem to have an eye for it…" she stopped talking, and simply took Beth's hand, which wasn't unpleasant for Beth. "Please don't be mad. I know I wear my heart on my sleeve, and sometimes I should really stop myself, but you two… I don't know… I saw you and immediately took a liking to you. And the looks between you two… I knew you loved each other deeply. And at the same time, knew the two of you had been through a lot and that you weren't really married and on your honeymoon. You're not even wearing wedding rings…"

Beth's eyes fell to her hand and she shook her head. She was right. None of them had even thought of that - not even the usually so careful Josef.

"My husband told me of his conversation with Mick and I saw how you responded to Sam…" She beamed at Beth. "I'm so happy for you! And you don't need to worry - we won't tell anyone about it!"

Beth just nodded. She was still too stunned to speak. But she wasn't afraid. Somehow she trusted Paula; she knew the young woman stood by her word. And it felt strangely good that she knew her little secret, especially because Paula had her own children and was able to answer some of her most pressing questions. She had so many questions… so many…

"So if there's anything_ I_ can tell _you_…" Paula now added the words Beth really longed to hear and for this reason an inadvertent "yes" blurted out of her sounding a little too eager.

Paula let out a chuckle and then nodded toward the kitchen. "Let's get the food on the table and see how many questions I can answer for you by then…"

Beth just nodded again, but this time there was no lack of words. They immediately bubbled out of her. "What's it feel like to be a mother?"

* * *

Mr. Hemming - or rather, Nate – hadn't exaggerated when it came to the cooking skills of his wife. The food was delicious and they were all so stuffed they could barely move after and for that reason, found themselves slouched on the comfortable sofa in the living room in order to get to know their new friends better. It was strange, but for Beth, it actually felt like they had really found new friends and she felt so comfortable with the small family that she was totally relaxed and enjoyed her time with them fully. The fact that Mick felt the same went without saying - she simply felt it, saw it in his relaxed posture, in the affection in his eyes, heard it in his warm voice. He had also taken Nate and Paula and their children into his heart and had almost forgotten why they'd come here. Almost, because somewhere in the back of their minds, their plan was still slumbering, making itself felt every now and then by a slight increase in heart rate or a fluttering in the stomach.

"One thing really interests me," Mick now said turning to Nate. "Can you tell me how and when you came to know Josef?"

The young pastor scratched his chin and glanced at the ceiling, trying to remember the day. "It was in autumn 2002, I think, when we still lived up in New York. We weren't doing so well financially. Paula had lost her job, the lease on our apartment had run out and generally our future wasn't looking so rosy. I was taking a short walk over the Brooklyn Bridge when I saw this man standing there at the railing, looking down into the depths, as if he was toying with the idea of jumping."

"And that was Josef?" Mick asked incredulously and even Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise, although she knew immediately why her friend had been in New York at that time and had been so depressed.

Nate nodded. "He didn't really want to jump - at least that's what he told me later. But I thought he was going to, because he looked so sad and lost, and I approached him with the idea of stopping him. I got him involved in a conversation about God and the world - in the truest sense. We talked for quite awhile and somehow we ended up talking about my current life situation. Josef listened to my story and then told me he had recently purchased a small resort in Alta Sierra and didn't know what he was going to do with it. And he asked me if I wouldn't mind helping him get this resort up to speed and take my family with me. That maybe I could even work there as a pastor in the community…"

"Whoa - _wait_!" Mick closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. Then he again sought the gaze of the pastor. "Are you telling me this resort for honeymooners belongs to _Josef_?"

Nate blinked a bit confused. "Didn't you know that?"

Mick gave an incredulous laugh, and even Beth had to smile. "He didn't tell us anything," she said.

"That's probably because the grounds officially belong to me," Nate thought aloud. "But unofficially…"

Mick shook his head again, but this time the gesture was accompanied by a broad grin that quite clearly told Beth that Josef would pay for this busted secret later.

"He really helped us a lot," Paula added full of gratitude, tenderly stroking her daughter's hair, who had fallen asleep across her lap. "He may seem very cool and calculating – but he really has a good heart."

A soft smile flitted over Beth's lips. She too had said this before, and it was nice to see Josef's facade of the callous businessman wasn't as impenetrable as he always thought, and allowed himself to be influenced by his soft core more often than he admitted to himself and others.

"He's shown me every now and then that compassion and love still exist in this world," Nate added. "It's good to know from time to time that the bad times do eventually pass and make room for the good ones. You just need to keep your eyes open so you don't miss the opportunity to take hold of the hands that reach out to you."

"You really think so?" Mick asked now, because the pastor's words seemed to have reminded him, as well as Beth, of what had really brought them here to the home of this nice family. "I mean that you can really rely on the help of strangers, that the society in which we live will actually provide the necessary shelter and assistance when we really need it?"

"Yes, I do," was the confident response of the pastor. "Because I myself have experienced it, several times, even as a teenager. I didn't have a happy childhood, had eventually run away from home and lived for several years on the street. At some point I met a pastor who took care of the homeless along with other dedicated members of the church and some other organizations. He was a good-hearted man with whom I spent hours discussing life and the religions of the world and he was surprisingly open-minded. He changed my view of the world, the things that had happened to me in my life. It was because of him that I decided to finish school and then study theology to become a pastor myself so I too could help others in need. And in this I've finally found my true calling."

"But there are so many others, who didn't fare as well," Mick objected, "whom no one helped."

The pastor nodded immediately. "Of course there are and I can't say whether a little bit of luck might not have played a role in finding the right path in life. Most, however, depends on whether or not you have the determination to take your life back into your hands and purposely look for the help you need in order to get back on your feet. Alone you won't get far in this world. Sometimes we need others to help us solve our problems. So many people forget that far too often and find it incredibly difficult to accept help from others. I know from experience because I've worked for years in aid organizations. It's not that these people _just_ had bad luck in their lives. They've just given up, lost sight of the good things in life, and fail to notice when something does open up before them that could help them out of their misery. And even when they do notice, they often don't have the strength or will to use those pathways. They've lost their faith in themselves as well as the society in which they live."

"Then you don't believe in predestination, in fate?" Mick concluded from the pastor's words that had also put Beth into deep reflection.

Nate smiled. "I believe our life is determined by our decisions. Maybe there_ is_ something like predestination, because some coincidences are simply too strange. Maybe there are meetings or events that are inevitable, but we all have something, against which nothing can position itself in this world: a free will. What we do with a specific situation, is in _our_ hands. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes very difficult - but _we_ hold our own destiny in our hands, _we_ make the decisions for our future. And we should never let that be taken away from us."

Mick looked at Nate for a long time and then nodded, while Beth could only marvel at how such a young man as Nate could be so wise, could say such insightful things. And he spoke so much from the heart, further strengthening her resolve to enforce their own plan for their future.

Mick seemed to think so as well, because he cleared his throat and she knew exactly what subject would follow, felt his growing excitement that came with it.

"This aid organization you worked for, is it the same one this friend of yours works for that you told me about this morning?"

"No, we met at a common project for refugees," Nate said. "His organization is committed to the observance of human rights here in the States and is - sadly – quite busy."

"Do you know him well?" Mick probed. "Can you trust him?"

"He's one of my closest friends," Nate said, smiling. "I would trust him with my life."

Mick looked at him for a while, had to really fight with himself to formulate his next words, and Beth moved closer to him, took his hand and caressed it gently to give him the strength he needed to go on.

"Let's assume that someone had been kidnapped by an organization and had been abused… for medical tests and is now on the run from these people - would he be in good hands with your friend?"

Nate didn't respond immediately to Mick's question, first had to process Mick's words and then get a handle on his dismay, the same as his wife, who watched Mick with an open mouth and wide eyes.

"O… of course," Nate finally brought out and now deep sympathy glowed in his warm, blue eyes.

Paula, who still had her tired daughter in her arms got up quickly, mumbled a low "It's time for you to go to bed now" into her ear and disappeared with her quietly from the room.

"I… I could immediately call him and make an appointment with him," Nate offered, but Mick shook his head.

"For us it's about something else," he said quickly. "I would like to…" He broke off, looked at the pastor briefly and then took a breath again to continue. "If I tell you something in confidence, ask you to listen to me as a man of the church and to advise me in _this_ capacity with my problem, are you then bound not to pass it on to anyone else?"

Nate hesitated for a moment, because this question seemed to surprise him a bit, but then he nodded. "Yes, I am and I would not do it for moral reasons as well."

Mick searched again for Beth's gaze, looked at her inquiringly. She knew what he wanted from her. He wanted her consent again to their jointly designed plan, to be sure that this was what she wanted to do too. She squeezed his hand that was still in hers, while nodding at him encouragingly. He took another deep breath and then turned back to Nate. "Do you have a video camera?"

That question surprised Nate so much he couldn't immediately respond. It was his wife who had just returned to the room, who replied to Mick.

"Yes - even a relatively new digital one," she admitted, frowning.

"I received it as a gift this last Christmas from a good friend," Nate added. "Why?"

"I… I would like you to record an interview with me," Mick said in a firm voice. "Would you help us?"


	76. Nothing Ventured Part 2

_Hi my dears! I'm so sorry I'm that late this time with the new chapter. In all the stress of real life I forgot to send my chapter to one of my beta readers and just did it Friday night. But our great Sg6169 managed to beta-read the chapter so fast that I'm able to post it already today. _

_Thank you all so, so much again for your so motivating reviews! I loved them and hug you all. I'll try to post the next chapter in time (at Saturday again) and wish you all a not too stressful week. Yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**N****othing Ventured… (Part 2)**

So often I had flown by helicopter, traveling long distances in these machines and had always felt calm and relaxed. But never had I felt as I did now, so tense, so nervous, and edgy. It was the feeling of impending change that unnerved me so. It had attached itself to my soul and held on with a vengeance; this feeling that the world in which my friends and I had been living would soon no longer be the same - ever again. Until now, I had hoped it was still possible to return to my old life, to be able to go back to being the Josef Kostan I had once been. But in the last few hours I came to realize this would never be - even if everything went well for us, even if our hopes for the future were fulfilled. And if I was honest, I wasn't really sure whether I still wanted that or not, for the Josef Kostan I had become wasn't necessarily that bad a version, and could perhaps handle the tasks that awaited him in the future even better than the old version.

The world already looked different after our exhausting, yet because of that, so productive meeting. Not necessarily better, just that there were now more opportunities and a higher probability that we would still be able to influence things in our favor. My idea to call the people from our team together that Gabriel and I absolutely trusted, and include them in on the last planning phase of our fight against the Legion, had been exactly the right thing to do. Gabriel had also had to admit that too, with great astonishment, as step by step ideas and some really brilliant suggestions by our friends had slowly changed Gabriel's original plan around to one in which might really work. And if it did, big changes would be heading our way. Changes in the positive sense, but they would be huge, and weigh pretty heavily on some people's stomachs…

* * *

"_Basically I think it all hinges on how Judge Ruthers is going to respond to the CD, to all the new information and the whole situation," Thomas rose to speak after Gabriel had informed all those present about the more 'reasonable' of his final plans and a brooding silence had arisen between us that had lasted for a while. "If he's on our side we'll have all the aces in our hand, but if he decides he just wants to get rid of us it's going to be extremely difficult to get him to join us at the table - even _if_ his nephew comes through for us." _

"_I don't think so," Gabriel replied at once emphatically and in doing so voiced my own thoughts. "He'll definitely be looking for contact with us, for if his intentions are to destroy us, this is exactly what he'll need to do. He now knows how important I am to the vampire community and that he could cause us great harm by killing me. Pretending to want to negotiate with us, would in this case, also be strategically very clever." _

"_And how are we to know exactly what he intends if he agrees to meet with us?" Lance immediately probed and his eyes flickered worriedly. _

"_We can't," was Gabriel's honest answer. "__There's always going to be some risk involved that we'll need to accept and adapt to. We'll just have to have a very good plan in place for either case." _

"_Perhaps the first thing we need to decide is who among us will take part in the negotiations when they finally come about," I suggested, and both Thomas and Malik nodded at once in agreement._

"_I don't think there will be very many of us," said Gabriel. "Ruthers and Sinclair-Jones will not allow too many vampires to be present. They are both very cautious and will do everything possible to prevent us from luring them into a trap." _

"_How many vampires were present during the negotiation of the last contracts?" Logan asked, apprehensive, who had taken a very active part in our conversation right from the beginning. That he had even been chosen to confer with us had inspired him and had bolstered his ego so much he was barely recognizable. This was in sharp contrast to his otherwise quite talkative friend Seth, who had hardly uttered a word yet._

"_Apart from me, three more," Gabriel was willing to tell Logan. "There were also three men from the top ranks of the Legion and three neutral humans with great political influence in human society."_

"_Okay – let's say, we use the same assemblage," I intervened again. "Who will go with you to the negotiations? Have you already thought about that?" _

_Gabriel looked at me thoughtfully. "I had, but now I think that I have to reconsider." _

"_Why?"__ Logan asked blankly. _

"_Because Mick was one of them," I replied for the old vampire, and didn't even have to look at him to know I was right. _

"_You mean you no longer want him to come with you?" Lance probed amazed. _

"_I think the vampires who will accompany me, should be the ones who will lead the vampire community in the future and represent it to the Legion and the spokesmen of the humans," Gabriel avoided his question, but the wrinkles on black-eye's forehead only grew deeper. _

"_In other words, you want to withdraw for good," Lance now concluded with obvious concern in his voice. _

"_Lance - the poison is working inside my body," Gabriel reminded him a little testy. "I don't know if we'll ever get a handle on it and you know how close it was the last time! We need new leadership - one that humans will accept also!" _

"_But then I don't understand why you're no longer considering Mick," Thomas now objected with a frown. "He, as a half-vampire, might fill the intercessor position between the human and vampire society, outstandingly."_

"_He's much too young for this," Gabriel was quick to reply and caused even more incomprehension on my friends' faces. Like me they seemed to know this was only a pretext. _

"_Then allow older vampires to stand by him - Josef and Malik for example," Thomas simply suggested, but Gabriel was already shaking his head vigorously. _

"_Mick is traumatized - he doesn't have the strength to bear the chaos of such a responsibility!" _

"_That'__s why he shouldn't do it alone," Thomas remained obstinate. "I don't understand. I always thought this was your plan. I mean what better protection could there be for Mick than to become one of the most powerful people in our community? And the contracts with the humans would only protect him further. We also _need_ him for the negotiations because he's one of the main reasons for this war. Without him, we may not be able to draw those most important from every side to the negotiating table." _

"_Gabriel never said that Mick wouldn't at some point be brought into this," I quickly jumped in the middle, because I could clearly feel Gabriel's rage, born out of his ever-growing instinct to protect Mick, begin to boil inside him. "The two of us just agreed that for the time being it's better to keep him out of this whole thing and only use him if it's absolutely necessary. He really isn't in good shape currently." _

"_Okay," Lance said now instead of Thomas, who still gave a rather unhappy impression. "Who is it then? Who should stand by your side during the negotiations?" He looked inquiringly at Gabriel and it almost appeared as if there was a little glimmer of hope in his eyes – a hope that maybe he would be one of the chosen ones. _

_Gabriel took a deep breath. "__Thomas and Josef…" _

_My mouth had already twisted into a sardonic grin in Lance's direction, but Gabriel quickly deflated my joy. _

"… _and you, Lance. You and Thomas will represent the European vampires, should I someday not be able to do that anymore." The old vampire looked at me intently. "And_ you_ are to represent the vampire community in the States. You are free to add other vampires to your support later, but I want you in charge, and to also take over the Presidency of the Supreme Council in the States." _

_I wanted to swallow but my throat was suddenly so dry that I couldn't even do that. And as much as I enjoyed Lance's anger over my rapid rise in the hierarchy of the vampire elders, the new role Gabriel was entrusting me with was accompanied by an incredible amount of responsibility and work and I wasn't really sure I wanted it. I didn't get the chance to lodge an objection though. _

"_Okay, then this matter is resolved now," Thomas quickly put an end to my disturbing thoughts and then briefly lowered his gaze to take stock of himself. "We can probably assume that we'll be able to get Ruthers to the negotiating table - but how's that going to work with Sinclair-Jones? Is getting his hands on you going to be enough to entice him Gabriel? He's actually after Mick." _

"_And we should continue to let him believe he'll be meeting Mick at the negotiations," Gabriel added immediately. "It's absolutely imperative that Rudolf appears." He looked back at Lance. "Is Ritchcroft well enough?"_

_Black-__eye nodded grimly. "He's recovered quite well from his last interrogation with Malik and will make a healthy and lively impression on everyone– including Rudolf." _

"_What about Gallagher?" Gabriel asked and now even Malik leaned forward a bit to the old vampire. _

"_He still struggles with accepting his new existence and must be force-fed, but I now have better access to his thoughts and memories, and have already used some of them in our research of the Legion's plans," the Assassin said. "But he isn't stable enough to use as a hostage during the negotiations." _

"_Then now's the time to spread the rumor that he died from his injuries," Thomas suggested and Gabriel nodded gravely. _

"_Why__'s he even alive?" Guillermo voiced the question that I had already asked myself as well. "Is it because of Mick's need for revenge?" _

_Gabriel's chest expanded with a deep breath. He leaned back in his chair, was slowly giving a somewhat tired impression. "No. It's likely Gallagher is one of only a few people who have worked closely with Nicolas, and knows what he looks like, and what name he is hiding under within the Legion." _

"_But you must know what he looks like as well," I threw in surprised. "You knew him personally." _

"_Nic__olas has, since he's been in hiding, changed his appearance quite often," Gabriel explained to me with a coldness that seemed to befall him just thinking about his nemesis. "The vampire existence allows for very quick healing from surgery and I'm sure I would only recognize him by his eyes. However, I've not gotten close enough to tell since the French Revolution - otherwise he wouldn't still be__alive." _

"_In other words, Gallagher is only alive, because you're hoping to get information from him about Nicolas and the Cercle," I concluded and Gabriel confirmed my assumption with a slight nod, but a minute delay and the flicker in his eyes hadn't eluded me. There was still another reason and I already knew what it was - but didn't want to bring it up in front of the others. _

"_What about Ritchcroft?" Guillermo now asked. "How is it that you can exert pressure on Rudolf using him?" _

"_He's related to him,"__ Gabriel replied and I raised my brows puzzled. "He's one of his nephews and his capture has already led to the first attempt at contact on_ _Rudolf's part. He's been a very good leverage."_

"_In addition, Rudolf is under pressure by the not necessarily good fare of the Legion and his friendship with Ruthers," Malik added. _

"_What do you mean exactly?"__ Guillermo asked with a frown._

"_From what we know from Coraline the radical actions of the Legion hasn't pleased Ruthers at all," Malik said, "and he's given Sinclair-Jones an ultimatum that will soon expire. He currently has only two choices - either he takes even more radical action against us than before, thus setting Ruthers against him and the Legion, or he becomes involved in negotiations with us."_

"_Right now it looks as though he's preparing for both possibilities," Thomas added worriedly. "Our latest information indicates the Legion is gearing up for a major attack and that puts us under quite a time pressure." _

"_Why is Sinclair-Jones even taking the more radical approach into consideration?" I immediately probed. _

"_The question is whether it's _him_ considering this or the other executives within the Legion," Gabriel corrected me. "We must all remember that Sinclair-Jones is powerful, but not the only commander in the Legion. For this reason,_ _in addition to our preparations for the negotiations, we must take care of the implementation of our other plan. We must_ _unfortunately prepare ourselves_ _for a major battle." _

_The words of the old vampire caused us all to fall into thoughtful silence again; from which Alejandro was the first to emerge from again. _

"_Let's first think through our options with the negotiations," he suggested and I could feel how much discomfort the other thought was causing him. He wasn't alone there. A renewed fight was something I could well do without. _

"_What exactly are we requesting from Ruthers and Sinclair-Jones? The complete dissolution of the Legion?"_

_Gabriel shook his head immediately. "They'll never go for that. Rudolf will refuse and give good reasons why the Legion has to continue to exist…" _

"_Which are?" Logan exclaimed indignantly. "This organization has so many skeletons in the closet…" _

"_Yes, but Ruthers too will insist on there being an organization that can intervene against the actions of the vampires if need be," Gabriel immediately stated. "We do have superhuman powers that scare people – rightly so!" _

"_Then we need to suggest that the Legion be reformed," Alejandro said. "We demand a new leadership, which will work closely with the leadership of the vampire society and has to coordinate their actions with them." _

"_Hasn't that been done before?" I turned to Gabriel frowning before he could say anything regarding this proposal. _

_I had felt that the vampire elder didn't like that I had brought up his former agreement with the Legion so openly before the others, but he finally yielded to my need for clarity in this round. _

"_Something like that," he admitted. "__There was a supreme committee consisting of a vampire elder and a Sangsujet, to which a neutral representative of the human society was added after the French revolution, but that committee has not generally supervised the actions of the Legion. It only_ _met in times of crisis and stepped in only when all three deemed it strictly necessary, quite apart from the fact that their cooperation with the committee from the States hasn't really worked for quite some time now." _

"_What if we suggest re-establishing that committee, perhaps with even more people who could monitor the actions of the Legion more closely," Logan suggested and everyone looked at him._

"_But then they'd also have to monitor the vampire society too," Seth, who had finally overcome his shyness, added softly. "This whole thing could be set up even bigger and better if we just dismantle the Legion completely and create a kind of police force, consisting of vampires and humans, who would work together in teams." _

_Speechless silence followed. All eyes were now directed to Seth, who was growing visibly nervous under our gazes. _

"_Don't… don't you think something like that could be organized?" He stammered. "I mean… of course, the leaders of the Legion aren't going to like the idea, but if we had Ruthers on our side, we could perhaps force them to accept it." _

_He looked from one to the other then shrugged his shoulders helplessly, since no one had said a word yet. He didn't even realize what a brilliant idea this was, at least_ I_ thought so. Why hadn't _I _come up with such an idea? _

"_Well, I think __it's a good idea," Logan now stepped up in defense of his friend. "As I said, the Legion has done far too much in order to be allowed to still continue to exist. But one could re-train some of the more reasonable employees and use them for the new protective- organization." _

"_This is actually an _incredibly_ good idea," Gabriel now also said deeply impressed. "And I think it will be exactly what Ruthers wants. He's definitely become aware that he's neglected this matter far too long over the years and is thus partly responsible for the escalation of the conflict as well. He'll want more influence and decision making powers in relation to the Legion and the vampire society in the future, so it's quite possible he'll agree to this proposal." _

"_Can he really do that?" Guillermo asked doubtfully. "I mean, does Ruthers really have the power to disband the Legion?" _

"_I think here in the States, he does," Gabriel said. "Modern human societies are much more powerful and better protected than they were in the past, and with the information Ruthers received from me about the Legion, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to assert himself and dissolve the Legion." _

"_Then we should move forward and develop this idea further," Thomas suggested and Seth's whole face lit up. _

"_Yes, but there's still another question we need to take care of first," Alejandro objected. "The question of how we're going to pressure the Legion into bending to this idea. And pressure alone isn't going to work! I think we're going to have to offer these people something in return, a consolation prize for their resolution, so to speak." _

_I heard someone cough nearby and it was only then that I realized Frank was still present. "Well, I think I can help you out with that. There's something that's finally become clear to me about this research project…" _

_I looked at him thoughtfully, and nodded to him then, even though I was immediately struck with the feeling that Frank's words were not necessarily something I wanted to hear. _

"_We__'re all ears," I added anyway. It was important in this situation, to listen to _all_ ideas, even those I wouldn't like…_

The helicopter touching down on solid ground roused me from my thoughts and I glanced out the window. The pilot had, as I had hoped, landed in a field near Nate's resort and was now opening the side door to let me out. I took off my earmuffs and turned to the man.

"There's a nice little place close by," I hollered over the noise of the engine. "Rest there a bit until I contact you again. I'll likely be three to four hours."

* * *

The man nodded shortly and I climbed nimbly out of the machine, ran ducking out of reach of the still-rotating blades, holding my arm over my face to prevent sand and leaves from blowing into my eyes. Then I stopped and looked around again to get my bearings. Further down the road I spotted a sign with the name _Heaven's Gate_ with an arrow pointing to the left and quickly followed it. Actually, it wasn't really my thing to be on the road by foot, but it had its advantages. This way I could expend a little of my tension and sort my thoughts before discussing our new plans with Mick and Beth.

For me, it was quite easy to get to the heart of the matter: The Legion wanted Mick; Ruthers wanted to restore law and order in this state again and we wanted a peaceful co-existence between vampires and humans and the replacement of the Legion with another secret 'police'. The only question now was how we were going to satisfy all parties in the negotiations at least half way without having to sacrifice Mick or Gabriel and at the same time not give the humans the feeling we were trying to dupe them and wanted to seize world domination at the end. For the simple truth was, we were superior to humans because of our strengths and those who knew of our existence feared us immensely. And because of that, we had to tread carefully and skillfully in the negotiations. We couldn't afford to give them the impression we were only negotiating benefits for ourselves and not concerned with the wishes of other parties. We had to offer them something in return that would appease them, something that showed them we were willing to ensure greater security and greater cooperation. After Frank's statement, there was only one thing that could achieve this - the one thing I wasn't willing to give them that twisted my intestines and raised my blood pressure even thinking about it. I took a deep breath, let the cool air of the forest calm my nerves and bring more clarity to my mind and then walked on swiftly.

'Just talk to Mick and Beth about everything first,' I said to myself. 'Maybe they've come up with something - developed a plan of their own, a better plan…'

I stopped when I spotted the first houses of the resort's little village hidden in the woods. It had been a long time since I had been here, but immediately felt the safety and security of this place. And that was a good feeling. No wonder my friends had given such a recovered, calm impression on the phone. Just the atmosphere alone was already like a soothing balm for the soul.

I didn't know where exactly Nate had placed Mick and Beth, so I decided to go over to his house first and pay the small family a visit. But just before I reached the porch, I stopped again, raising my eyebrows in surprise. Mick's energy was too familiar to me not to feel it even from this distance, and my feeling told me he wasn't just close but actually _in_ the house, most likely with Beth. It wasn't as if I had any objections to them becoming friends with other people, but somehow I knew there was something going on in there, which had nothing to do with small-talk over coffee and cake. There was such excitement and tension in the air…

I didn't hesitate any longer, simply ran up the little staircase to the porch, concentrating my hearing on what was going on inside. Just a few more steps to the door…

"Judge Ruthers?" Nate had just asked, disbelief audible, like the voice of someone who had just been let in on a secret that significantly changed his view of the world, sounded like. "The chairman of the Supreme Court of the States?"

"Yes – that's him," I heard Mick answer as I opened the door and stormed into the living room.

There they sat: Nate and Paula on the couch, eyes wide, a video camera in front of them on a tripod, which was pointed directly at my best friend; next to the video camera, Beth, who looked at me in astonishment.

Nate immediately jumped up, startled, then Paula. Mick just sat quietly and looked at me, frowning, as if _I_ was the one who had just committed the serious violation against the supreme laws of the vampire community.

"Jo… Josef," Nate stammered insecure, while I kept on marching toward my best friend without a word, who was now finally on his feet as well.

"I don't want to spoil this cozy little coffee klatch," I said with a smile that wasn't, "but… would you mind coming outside with me for a minute, Mick?"

My friend didn't hesitate a second but immediately set into motion and went past me out the door. Usually I enjoyed such willingness to my requests, but not from Mick, since I felt _his_ obedience without resistance wasn't founded on a well deserved respect toward me, but on his own self-confidence and fearlessness about his actions - and that annoyed me.

"What the hell are you doing, Mick?" I brought out, barely restraining myself after I had closed the door behind us a little too loudly.

"It's good to see you too, Josef," Mick replied cheeky, ignoring my question deliberately. "Weren't you supposed to call me to let me know exactly when you'd be arriving?"

"You've not seriously discussed our problems with Nate, have you?" I said to him, just as unresponsive to his questions as he was to mine. "Are you recording …" I had to breathe in and out deeply and slowly to be able to even continue to speak. "… an interview of you?"

Mick didn't answer just looked at me, waiting for me to answer my own question.

"Who do you intend to send it to?" I uttered tensely.

"For now, no one."

I frowned. "What exactly does '_for now'_ mean?"

"Just what it usually means," Mick countered. "_For now_ means I'll hold on to the video _for now_, but presume to send it to Nate's friend if circumstances arise."

"Nate's friend?" I repeated angrily.

"He works at a human rights organization and has agreed to help us if it becomes necessary," Mick explained to me and I just closed my eyes and shook my head in disbelief.

"So basically you want to go public with this video, if you think it's necessary," I concluded stunned after I was able to look at my friend again, without grabbing and shaking him violently.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest in his so typically petulant way. "If that's the way you want to put it …"

"Mick! This is crazy and you know it!" I could not contain myself anymore. I grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him directly in the eyes. "The people out there aren't all good. Do you seriously think they'll be overjoyed about this, that there have been vampires among them for centuries that have lusted for their blood? This isn't fiction! You can't throw it in their face just like that…"

"That's not what I want to do at all, Josef!" Mick said at last and freed himself from my grasp harshly. "I've also had my share of bad experiences with humans – not to mention last year. I'm not that naive, silly boy anymore…"

"Right now I'm not so sure," I blurted out and Mick furrowed his brows angrily.

"I know what I'm doing!" he replied emphatically. "This…" He pointed in the direction of the living room where the others were certainly waiting with apprehension on our return. "… only serves to safeguard Beth and me and also you and the others, and to restore the balance."

"The balance?" I repeated, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The Legion beats us with our own weapons, Josef," Mick told me a little impatiently. "Our fear of being discovered by the public is like a trip wire that brings us down again and again, although we could have actually broken free from the Legion long ago. This organization can only exist through our secrecy, _in_ our parallel world and if we want to beat them, we must finally emerge from this secret world."

"Mick, this is complete madness! This…"

"Listen - listen to me first," my friend immediately interrupted me. "I know we can't do this all at once, that this requires intense preparation and a very careful approach. I certainly won't risk something happening to my family or any of my friends. And you can believe me; I never used the word vampire in this interview or showed them what I really am. All I'm trying to do is expose the Legion's crimes and give the names of the men involved in this whole story - and _that way_ we can force these men to a table _and_ get them to negotiate with us - on _our_ terms, because if there's one thing that they can't afford anymore than we can, it's that all this becomes a matter of public concern. They will do _everything_ in their power to avoid losing control of the situation. Public pressure is a weapon with incredible power - not just in terms of our secret existence."

He was right, because I myself had always had an incredible fear of blowing my cover at some point. I didn't really want to, had actually wanted to rant on, but Mick's words had indeed calmed me down a bit, got me to thinking.

"Trust me Josef - because you _can_," Mick had to add now. "You always have in the past!"

Just great! What could one say to _that_? Of course, Mick's previous plans had often been very sketchy and had only worked with a lot of luck, but I couldn't remember a single one that completely blew up. And Mick had never betrayed me. He stood by his word, stood by his friends and would not endanger their lives just like that.

I looked at him, studied him from head to toe. He looked different from the last time I'd seen him. Rested, healthy and happy. And he was nearly bursting with energy and thirst for action, seemed so… so vivid, so life-affirming, almost like he was back when I had spent the evening with him in that bar, when he had still been human…

"Okay," it unconsciously escaped my lips. "Explain it to me - tell me exactly what you are up to. And then we'll see how well it fits into the plans we've developed together with Gabriel."

Mick narrowed his eyes a little. "You mean you've made peace with Gabriel?"

"It's a pretty long story, one you certainly need to hear," I replied. "But first we'll fill in the gaps in _my_ knowledge and then the ones in _yours_."

"Okay," he surrendered with a small smile and took a deep breath. "Beth's pregnant."

I froze, blinked a few times, then shook my head, not just to handle this rapid change in topics, but to get rid of this completely absurd idea. I had to have misheard. "W… _what_?"

"Beth's going to have a baby… mine." He said only very softly, as if he could hardly believe it himself, but there was such a happy smile that slipped over his lips, and a light in his eyes that told me he wasn't pulling a prank on me, that it was really true.

My hands jerked to my mouth and again I could only shake my head. "A baby?" I repeated, not very intelligent.

He nodded and the smile was back again, now much clearer - so happy, so overwhelmed.

"How…" I had to clear my throat because my voice had taken on somewhat of a high pitch. How embarrassing! "How is that possible?" It was really the most incredible thing I'd ever heard. "Is… is it because you're partly human now?"

Mick shrugged. "Maybe. But it could be that our DNA just fits, just like Gabriel and Laelia."

Oh, God, yes! How could I have forgotten? It wasn't the first such miracle that had happened. Only with the old vampire everything had gone wrong… I felt sick.

"This is… no one should know about this, Mick," I stammered now, still completely undecided whether I should be happy for my friends, or should consider this as a huge disaster. "Especially not the Legion!"

"I know," Mick replied determined.

"We have to hide her someplace where no one will find her!" My thoughts took on a life of their own.

"No, Josef," Mick said, before I could continue. "I don't want to hide with her. I want my wife and child to have a reasonably normal life. And I can't give them that by running away and hiding. It's not an option. I must ensure that the Legion and the Cercle leave me and my family alone and I can only do that if I can put pressure on them, if I'm stronger than they are, than all the others who are involved in this war. Do you understand?" He looked at me intently. "This is the reason why I turned to Nate, why I wanted to record my story. The threat of making this story public, of revealing the names of those in charge, will put tremendous pressure on them. It's like a weapon no one can survive when drawn at the right moment. Nate will store the video and only pass it on to his friend with my signal, who will then make it public. I swear I'll only do that if I'm unsuccessful with my other leverage."

"Your other leverage?" I probed with unease.

"Yes, I still have something else that gives me a great advantage: my blood. Frank told me the first meds have been developed with it, meds that really work. And Josef, we've both seen it for ourselves – with vampires - but we _have_ seen it: my blood can cure other people, can help them. The Legion hasn't conducted these last experiments in vain. And I now doubt they ever really wanted to create super soldiers with these experiments in the first place."

My friend had no idea how close to the truth he was, how much his ideas had overlapped with those of Franks, which he had shared with the rest of us only a few hours ago and yet that idea didn't fare too well with me, only increased my nausea.

"They're looking for cures for serious diseases," Mick continued. "Whatever their reason, my blood is immensely important to them!"

"Are you seriously considering bringing yourself back into the negotiations as a trump card?" I finally brought out somewhat more composed.

"Not me - _my blood_!"

My stomach clenched even more - not only because I didn't like the idea of Mick involving himself in this whole thing again, but mostly because I now had to admit what a good idea it was, what a brilliant pressure or bargaining chip we actually had in our hands with Mick. I ran a hand over my face, taking a deep breath. "Have you discussed everything with Beth?"

"Yes, he has," a soft voice came from behind me and I jerked violently, I had been _that_ focused on my conversation with Mick.

Beth came out of the half-open door to the porch and closed it behind her. "Basically, we developed these ideas together," she admitted slightly downcast. "We tried to tackle everything objectively, turned off our emotions and thought as logically as possible…"

"It's not about handing myself …" Mick broke off, couldn't even finish saying it out loud. "It's only about taking some blood samples from me every now and then and sending them to someone who knows how to handle it properly and will use it only for the purpose of healing other people."

"And if they still need other things from you?" I asked suspiciously. "Bone marrow or DNA?"

"We'll see," Mick replied, and it was obvious that he would proceed very cautiously on this issue. He had to make sure he didn't end up being turned into a guinea pig again, and once again I was struck by how incredibly brave and courageous my best friend was. I wasn't sure if I was in his place whether I'd have the nerve or the strength to even consider such an idea.

"What about…" I pointed a little insecure at Beth's belly, still hadn't gotten used to the idea of what was growing inside Beth. "… with, well, you know…"

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise and then looked at Mick. "You told him?"

Mick nodded. "He's my best friend… And he had to know in order to understand."

Beth now stepped closer, looked at me intently. "Look, Josef, no one else must know about this - _no one_! If everything goes well and we actually get to lead a peaceful life in a normal environment, we'll let it be known that we've decided to adopt a child. We'll cover this up as best we can, and hope no one catches onto our secret."

"And you think that'll work?" I asked doubtfully, staring at her stomach again, concentrating on my hearing automatically. It was surprisingly difficult to perceive the baby's heartbeat, but at some point I did indeed hear the soft thumping, which differed a bit from Beth's heart beat and my own heart took a strange leap, immediately beating a little bit faster.

"This was just an initial thought," Mick said now. "We can deal with it seriously after the crisis with the Legion is finally over."

This time it was I who nodded. The two were right. At the moment it didn't make any sense to try and deal with the topic of 'How do we hide the vampire-baby'… Vampire-baby - my God! What kind of child would this even be?

Actually I wanted to say something else on the matter, but suddenly the inside pocket of my jacket started to buzz and vibrate and immediately put me on alert. I pulled the device a little hectically from my pocket and announced myself with a quick, tense, "Yes," knowing exactly who it would be on the line.

"Josef, Judge Ruthers just contacted me," Gabriel stated at once, unusually excited and my heart took another leap into a - this time - murderous pace. "He's asked for a meeting…. with Mick."

"Why Mick?" I blurted out rashly and my two friends immediately came closer, trying to get what had happened.

"He didn't say," Gabriel replied. "He only said he would be willing to sit down with us, but only if Mick was present."

I swallowed hard. "When?"

"As soon as possible."

I shook my head, but Mick immediately took a step towards me, grabbed my arm so I wouldn't try to remove the mobile phone from his reach.

"We're on our way," he said, so loud that even Gabriel heard it.

"How long will it take you to get here?"

Mick looked at me with quizzically raising his eyebrows.

"Where exactly?" I asked.

"In L.A. I'll give you the exact address later."

"Three to four hours?" I suggested reluctantly, because to fight Mick's stubbornness made no sense, I knew from experience.

"Okay, I'll arrange everything," Gabriel said, then broke the connection.

"Mick…" Beth stepped closer to my friend, with a look in her eyes I couldn't quite interpret, but apparently Mick could, for he nodded, smiled at her and gently stroked her hair out of her face. Apparently they didn't need words to communicate anymore.

For me, however, my friend still had quite a few words left. "Did you have time to get what I asked you for?"


	77. Forever

_Soooo… here it is – the next chapter.__ Thanks for your comments again. I know I always tell the same things, but it's simply true that each single comment makes my day and motivates me so, so much in my writing process. I would like to respond to each of it personally but I really don't have the time for it. So don't be mad at me about that. I still love each single word you write to me! I try to post the next chapter again at Saturday but I must admit that I'm getting slower and slower with writing this story for I really want to make the final chapters as perfect as possible and am currently quite strict with myself (changing the new chapters again and again until I almost become desperate). So it may be that I will be a bit late the next weeks. We'll see. Wish you a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_P.S. Lucretia: If everything goes to plan there are only four chapters left to write. But you never know…_

_Translated by Draco (hugs and kisses)_

_Beta read by Sg6169 (kisses and hugs)_

* * *

**F****orever**

* * *

"_That'__s the greatest thing that is given to man, that it's in his power to love boundlessly."_

_Theodor Storm_

* * *

Beth had had one too, just as most young girls do - this dream of her own wedding, with a beautiful white dress, an incredibly handsome groom, lots of guests, some of whom would inevitably shed a few tears of emotion, and an extravagant and trendy reception. The dream had changed over the years of course, had become more realistic and modest, but it had never disappeared completely, even when she had eventually started to consider whether she _wanted_ to marry or not. That one day reality would be so different from that dream was something she never would have guessed, as well as the fact that she was actually comfortable with it. She _herself_ had felt the urgency to marry quickly, before they had to take off again, had wanted this like she had never wanted anything in her life before. She wasn't entirely sure why this was so, only knew that this small circle, in which they now gathered to tie the knot, was exactly the setting she needed, that she wanted.

She had meant everything she'd said to Mick after his proposal. She didn't want anyone there who didn't truly understand what had developed between him and her. In doing this, she was telling him how much she loved him that he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, her soul mate, who she never wanted to miss again. She didn't need to put on a show for the outside world. The feelings they had for each other belonged to them alone, and she didn't really want people there who weren't close to them taking part in this.

It was good that Josef was there. It felt right. He had become part of _her_ family and who better than Josef for the role of best man. The fact that Paula was standing next to Josef pointing the video camera at them so they could at least have a small reminder of this incredibly important moment in their lives with them, felt good and right to her as well. And Nate… they needed a pastor …

The young man had just finished filling in the marriage license Josef had brought with him - Beth didn't even want to know how Josef had obtained it so quickly – and with both their help and while doing this, Beth's heart had gained momentum, becoming more excited by the minute, not because she was afraid or felt uncomfortable or regretted her decision. She _wanted_ to marry Mick –wanted this with all her heart, and if she was honest, had wanted this for quite some time now. Somehow she felt with this decision, this official commitment to each other that their future together had now really begun. Just thinking about it made her so happy yet so emotional at the same time that she was already struggling with the first tears. Perhaps her pregnancy was also to blame for this or the thought that they would only have a little while longer here in this wonderful place, a place that had provided them protection against the evils in the world and in their thoughts.

Like many times before Beth sought Mick's gaze, drew strength and confidence from the warm blue of his eyes, his gentle smile, the warm pressure of his hand that had held hers for quite a while, as if he too needed this contact with her to maintain his composure.

"So, everything's in order now," said Nate, as he put the paper and pen on the coffee table and stood up almost solemnly.

"I know we don't really have time for long speeches or even time for me to look up the right words, so unfortunately I'll have to wing it a bit," he began, smiling, "And because both your fates have moved me so much, I would at least like to say a few words, before I ask you the question of all questions."

Nate paused, seemed to gather and sort his thoughts. "Marriage today has become a bond that has nearly lost its spiritual significance. Nowadays, far too often, it's only entered into for a partnership of convenience, for order in society, for certain moral beliefs or even financial advantages. But its true meaning is, in my opinion, something entirely different. To take your wedding vows isn't to say: Yes, I want to move in with you and start a family; yes, I'm ready to commit and settle down; yes, I'll try to lead a more thoughtful, more peaceful life; or even, yes, I can finally tick off one of the goals in my life. To take ones wedding vows in my eyes is to say: Yes, I love you, as deeply and dearly as I can possible love anyone. You're my other half, you complete me, you enrich my life and I want you by my side always. I want to share this life with you, in good times and in bad. I want you next to me when I go to sleep at night and when I wake up in the morning, until our eyes close forever. Or, as Ruth said it so beautifully: Entreat me not to leave thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."

Nate paused for a moment, while Beth struggled to compose herself, deeply moved by the pastor's words as was Mick, whose twitching cheek muscles and repeated blinking told her he too was struggling with his self-control.

"When you've found that someone for whom you feel that way and who feels that way about you, you need to hold them close and never let them go," Nate continued. "And when it comes time to commit to these things, it should be with a resounding: Yes, I do."

Beth nodded, moved, and smiled at Mick lovingly when she realized they had done this in sync. There was suddenly an urge in her, a strong need to say something that weighed heavily on her soul before they went on.

"And now we come to the long-awaited question," Nate continued with a smile and took a deep breath. But he didn't get any farther.

"Wait… wait!" It suddenly burst out of Beth and the pastor stopped astonished, while Mick just looked at her questioningly. "I… I have to tell you something." She took a deep breath, trying to find the right words and looked deeply into his eyes. "I don't want you to ever think that I wanted to do this here and now because I… because I was afraid of loosing you again, because I'm _not _- quite the opposite. I believe we can make it, that we _will_ have a future together. And it's because of _that_ that I want to marry you now. Because I know this will only make us stronger, will help us keep our future in mind, to fight for it always, no matter what happens. And it will give us the strength we need to win this last battle. I want you to know that I'm always with you, even if I'm not standing right beside you. I want you to know how much I love you, Mick. And that I regret nothing - _nothing_. Not even the bad things that have happened, because they have ultimately led us to this point. And this is what I want. It's _you_ that I want… for… forever…"

Mick looked at her for a moment, deeply moved with tears in his eyes, then he took one small step closer to her, took her face in both his hands and kissed her with devotion and with all the love he felt for her.

"I love you," he whispered as their lips parted from one another and he rested his forehead against hers. "You… you have no idea how much… or how much that scared me in the beginning, because I have never - _never_ in my life felt about anyone the way I feel about you Beth. Because you… you complete me, you've made it possible for a side of me, which I had previously rejected so vehemently, to now be in perfect harmony with the other, because it's you that's connected them, that's made them want to merge, because all – all that I am, loves you…"

Only with difficulty was Beth able to suppress her sob; so touched, with tears running down her cheeks now as she kissed Mick in return, she couldn't help it.

"... forever," he repeated her word in a whisper close to her lips.

Beth closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, felt so intimately connected to Mick, so safe, so happy…

Someone close to them cleared their throat gently and she raised her eyelids again, stepping back from Mick a bit.

"Okay, I think now's really the right moment," she heard Nate say a little hoarsely, and as she turned toward him, he wiped his nose a bit sheepishly, blinked away the tears of deep emotion and cleared his throat. Then he looked at her again. "Elizabeth Turner do you take Michael St. John in front of these witnesses here today to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Beth looked straight into Mick's eyes, in these beautiful, greenish-blue eyes that were so full of love for her and nodded deeply moved. "Yes, I do," she said in a firm voice and blinked back tears again.

Nate turned and smiled at Mick. "And do you, Michael St. John take Elizabeth Turner in front of these witnesses here today to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Yes, I do," was Mick's answer just as firm and his gaze held hers unwaveringly, even as Josef came up to them and surprisingly, quietly held out a small velvet bowl, in which two simple but elegant, gold, beautifully engraved wedding rings lay. Mick took the smaller of the two rings from the shell and when he took her left hand, she could feel that his fingers were trembling slightly.

"So that you know I'm always with you…," Mick said very quietly, and put the ring on her finger.

Beth grasped with trembling fingers, the other, larger ring, and took Mick's hand in hers. "…no matter where you go," she finished his sentence just as quietly and slipped the ring on his finger.

"By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," she heard the words of the pastor, which increased the warmth inside her, and Mick simply pulled her into his arms, kissed her long and intimately, and she returned his kiss fervently, not bothered by the fact that everyone was looking at them. Nothing else mattered except Mick and the love they felt for each other. It took a little while, before they were again able to move away from each other and turn to the others.

"Is this when all the annoying congratulating starts?" Josef asked, trying to be funny, but couldn't hide the fact that his eyes were suspiciously moist and red, and a slight hoarseness had settled in his voice.

Mick gave a quiet laugh, as he grabbed his surprised best friend and pulled him into his arms, hugging him so hard he struggled for breath audibly.

"Uh… okay – I'm happy for you," Josef muttered awkwardly and Mick had mercy on him and let him go, still wearing that overjoyed smile on his face that led Beth to follow her newly wed husband and take Josef - of course a little more tenderly – into her arms.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "For everything you've done for us." She pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then stroked it lovingly, looking at him gratefully before she finally let him go completely.

Josef said nothing more only nodded. The glistening in his eyes much more obvious now, revealing how deeply moved he really was.

Paula came up to her smiling brightly and hugged Beth warmly, while Nate did the same with Mick.

"I think if there were two people who were truly meant for each other, then it's the two of you," the young woman said and squeezed her hand once again. "I hope everything will be okay soon and that you can live a life of happiness and contentment. Even marriage has its ups and downs, but I know you'll handle it with ease, especially after everything you've already been through."

"I think so too," Nate added and gave Beth a warm smile. "And you know whatever happens, if you need any advice or a helping hand - even if it's only the small problems of every day life – we're here."

"I'll take you up on that some time," Beth smiled and winked especially at Paula, before she stepped up to Mick and happily slid one arm around his waist, as he wrapped his around her shoulders, pulled her close and pressed a soft kiss to her temple. Beth smiled blissfully up at him and only now began to relax, finally allowing this feeling of happiness that had been present in her the whole time, to really spread throughout her whole body, to flow into every pore. Married… Husband and wife… Mr. and Mrs. St. John… That sounded so strange and yet so wonderful.

"Does everything remain as we agreed, concerning your next steps?" Nate now turned to Mick and his face immediately became a lot more serious.

Mick glanced over to Josef, who had also stepped a little closer after recovering his composure and coolness. "I guess so," Mick said. "If not, I'll contact you."

"And now you'll be heading to the meeting with the Judge?" Paula asked with slight concern in her voice.

This time Mick just nodded and Beth felt that he too wasn't setting out entirely without misgivings. But she also knew there was no way around it that they just had to grit their teeth and forge ahead into the fight once again.

Nate took a discernably deep breath, bent down to the coffee table and picked up the marriage certificate in order to hand it to them. Mick let go of Beth and grabbed the piece of paper that heralded this new phase of their lives and for a long moment they both just stared at it silently, at the letters, their two names. When they again looked at each other, there was a smile on their lips. It just felt incredibly good to have taken this step and Beth knew she would never regret it.

Mick now breathed in deeply, nodded again, then turned toward the door, looked forward to their still so uncertain future with as much zeal as Beth did. Josef stepped up to his best friend. The expression in his eyes had taken on a caring, concerned note, which was rarely seen by others.

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" he asked, looking intently at Mick. "You can still take the helicopter I came here in and get away with Beth, somewhere where no one will find you. I'd be the last person to stop you…"

Mick put his hand on Josef's shoulder and smiled at him. "I know, bro," he said and started to leave, opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Beth followed him and came to rest beside him, and like him, let her gaze wander over the beautiful forest view, bidding farewell that way to this wonderful place. She heard Mick take in the fresh air deeply and looked at him, meeting his gaze with a warm gentle smile and she could read it in his eyes that he was thinking the same thing she was: 'We'll be back. We'll return to this place someday and spend a wonderful time here with our family.'

The sound of someone clearing his throat made them turn back to Josef.

"Okay, now exactly how do we want to proceed?" he turned with questioning eyebrows raised to Mick.

"I suggest we go to our house, pack up all our things, then head to the helicopter and fly back to L.A.," Mick replied. "I think we'll have enough time during the flight to walk through our plans and define our common approach."

Josef thought for a moment about his suggestion and then nodded.

"Oh, that reminds me of something," Mick said as he hurried towards the door. "I'll be right back," he called back to them, before he again disappeared into the house.

Josef's gaze followed him, shaking his head. He took a moment before he turned to Beth. Strangely, he eyed her up briefly but very thoughtfully and she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"I never would have believed it, but you've indeed succeeded…," he said to her with evident admiration in his voice and it really surprised her.

Beth's eyebrows wandered a bit more upwards. "In what?"

"In returning him to the man he once was," her friend continued to explain.

"Before the Legion kidnapped him?" she asked.

A gentle smile made sure Josef's usually so tense features softened for a moment. "No," he replied softly, "before Coraline destroyed his faith in love."

Beth said nothing more. Once again it had gotten quite warm in her heart and she smiled at Josef gratefully. She would remember his words and hold onto the feeling they had produced for as long as she lived, because they made her strong - stronger than ever before.

* * *

_The door closed and we were alone again, and somehow I knew that what would come next would be anything but pleasant for me. __After talking with Frank, I had addressed the old vampire to see if anything else had come up concerning the other traitor, and Gabriel had asked me once again to take a seat. He leaned back in his chair exhausted and closed his eyes. When he looked at me again, he suddenly seemed as sick and as sad as in our previous private conversation. _

"_Betrayal has many faces,"__ it came very quietly over his lips. "And I know them all. Only this one… this one is so very painful that I simply didn't want to consider it, didn't want to believe it." He ran a hand tiredly over his face and shook his head still troubled. "But I had guessed it - long before the situation with the Legion escalated. I knew she was capable of it because there's a particular weakness in her that sometimes causes her to snap that makes her do things no sane person would even consider." _

"_You… you're talking about Elizabeth, aren't you?" I asked tentatively, with this unpleasant, hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. "She's the traitor…" _

"_I'__m still not a hundred percent sure," Gabriel replied crestfallen, "but… there are so many signs that speak to this." _

"_But I thought you and her…" I said no more, just let my words affect him, secure in the knowledge that he would understand. _

_He let out a sad laugh. "__I think that may be the reason she ended up joining the Cercle in the end." _

_I furrowed my brows, looked at him blankly. "You mean her love for you has made her a traitor?" _

_He nodded sadly. _

"_Because she hates you now?" _

"_No," he smiled at me sadly, "__because she still loves me." _

"_I don't understand," I admitted somewhat perplexed. _

"_You can't," Gabriel replied dejectedly. "No one who doesn't know our history can." _

_I said nothing, just waited for him to continue, because I knew he would. He had let me in on so many of his secrets by now, why not this one, as well? Besides, Elizabeth was my Sire and this actually _did_ concern me. _

_Gabriel seemed to agree, because he began to speak with a heavy voice. "There was a time I loved her very much, trusted her with my life. We were a couple on and off for a fairly long time. Elizabeth's problem is that she makes no compromises. She wants all or nothing and isn't afraid to go after it by all means." Gabriel paused, stared with a slightly absent expression into space. "I… I think, looking back on it now that I opened myself up to her too much, had given her deep insight in to my soul. I should have never told her about Laelia, because from then on she tried to erase her from my heart, to replace her. _She_ wanted to be my one true love. _She_ wanted to have that place in my heart that will always belong to Laelia. Eventually she came up with the idea that I couldn't get Laelia out of my mind because she was the only woman in my life who was able to give me a child, a family, that if she herself was able to give birth to my children, she could finally replace Laelia in my thoughts. So she began to do research, looking for the reason why vampires can't father children. It took a while before she gave up and had to conclude resignedly, that nothing could change that fact. Female vampires are definitely sterile by their genetic modification, and the DNA of a normal human woman differs too much from that of a male vampire, for the two of them to conceive a child – quite apart from the fact that there are also very few vampire men who are fertile." _

"_But with you and Laelia it was possible," I added thoughtfully and slowly began to realize just what Elizabeth had done to try and reach her goal after all. _

"_Because I'__m a special vampire and Laelia was a special human. Our genes were compatible." _

"_And Elizabeth wanted to find out why," I concluded immediately. "But couldn't get a hold of Laelia's human remains to find out…" _

_The twitching of Gabriel's cheek muscles told me I was on the right track and that the whole issue was extremely upsetting to the old vampire, but he didn't stop me, let me bravely continue my poking and prodding around in his wound._

"_But you had kept Janus' body. Mick told me that his cells were implanted into him. Does this mean Elizabeth stole Janus' corpse to do her research? Then passed him on to the Legion as well?" _

"_I don't know _if _she passed him on to the Legion, but I know she was _definitely_ the one that stole his body to experiment on it," Gabriel explained as controlled as possible and I really admired him for his composure, as it was hard even for me, knowing how painful this must be for him to talk about such things. "I didn't notice he was missing for quite a while because I rarely visited my son's hidden grave site - thus she really had a lot of time. And I don't want to know what she tried in her own experiments. I just know she wasn't successful." _

"_When did __all this happen?" I asked, agitated, still barely able to believe that Elizabeth was capable of doing something like this. _

"_Between 1827 and 1832." _

_I thought about that for a moment. It was during that time that Elizabeth and I had drifted apart. She had_ _quite often taken trips to Europe back then and not for just a few weeks, but for several months at a time. I noticed her relationship with her Sire had become closer, more serious again, although she seemed more nervous and moody. I didn't really know why at the time, but I now understood; I understood what tremendous pressure, what fears must have weighed upon her during that time. She must have been aware of the fact that she wasn't just risking her relationship with Gabriel with this crazy idea, but even her life. Basically, it was a miracle she was still alive. _

"_How did you find out?"__ I had to know. _

"_I didn't," the old vampire admitted sadly. "Someone else did." _

_I frowned, considered that for a moment and then I knew. Everything made sense. "Coraline…" If two insane people got into a conflict… _

_The old vampire nodded. "__Coraline disliked Elizabeth right from the beginning, saw her as her biggest rival for my favor and eventually went so far as to stalk her secretly. And when she found out _what_ Elizabeth was trying to hide from everyone, _what_ she was doing behind my back, she came to me and told me everything." _

_I shook my head in disbelief. "I'm surprised Elizabeth even survived all this…" _

_Gabriel looked at me, and the depth of sadness and disappointment, which was now so clearly evident in his bright eyes, left me astonished that his feelings for Elizabeth were much deeper than I had ever thought. He had_ _truly loved her, deeply enough that he hadn't punished her with the severity she deserved for her sick deeds. _

"_I__ banned her from Europe," he said quietly. "She's still not allowed to return. If she does, she'll be killed." _

"_That explains why she's never returned to Europe," I said. "I was wondering about that…" I put my head a little to one side, weighing whether I could actually voice my next question, because these memories had been painful enough for Gabriel, but I had to know all the secrets around Elizabeth - however painful it might be even for me. _

"_Do you think she_ _was already involved with the Cercle du Sang back then?" I asked cautiously now._

"_It's possible because she could certainly have received useful information from Nicolas regarding the cure and my blood. This would also explain how my son's body could have disappeared so easily and turned up in the hands of the Legion later." _

"_You mean she passed it on to the Cercle?" I asked shocked, and the anger that had accumulated in me, shot up hotly through my body. _

_Gabriel shook his head. "__She was really upset when she led me to where she had hidden Janus' mummified body and it was no longer there. She hadn't meant to hurt me like this. And back then she actually gave the impression she really didn't know who could have stolen the body. I suspect she had never betrayed where she had hidden the body but had not expected the Cercle to be so adept in its surveillance in tracking her. I'm sure she wasn't part of them in those days, but only contacted the Cercle because of her research." _

"_But today she's one of them?" I now probed with unease. _

"_Probably. As I said, I can't say for certain yet." _

"_Why don't you simply penetrate her mind and retrieve the information you need?" _

"_It's not as easy as you think," Gabriel rebuked me. "Old, experienced vampires usually feel it very quickly when you approach them subconsciously, giving them the opportunity to block your access, and close themselves off rapidly - which of course could make them suspects. And because of that, most of them use a different strategy in terms of their secrets. They create a different truth subconsciously, move this in front of their secret and try to believe in it as hard as they possibly can. It's extremely difficult to see through that." He sighed softly. "But I also don't want Elizabeth to learn that I suspect her." _

"_Because you still want to find Nicolas?" _

_His nod didn't__ surprise me. This desperate search for Nicolas de Chambour had turned into a kind of obsession that scared me a little. But I didn't show it, instead leaned back in my chair just as thoughtfully and looked at Gabriel. _

"_And how exactly are you going to deal with her now?" _

"_I try to keep as close an eye on her as possible to find out exactly who her contacts are in the Cercle," Gabriel explained wearily. "Seth has recently developed a transmitter for me, that's, even for vampires, very hard to detect. And she's carrying it around with her now, without knowing it. So we know where she is and where she's going, and can ensure that she can cause no further harm." _

_For a moment there was silence between us, with both of us following our own thoughts. But there was still something I couldn't figure out that didn't make sense to me. _

"_One thing I still don't quite understand…" I said thoughtfully, stroking my hand over my chin. "If Elizabeth is indeed the traitor – what's her motive? Revenge, because you've banned her from Europe? You say she still loves you, and to tell the truth, I think she does. So how can she do this? She threatens your life more than any other's…" Not to mention the fact she was also putting the life of her own fledging at risk._

"_I think she has an agreement with the Cercle, that they have to let me live," was Gabriel's simple and yet so reasonable explanation. "And as for the other goals of the Cercle, they share some similar ideas. At least it probably wouldn't make her unhappy if the vampires took over world domination." _

_I rested my chin in my hand and frowned thoughtfully. "Do you think she's still hoping to one day be able to give you a child?" _

_Gabriel thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I think _if_ she is the traitor then she's probably pretty heavily involved in this research-story. She knows a lot about the cure and me and she's your Sire and was certainly in touch with you from time to time." _

_To voice my next words calmly took a great deal of effort. "Are you implying that she may have ensured that the Legion looked for someone like Mick for their research?"_

_The expression of regret in Gabriel's eyes was enough to tell me that that was exactly what the old vampire thought and my guts knotted painfully while hot anger boiled up in me again. Slowly, I could see how Gabriel must have felt when he learned of Elizabeth's first betrayal. It was a terrible feeling - devastating, so sad…_

* * *

I had tried, tried to repress my angry thoughts of Elizabeth and the treachery she had committed against all of us, to not let myself become distracted or stirred up emotionally. 'Gabriel will take care of this,' I told myself. 'He and the other vampires involved have that under control. You don't need to interfere. Take care of Mick and Beth – _that_'s your job!'

Only it wasn't so easy to put Elizabeth and her sick ideas out of your mind when you had two people sitting in front of you, who had just succeeded in what Elizabeth had been trying so desperately to achieve: They had in fact rewritten the rules of vampire love and created life, when it had never been created before, in a situation that couldn't have been more hostile and dangerous for a child. My mind was still struggling with this miracle, the idea of it was so difficult to get used to, while the feelings that flooded through me in quick succession, couldn't be more different. There was joy for my two best friends, because I knew how good it was for them to have such a beautiful goal in mind for their future, and that Mick had desperately wanted to be a father. Then there was my own excitement and - if I was honest - anticipation, because having a child within my immediate circle had never existed before and I was really curious to see how it would feel to hold a little Mick or Beth in my arms or to just have the child around. And then there was fear and anxiety – actually from every direction and regard there was, but mainly fear that Beth's pregnancy would become public knowledge, because that would most likely make all three of them the most wanted people in the world. Everyone would be trying to get their hands on the producers of this miracle was well as the miracle itself: The Legion, the Cercle, scientists around the world… Elizabeth… she would go mad, would do anything it took to get her hands on my friends…

I tried to take a breath as inconspicuously as possible to distribute the tension in my body again, without my two favorite St. John's noticing. But they were both currently so lost in their own happy little world they didn't really notice what was going on around them. Mick held Beth in his arms, nose and mouth gently pressed against her forehead and she had wrapped an arm around his midsection, while her head rested on his chest and shoulder. She had closed her eyes and around her lips played the same happy smile that had lodged itself on Mick's lips and apparently didn't want to disappear so quickly.

Well, that's the way it goes with love. It could not only make you completely crazy from time to time, but in some situations could also make you act slightly retarded, without even being aware of it. It could also help to ease the unpleasant things in life as well, such as the engine noise of the helicopter we sat in, the fact that we were on our way to the next crisis situation, or that someone was sitting in the helicopter with you, who had an immense desire to talk and could barely stand the lingering gazes of his friends who were still on a pink cloud nine, any longer. It wasn't that I begrudged them their happiness - I had never been so touched by words like those the pastor had spoken or my two friends had said to each other - but the situation in which we found ourselves now, required once again that we all pulled ourselves together and fought for a good outcome. And that meant once again I had to be the nasty killjoy in the situation.

I cleared my throat quietly, actually winning Mick's attention to my surprise. "Why did you go inside the house again?" I asked quickly, before he could turn his gaze away again.

My friend needed a few seconds to answer me, because he first had to peer down from his pink cloud into his memories. "I had Nate give me his e-mail address."

I pulled my eyebrows together. "I assume this is connected to your plan of which I still don't really know everything."

Beth also moved again, lifted her head lazily, to look at me.

"It's actually quite simple," Mick said with a shrug. "I told my whole story on this recording, of course, without outing us vampires - if that's what you're still worried about - and Nate's been instructed to send the video to the press if I don't report back to him within the next 24 hours."

"And you'll probably wave that under Ruther's and Sinclair-Jones' nose at the meeting," I guessed and Mick nodded immediately.

"In addition, I plan to let Seth wire me and have him record all the negotiations and send them to Nate as well," he added. "The more pressure we can put on our negotiating partners the better, and it gives us some added security."

I nodded appreciatively. It was really a pretty good idea and much less risky than the plans Mick had previously had - at least as long as the situation didn't escalate and Mick actually passed the tapes to the media.

"You said you'd not outed us vampires on the recording," I mused, "what did you say instead?"

"I said that there are people whose DNA has been altered by a serious illness so much that they have certain skills that could be described as supernatural. They don't age, are stronger and faster than a normal person and have amazing healing powers - and for this reason they are being persecuted and abused for research."

"And he believed you without a second thought?" I raised an eyebrow in doubt.

"Not without a second thought, no," my friend replied, and my heartbeat quickened again. I absolutely had to get a grip on that, soon! I was no longer human - for God's sake!

"I had to show him."

My stomach took a little turn. "Showed him what?"

"Not my vampire-face, Josef," Mick said quickly to calm me down and I indeed felt relieved. "I know that our appearance and the way we feed would be too shocking to people – I'm not that stupid. I cut myself and let it heal on camera. Believe me; this was sufficient to deeply impress Nate and Paula and to give them an idea of why they experimented on me."

I wasn't sure what to make of this revelation. There was this old fear in me that if our secret became known to human society, we would once again be hunted and killed - this fear that told me even this edited truth about us shouldn't be leaked to the public and that I should somehow try to stop Mick. But it wasn't as strong as my gut feeling, which assured me, Mick was doing the right thing that we could only escape this situation unscathed in _this_ way, with _this_ leverage and that I should support my friend in his plan rather than hinder him.

I cleared my throat, trying to give a somewhat composed, self-assured impression. "So, this means you've kept our diet and the animal within us completely secret during this interview?" I confirmed with somewhat of a firm voice.

"Not completely," Mick just had to say again. "I mentioned that we suffer from chronic anemia and depend on blood - and nutrient infusions, without which we would die. I also explained that I'm still dependant on certain meds that have been produced by the Legion and I also mentioned it's now possible to develop effective drugs against certain autoimmune diseases using my blood, but that the Legion is probably not willing to share their knowledge of this medication with the rest of human society."

I was speechless for another long moment. When this video was made public, it would indeed provoke a cry of outrage by human society, not only because of the inhuman experiments and secrecy of important men in this society, but worse, because of this ability to cure diseases that they wanted to conceal from the public. This video wasn't only a means of pressure - it was a huge bomb, whose detonation could have an impact on all our lives - especially that of Mick and Beth. And of course, this bomb would destroy the Legion and stop Ruthers' career once and for all. I could only hope that this became clear to the persons concerned in the negotiations quickly and that no one would want to test Mick first to see if he was really ready to pull the trigger. For I was sure my friend _would_ do it. The determination and will to fight in his eyes, confirmed that.

I took a deep breath, trying to concentrate, to calm my whipped up feelings and not be upset by them at all. "Then you're also relatively sure the research branch of the Legion has actually tried to make cures with your blood?" I asked again after a few seconds of silence had passed between us.

Mick frowned. "What do you mean by 'also'?"

"Frank has also expressed just such a presumption during our last conversation," I said readily. "This was what they had always said was the reason for this research, but after a while he hadn't believed it, had assumed they were lying to him the whole time and had played with him. But the documents they had shown him recently had actually not been fakes but real prescriptions for medications. And then there was the encounter with this old man about a week ago, who had pleaded with him to come back and continue the research that would help save the lives of people who are dependent on it."

"An old man?" Beth now asked with her forehead already in pensive wrinkles.

I nodded. "Gabriel said it could have been Sinclair-Jones - and if it _was_ him, then everything would make sense. In fact, there's something you need to know _before_ we talk with Ruthers…" I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my thighs as Mick and Beth finally broke away from their intimate body contact as well and leaned towards me.

"Rudolph Sinclair-Jones is one of those Sangsujets that belong to a committee that was supposed to prevent wars like this. He and Gabriel have known each other for many years and have communicated with each other quite frequently for some time now. And…" I didn't pause to torture my friends. It was only because I myself was still so stirred up by this news. "…Rudolph has been receiving Gabriel's blood regularly in order to stay alive longer than any other normal person. But it seems he began providing samples of it at a certain point for research purposes - although it was actually strictly prohibited. And since contact with Gabriel has been broken off for some time now and therefore his blood, he's become seriously ill and is, like Gabriel, also under enormous pressure, because his strength is also dwindling. Basically, it's a stalemate. Gabriel needs the antidote to the poison the Legion has and this Rudolph needs Gabriel's blood to stay alive."

"I presume this means August wasn't completely successful in terms of healing Gabriel," Mick stated and the worried look in his eyes told me Gabriel had been thoroughly mistaken about Mick's feelings for him. In spite of the difficulties that they had recently had with one another, despite all the mysteries that had been blown wide-open, he still felt deeply connected to him - how could it be otherwise, considering _the_ common history that now bound them together. If you didn't look too closely, they were actually the only blood relatives each other had left - or rather had _again_.

"No," I now admitted openly. "And the problem is that Gabriel now feels he needs to sacrifice himself in order to resolve this conflict…"

"…which of course we won't allow to happen!" Beth continued my sentence vehemently.

"Of course not!" Mick agreed to her just as resolutely. "For this 'stalemate' is over, if we proceed with our plan to use the video. Because with it, we'll have more means to pressure and lure them than our opponents!"

He was right. The smartest thing would be to throw our two plans together and opt for the one that would give us the optimal solution to all of our problems - at least it looked that way at the moment. I stroked my chin thoughtfully with one hand.

"If you think about it, it might even be better if we talk with Ruthers solely first. Gabriel thinks he may be more receptive to us now, based on the new information. And when he hears the whole story from you and knows you're willing to go public with the information should your life continue to be threatened; it might give us the advantage we need to get ourselves out of this mess unscathed."

"Then you've come to the conclusion as well that Ruthers, who'll be representing the rest of human society, will basically be the most powerful man at the meeting?" Beth asked a little excited.

I nodded. "The modern balance of power has shifted somewhat. Gabriel has conceded that some members of the Legion have political positions that allow this organization a little power, but Ruthers still has far more influence and power than any of these gentlemen."

"Then we'll need to do our utmost to draw him over to our side," Mick said determined. "I think that's doable."

Again I could only nod. "Have you given it any thought how you want to proceed with the interview?" I asked my friend a little later.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'll tell him everything just as it happened, and then see what happens."

"Yeah…" I added, not particularly witty. What else could I say? Not everything needed an elaborate plan…

"Did you and Gabriel actually ever think about what we should do if things don't work out the way we'd like them to?" Beth turned to me.

"Yes, we did," I admitted immediately. "And you're right, I should tell you about that - just like we should still continue to talk about Gabriel's future plans and other crazy ideas," I glanced at the clock. If I wasn't mistaken, we still had at least an hour's flight ahead of us – to do that in.

"We're all ears," Mick repeated the words that I had previously addressed to Frank. I hesitated for a brief moment, drew strength through the courage and confidence in Mick's eyes and took a deep breath…


	78. Of Monsters and Men

_Hey there! Here's the next chapter for you. Send fat hugs to all of you who've written a comment for me and in doing so gave the muse new food! Nevertheless I might not be able to post the next chapter in time because this week I will go camping for four days with my kids-group (work) and won't be able to write in this time. But I promise to post the chapter not too late. Wish you all a great weekend (with much sunshine, for here in Berlin it'll rain and be cold the whole weekend), yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**O****f Monsters and Men…**

* * *

"_O__ne of the worst experiences you can have as a human being is to experience how disgusting, vicious and vile people can be. One of the best experiences you can have as a human being is to understand why they can be like that."_

_Wolfgang I. Reus_

* * *

Mick had expected that things would again be stressful and unsettling, as soon as they reached their destination – one of the secret stations of the Cleaners near the L.A. River. What he had _not _expected is that his body would react _so_ suddenly, _so_ violently, and _so_ intensely that he had to gasp for air and would need Josef's help in order to maintain his balance and not go down to his knees.

There were images that shot out of nowhere into his head in rapid succession, passed his mind's eye, while his own name echoed urgently in his ears again and again: Mick St. John… Mick St. John… Mick St. John…

An office. A man on the phone saying his name, saying that Mick St. John had the right blood, was the right person… hands opening a file on which his name was written … Ritchcroft furious, screaming… "He's too close! Way too close! We need to act now; intervene _now_, before he involves other people! I told you, the plan is too risky!"

The next moment he himself was running through a hallway towards a group of darkly-clad soldiers who hurriedly carried a stretcher towards him and only seconds later was staring into his own twitching face, into eyes that had trouble focusing from the drugs that had been injected into him.

"Bring him over to treatment room 3.24," he himself instructed the men with Gallagher's voice, reached for a phone in the inside pocket of his white coat and dialed a number. A few seconds later another man's voice answered.

"Timothy - we have him," he said with pride in his voice. "We have St. John!"

"I'll be there in an hour!" the other man simply replied and ended the conversation abruptly. The image changed again, Mick standing in front of a shelf, his necklace and ring in his hand, looking at both pieces of jewelry with great unease, inwardly preparing for the trouble that was soon to come. He could hear a door opening and closing behind him and turned around. It was one of the doctors that had been present off and on during certain tests and experiments, tall, dark blond hair, with glasses, which reflected the florescent lights, making it impossible to see his eyes. He smiled, but the smile seemed mask-like, false.

"That should be of no further concern to you, Steven," the man said with a nod in the direction of the jewelry. It had to be that Timothy, as he had the same voice. "This man has too often not kept to the agreements between himself and us - he doesn't deserve this protection."

Mick said nothing for now; instead grit his teeth and put the jewelry back into the crowded container.

"You should take a look at this," the other doctor continued and held out a file. "I've discovered something that might ease your conscience about this vampire."

Mick reluctantly took the file, but his friend didn't let go of it immediately.

"He was there, Steven," he said softly. "He was one of them…" He stepped closer with mocked sympathy and it was only now that Mick could really see the man's eyes, light brown, almost amber-colored that lacked any warmth. The image froze, was held with a vengeance, although the energy that had raised this memory struggled against it, sending excruciating pain shooting into his skull so that Mick now had to let go of the connection, ending it panting and for a moment, collapsing completely.

"Mick!" The panicky voice seemed very far away and yet he knew she was close, closer than anything else he had seen just seconds before.

Two strong arms supported him, holding him upright and there were other, more delicate hands, which now touched his cheeks, raised his head slightly so he, as he lifted his eyelids again, could look directly into Beth's terribly worried eyes.

"Mick?" He heard her now ask again with a trembling voice. "What… what happened?"

He didn't know exactly… But he had an idea and if this whole thing had brought _him, _who was fit and healthy, to his knees … Mick quickly gathered his strength, shook his head, telling Beth in that way that he couldn't answer her question at that moment, and freed himself from Josef's helping hands. He had noticed that the heavy steel door of the cleaner's station, which they were now moving towards, had opened, and he simply stormed off, knowing that Josef and Beth would follow immediately, even without knowing what had happened.

It was Guillermo who met them with a beaming smile, his facial expression soon changing to confusion when Mick only acknowledged him with a defensive shaking of his head, and edged past him into the station without a word. Mick had never been here before, still hadn't looked around yet to orient himself. He didn't need to, because he felt where he needed to go; only needed to reach out toward the ominously crackling energy, which was still scratching at the edge of his consciousness, now seeming to call after him helplessly. He hurried down the gray hallway, hearing Josef and Beth's quick footsteps behind him. Other vampires, familiar and less familiar, came to meet him, whom he paid no attention to, just stormed past them.

The commotion could even be heard from outside now, excited voices, cries for help. Thomas was approaching from the opposite end of the hallway, and entered a room just before him, in which a drama seemed to be taking place. Mick increased his pace. His heart was now racing and his throat had constricted, because he felt something that only a few people besides him could feel: The once so powerful energy field of the most powerful vampire of them all had collapsed, began to fade.

Mick almost slipped as he tried to slow down his tremendous speed in front of the door, quickly holding on to the frame, and then rushed into the room, taking in the situation within seconds. Malik was sitting on the floor, holding a completely unresponsive, heavy-breathing Gabriel in his arms, while Lance, who knelt before them, talked to the old vampire urgently, in a language Mick didn't understand. Next to them, in chains, Gallagher was leaning against the wall, with an expression equally absent as Gabriel's, but an almost triumphant smile on his lips. Thomas went to his knees next to Lance, touched Gabriel's face, and looked him in his light, blank eyes.

"Good God! No, no, no!" he stammered, jumping up again, as Mick crouched down on the other side of Malik.

"I'll get August!" Thomas brought out quickly, and then disappeared out the door, pushing his way past Josef and Beth, who had just rushed into the room with great concern on their faces and immediately rushed over to them.

"Gabriel!" Mick shouted, as he touched the old vampire's shoulder, whose heartbeat seemed to be getting weaker and more and more irregular.

"He can't hear you," Malik uttered with a strangely cracking voice. "He can't hear anyone anymore. He's not going to come out of this again…"

"Don't say that!" Lance launched more desperate than angry, but Mick overlooked him.

"Out of what?" he instead asked Malik, although something had started to stir in his mind - a memory…

"Out of the connection," was the answer he could now answer himself. And then suddenly he was back in Greece, was hearing Gabriel's voice again.

"_You must never forget this one thing, however, Mick: to establish contact with the spirit of another vampire isn't safe. They can fight it, can push you off, inflict pain on you, or – even worse - hold onto you if you're too weak. And that, in the worst case scenario, can even lead to death."_

Unfortunately they had never gotten around to talking about what to do in this case. But it _had_ to be possible to somehow interrupt the connection from the outside… Mick's eyes slid over to Gallagher and he gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to let this man harm him again, would not allow him to make the situation even worse for all of them - and how complicated could it be? It was just about cutting off a connection…

Mick's fist shot forward without further thought, crashing, over Beth's surprised gasp, right into Gallagher's face with such force his head slammed hard against the wall behind him and the man slumped weakly to the side.

Malik's eyes widened in horror and became even wider when Gabriel suddenly jerked violently in his arms and fought, gasping for air. Mick himself held his breath for a moment, along with Lance, and only dared to heave a sigh of relief when Gabriel began to blink his eyes and focused on him, finally seemed to truly notice him. He was back - even though he gave a very weak impression and had to be stabilized as quickly as possible.

"Thank God!" Lance exclaimed, and he fell back on his heels, closing his eye in relief, but immediately raised them again when Gabriel took a deep breath to speak.

"God! I was… so stupid… so stupid…," it came fairly quiet and raspy over Gabriel's lips. His eyes slid closed and his head slumped to one side, until Malik raised his shoulders a bit to prop him up more. Gabriel's eyes narrowed, trying to focus again, but didn't seem to have the strength to even do that. Mick could tell the old vampire's weakened body would soon collapse again, which could be very dangerous for him, and he reacted by instinct. He turned in a split second, raised his own wrist with determination to his mouth and bit down, brought the bleeding wound directly to Gabriel's slightly parted lips. The old vampire stared at Mick's wrist for a moment as if paralyzed and then shook his head almost imperceptibly. Mick gritted his teeth, looking at him menacingly.

"Drink!" He growled, well aware that Gabriel currently lacked the will and strength to really fight for his own life. "I need you! _We_ need you! You owe it to us to live! You owe it to _me_!"

There was a flickering in Gabriel's eyes, which seemed to bring back a little of his life energy. Then he nodded and pressed his lips to Mick's wrist. It felt strange for Mick to nurture Gabriel this way, to provide this much older, more powerful vampire with his own blood… so twisted, so surreal - especially because he felt how much Gabriel really needed his blood, knew how much it would help him, at least enough to give him the strength he needed to keep his cardiovascular system from going crazy. And at the same time, it did Mick good, gave him the feeling he was currently the stronger of the two, to suddenly be in control of the situation, to determine his own destiny without having to sacrifice his connection to Gabriel.

Gabriel's eyes were closed as he continued to drink and Mick sought Malik's gaze, in whose dark eyes lay an expression of deep gratitude and admiration. It confused Mick somewhat because Malik usually didn't show his feelings outwardly, but it didn't deter him from asking the question that was burning on his tongue.

"What exactly has he done?"

"He linked himself to Gallagher's mind to find out whether he really had direct contact with Nicolas," Malik said. "And apparently because of his weakened condition he couldn't break the connection between them again. Something like this can become quite dangerous…"

Gabriel had opened his eyes again and parted his lips from Mick's wrist. He breathed deeply in and out, while Mick looked at him, frowning. He still didn't look too good, was far too pale and the dark circles under his eyes spoke volumes.

"Are you sure that was enough?" Mick probed suspiciously and the rumbling footsteps behind him told him that Thomas had finally returned with August.

Gabriel nodded tiredly, but in spite of his exhaustion he was able to hold eye contact with Mick and seemed to have something on his mind. "Did… did you see him?" He uttered, ignoring August who went into a crouch beside him, shaking his head and soon filled a syringe with a serum he had brought along with him.

Mick now nodded too. "Not the first time," he added, but his gaze was distracted by Frank, who now appeared panting behind August.

"Take… the new serum," he instructed August, but still took time to give Mick a welcome smile.

"What do you think I'm doing here?" the other doctor growled back and shook his head, annoyed.

"He's already drank some of Mick's blood," Malik said and August raised his eyebrows in surprise. He searched Frank's gaze a little insecure.

The professor thought for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "What could happen? Our remedy already consists for the most part, of Mick's blood…"

"Mick…" Gabriel's thin voice caused Mick's eyes to roam back to him. "Was… was he there with you often?"

Mick needed a moment to understand Gabriel's question, but then realized he was speaking about the other doctor from Gallagher's memories. He pulled himself together, tried to remember the face again, even though everything inside him rebelled against it. There it was again… so soft, so full of false friendliness. And those strange eyes…

"From time to time in the beginning," he replied, only marginally registering, that August had taken Gabriel's arm, pushed up his sleeve and gave him the much-needed injection.

"What… what did he do?" was Gabriel's next nagging question.

"Not much," Mick replied calmly. "He… he was one of the doctors who stood by, watched and asked questions."

"Who?" Frank now interrupted frowning.

"Dr… Sorrin… Sorbin or something like that," replied Mick.

Frank raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Dr. Soreign? Timothy Soreign?"

"That's him," Mick said.

"Uh – wait a minute," Beth interrupted as well to Mick's surprise and looked at Gabriel in confusion. "Wasn't that the name you used back in the clinic?"

Gabriel's chest heaved a deep sigh. Then he nodded dejectedly. "This is a cover name in my contact with the Legion. This… _devil_ has crept, under the guise of _my_ alias, into the Legion!" He closed his eyes once more, breathed deeply through his nose because he really didn't have the strength to get so upset.

Eventually he opened his eyes again, shook his head in resignation. "Did… did he take blood samples from you?"

"He did," Frank replied for Mick and Mick was really grateful to him because it kept him from having to rummage through those terrible memories again. "But only two or three times. We never saw him again after that."

Gabriel looked at him for a moment, deep in thought, then shook his head again, with this bewilderment in his eyes that still hadn't let go of him.

"It's him, isn't it?" Mick asked now. "_He_'s Nicolas de Chambour."

"Yes," it came bleakly from Gabriel and he moved forward, had finally gathered enough strength to at least try to get up again. It took a while, but with Malik's and Lance's help, he finally stood on his own two legs, swaying slightly and holding onto the shoulders of the two. "But… I don't think we're going to get much more out of Gallagher about him. Nicolas was always extremely careful not to tell anyone too much about himself."

Mick frowned. He'd gotten a different impression - even in the short time he'd been caught up in this connection. There was a lot more hidden in Gallagher's memories with respect to this man. Perhaps Gabriel had simply been too weak to feel this.

"Then we should finally eliminate this pest once and for all," Lance now proposed with a hateful look cast in the direction of the still unconscious prisoner.

"I wouldn't do that," Thomas disagreed with him and looked at Gabriel warningly. "We still might be able to extract more information out of him. And – isn't he from one of the bloodlines that you swore not to touch?"

Mick raised his eyebrows in horror. "He's a Sangsujet?"

"No," Gabriel gave back immediately. "But his father was. These genes have no longer turned up in his family's later generations. But this doesn't mean the protection is gone – he still suffered a lot because of us vampires…"

"This doesn't give him the right to behave like the devil himself, to torture and kill innocent vampires by the dozens - without being punished for it!" Lance stood his ground with an angry scowl. "And just look at him! He'll never come to his senses again – especially as a vampire! He hates this life! He'll be a danger to humans _and_ vampires alike! And we can't leave him here if Ruthers shows up – he might make himself even more noticeable, then we definitely can't have him disappear without having to justify ourselves for it."

Gabriel said nothing for a long moment, and Thomas and the others remained silent, for they all knew that Lance was probably right with his statement. Nevertheless, Gabriel seemed to think about other possibilities. His gaze rested on Gallagher's slumped form and one could clearly see on his face that something was going on in his head, that there was something influencing his decision. Eventually, his tired eyes slid over to Mick, remained on him for a few seconds before he nodded and took a deep breath.

"We still have some time before Ruthers' arrival," the old vampire brought out weakly and took another deep breath before he uttered the words Mick had longed so painfully for, not too long ago. "_You're _the one who had to suffer the most because of him Mick. I leave it up to you. You can do with him what you will. I'll accept anything you say. Only you have to do it now - I agree with Lance on that - within the hour, before Ruthers arrives here."

Mick felt overwhelmed for a moment with these words, had not expected the day would come so soon in which Gabriel would give Gallagher to him - even though he _had_ known all along that at some point the old vampire would do so, had wished for it. But the thirst for revenge was a feeling that arose mostly from deep within, didn't need an invitation, or outside influence, and _when_ Mick was led by it, he had always acted on instinct, had not thought long about what he had to do. It was different now. All seemed to expect he would take his revenge, that he'd be happy to take the law into his own hands and pay Gallagher back for what he had done to him, as would any other vampire here in the room with pleasure. But something was missing, made it difficult for him to react as everyone expected.

"If you need my help…" Lance offered generously, seeming to not be able to bear Mick's hesitation any longer.

"We should go now and continue to prepare for the meeting with Ruthers," Thomas suggested. "You can join us later, Mick. And _you_,-" he added addressing Gabriel, who had already closed his tired eyes and seemed to visibly be losing his strength, "- you urgently need to relax and get further medical attention!"

August nodded emphatically and made the first move when he went ahead of everyone else. Lance gave a disappointed face, but then acquiesced to the will of the others and slowly set in motion along with a still very worried-looking Malik who was supporting the old vampire to the best of his abilities. And so they left the room one by one, while Mick's eyes were fixed on the slumped body of his worst enemy, who now, slowly began to stir again. Gallagher's eyeballs were moving under his eyelids and his fingers twitched. The monster had awoke and with him, Mick's contempt, his disgust for this man. Only the hatred, the hatred and thirst for revenge hadn't wanted to appear so readily again. It was a different, urgent feeling that increasingly took possession of him, quickened his pulse, and caused a slight unsettling in his interior: the longing for answers, answers to questions that no one but Gallagher could give him.

"Mick?" It was Beth's shaky, deeply concerned voice that made him turn around once more. She stood behind him indecisively and looked at him anxiously, as if she was afraid that what he would do now could destroy what they had built up together so painstakingly in the past few days.

Mick took a deep breath, didn't avoid her gaze, but asked her silently to give him her understanding once again, to trust him.

"I need to do this, Beth," he added softly. "Otherwise I can't really put this behind me. I need to finally expel these… demons from my life…"

She looked at him for a long moment, showing him with her stance that she didn't really want to leave him alone, didn't want him to do certain things, but eventually pressed her lips together and nodded bravely. Then she turned and left the room along with Josef, who had been waiting for her at the door.

Only seconds later the door slammed shut and he was alone. Alone with the beast. Alone with his torturer, the man who had proved to him over and over again that even when you thought it couldn't get any worse, there were still times when it could become even more excruciating, more unbearable, where you just wanted to die. There were so many horrible memories connected with this man. But they didn't shoot searing and painfully into his consciousness like they usually did, but just grazed it, just flashed here and there quickly, enough to tie his stomach in knots and accelerate his breathing a little, but the murderous, almost untamable hatred, the burning desire to kill, which he had previously always felt at the sight of Gallagher that had driven him to the verge of madness, still hadn't emerged.

While Gallagher was still coming to, giving a faint groan, Mick looked briefly around the small room. Maybe there was some water somewhere he could throw on his face. His eyes stopped at the small table in a corner of the room were a few utensils were lying: injection equipment, a cooler where bags of blood were probably stored and several vials of different remedies. Printed on one of the vials were the numbers BXA-12: the drug that had been lethal for most vampires, worked like poison on their systems. Slowly it dawned on Mick that Gabriel had probably already planned to eliminate Gallagher. He had just wanted to give him the chance to settle his score with the man in _his own_ way first. The only question was what way this was.

Mick stepped closer to the man and the noise his boots made on the floor seemed to penetrate Gallagher's fog. He winced, awakened almost panic-stricken from his unconsciousness and hit his head again on the wall behind him, before his eyes flew open wide to Mick. He immediately aggressively bared his teeth and threw himself into the chains that held him to the wall.

Mick didn't flinch away from him and Gallagher's fingers cut through the air just millimeters from his stomach - again and again until exhaustion overtook the man and he sank back against the wall gasping. But his whitish-green eyes didn't let go of Mick, clung to him, with this hatred in their abysmal depths. Mick himself felt nothing. The longing for answers continued to gnaw at him, became stronger than any other feeling, became a need he simply _had to _satisfy - even if it was dangerous; even if the victim within was deeply reluctant to get too close to this man again. But he _had _to do it... finally had to understand why.

He crouched in front of Gallagher, so he was eye level with him, gritting his teeth tightly and looked at him, holding his gaze and breathed deeply in and out. Concentrate… Focus… Feel…

Gallagher gasped, jerked back his head so it crashed against the wall again, but was not able to tear his gaze from Mick's, just opened his eyes even wider and tried to prevent his mental access, tried to shield his memories from him, to block him. But he wasn't fast enough or experienced enough. Mick picked up the hatred he felt so clearly and mentally held onto it and was immediately sucked into a sequence of horrific images; images of bloody revenge for a crime that still lay hidden deeper in the dark; images from the life of a soldier of the Legion, images of a man who murdered and tortured while losing more and more of his humanity. Mick moved past them, searching for something else, for familiar faces, for memories that went deeper. All at once there was Ritchcroft's face and Mick held onto it with a vengeance, perceived that he had just told Gallagher about the things going on inside the body of a vampire from a medical point of view, introducing him to the current research within the Legion. And Gallagher had such a thirst for knowledge, just had to learn how vampires could've become so powerful, so strong. He wanted that too, wanted their strengths and even more, wanted to be superior to them, stronger than them… to never again be so helpless… never again be their victim…

Mick felt how Gallagher's mind renewed its efforts to fight against his access and the images became shadowy again, were moving faster again, making it difficult for Mick to take them in. However, he quickly realized he was now looking at memories of Gallagher's time at the university, from his medical studies. And then suddenly this young man with the amber eyes was there, also studying medicine, was in the same classes, became a close friend.

Mick's pulse was racing and he was breathing heavily. This was harder than any physical battle, but he was strong and healthy, couldn't be shaken so easily or seized mentally. Instead, he reached out himself, clung to the memories of Nicholas or Timothy, tried to penetrate even deeper into Gallagher's mind.

It was an evening where a lot of alcohol was flowing and after awhile they began to talk about their traumatic experiences as children, discovered that they had endured the same fate, that they had started their studies for the same reason: they both wanted to fight the beasts that had tortured them as children. The memories moved forward a little faster again. Timothy among the Legion taking part in a solemn initiation ritual. So many memories of their shared research… And always suffering and dying vampires, whose deaths Gallagher enjoyed immensely, just to feel even more empty, more unsatisfied afterwards. Then there were the first images of Peterson, terrified, begging for them not to hurt him, to let him go. Gallagher made an effort to calm him, to make his stay with the Legion as pleasant as possible, lied to him, tricked him, because he knew that only with the professor's help could he achieve his goal. He needed him desperately, more urgently than Ritchcroft or Sinclair-Jones or any of the others from this 'front' for research against fatal auto-immune diseases. He had his own goals - goals no one else was allowed to know about - ever! Only Timothy knew, thought the same way he did.

"We can go no further!" Peterson sorrowfully covered the distorted face of the vampire that had just died. "It doesn't work with these vampires. I think they're all too young or… they simply don't have the right blood type. Which vampires have taken the old cure that led to their re-transformation back to a human? I mean without dying. Wasn't there a special blood-line of vampires?"

Gallagher nodded and at once Mick felt he was even deeper inside of him now, closer to his spirit. His resistance was growing weaker and Mick began to merge with him.

"It seems to be a very old blood line that originated from France, probably that of Louis XVI," Mick said with Gallagher's voice. "We could try to catch a couple of vampires from this line." It was really daring to say such a thing, because many of these vampires enjoyed a certain degree of protection - even here in the Legion. Unfortunately, there were these old laws in place, which no one was allowed to violate.

"No, no," Peterson waved off and now gave a very disturbed impression. "That's not what I want… I… I…" He let out a deep sigh. "Couldn't they just be brought in voluntarily and asked if they'd cooperate with us?" The professor looked at him pleadingly and Mick had to laugh. How could anyone at that age be so naive?

The memories were again moving forward in time. Suddenly Coraline was in front of him on a table, drugged so heavily she could barely lift her eyelids. Peterson shook his head, looked at him. "The first test results aren't very positive. It won't work with her. Her body is too old to change. Her cells that form the blocking substances can no longer be activated." He sighed. "I don't think there's a vampire out there who has the prerequisites to continue our research successfully."

"Well, great," Ritchcroft exclaimed, stepping closer to the table now. "And I've taken all these risks_ for this_?" He made a brusque gesture towards Coraline. "We've crossed lines here, we never should have crossed! All this for nothing?"

Mick didn't allow his nagging to get to him; instead he looked back at Peterson. "Write down what kind of a subject you need and I'll get him for you!" He said firmly, and was sure he would succeed. Vampires were such devious creatures - they would betray their own brothers and sisters!

A new series of images appeared. He was in his office. Someone came in with a package which, while addressed to him, did not carry a return address. This was nothing new to him. He often received packages like that. His nimble fingers opened the package and revealed a vial of blood and a small, folded piece of paper. He opened it with a frown and quickly took in what was written on it in a fine and neat handwriting: _Maybe you'll get better results with this blood and will perhaps be a little more cooperative then. You know how to contact me. Sincerely, C. X. Davis. _

Mick's heart began to beat faster, for somehow he knew this was exactly the miracle they had been waiting for the whole time. He jumped up and rushed from the room towards the lab.

The next jump in time brought Mick again directly in front of Ritchcroft's angry face. "You see this?" His index finger pointed to the middle of a page on which several names were written with notes next to them. The name _Mick St. John_ was positioned right where Ritchcroft's fingers pressed into the thin paper and behind it: special protection status, no access without the consent of the supreme committee.

"This man is virtually untouchable!"

"You said '_virtually_'," Mick reminded him. "When _is_ he allowed to be eliminated?"

"The moment he puts the safety of the Legion or any of the people who are under our protection at risk."

A small smile appeared on Mick's lips. "Then we must get him to do just that!"

Again the scene changed. The memories of the chamber came forward again, his jewelry in his hands, Timothy, handing him a file. And then suddenly he was in his office, opening the report. He flew over it with a pounding heart, what was written there in black and white. Hijos de la Luna… Mission of Laura Gallagher… Last report suggests that she could bring in experience where the children were detained… Alejandro Diego Rojas alleged traitor… working with Josef Konstantine and Mick St. John… Laura Gallagher died from bleeding due to numerous bite wounds… different perpetrators…

Mick's gaze went back to his name, held on to it, while his hatred grew immeasurably. St. John had to pay for this. He was one of her murderers… had to pay for it, even though he couldn't kill him… But he would suffer… suffer horribly…

Mick's own consciousness came back and with it the urgent need to understand everything, really _understand_ - right from the start. And suddenly he knew exactly what memories he needed, what images he had to call up in Gallagher's mind and he did: a dark chamber, a trembling boy whose body was covered with bite wounds. Gallagher's mind immediately responded in his weakened state, could no longer defend himself against this access. He produced the image in a split second and Mick grabbed it, merged with the memory, quickly looking for all other images associated with it.

Initially there were only fragments, bits and pieces of long repressed impressions and feelings from a time in this man's life where all the cruelty he had endured came alarmingly close to what Mick had experienced: darkness, no windows in the walls… cold… fear, pain, helplessness. He wasn't alone. There were other children, another boy, two girls, crying, covered with bite wounds… shivering in the darkness, clinging to each other…The door opened and a tall, slim, dark-haired man of Mexican descent entered. Mick fell back against the wall, huddled trembling with the other children, his heartbeat pounding loudly in his head. The man came closer and the other children began to cry again. Mick didn't. He clenched his teeth and his body grew tense and when the man leaned forward he jumped up, ramming his head into the chin of the monster, so that it staggered back, surprised and the path to freedom was suddenly open. Mick ran out the door, up the stairs leading from the basement to the ground floor of the house. He heard the monster behind him already, as he rushed down the hall toward the nearby exit, heard it laughingly shout a foreign-sounding name. But the door was already so close… so close… He stretched out his hand to the knob, touched the cool metal for a second, but just at that moment another man stood before him, grabbed him by the collar and threw him with seemingly inhuman strength back into the hallway, into the arms of the other monster that caught him, laughing. Mick thrashed about and screamed as loud as he could. Someone had to hear him! Anyone… But then something struck him painfully on the back of the head and it went black all around him.

The next thing he saw were the white-blue eyes of one of the monsters and the greed in them, as it took blood from him with a cannula. The other fair-skinned, aristocratic looking man held him on his lap, held him in a vise-like grip, while somewhere behind him the steps of another person could be heard. It was a woman, he now discerned by her voice and she spoke in a language that was very melodic, but completely foreign to him. The man who was holding him answered her, then suddenly lifted Mick's arm, and brought it to his mouth. Mick knew what he was about to do and jerked back, trying to squirm out of his grip, but he had no chance. The monster mercilessly dug his teeth into Mick's artery and began to drink greedily. Mick stopped fighting and just pressed his lips together firmly, and suppressed the desperate sobs that wanted to escape his throat, as the other vampire rammed his fangs into his arm and began to feed on him as well. He would not cry. Not in front of these beasts. He would take revenge; would have his revenge some day…

The images changed again and Mick opened his eyes in a totally different environment, sat up frantically gasping for air. He was lying in a hospital bed connected to an IV and next to him was a man, who had just jumped out of his chair lifting his hands to him reassuringly. He had seen him before. He was a friend of his mother's. Alan was his name if he wasn't mistaken.

"Relax, Steven!" he now said in that soothing tone. "You're safe here. No one will hurt you again. The beasts are dead and you're safe."

Actually, his words should have calmed him, but there was something in Alan's voice that caused him fear, that conjured up this feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. And he looked so sad, so deeply shaken.

"Mum?" Mick brought out raspy and looked pleadingly into the eyes of the man, for some good news, for an emotion, telling him everything would be okay, that he would soon be returned back home into his mother's arms. But the look in Alan's eyes became even sadder and more compassionate, and Mick's chest pulled together painfully. At once breathing was so hard again and his eyes began to burn.

"You've got to be very brave now, Steven," the man said, stretching out his hand to stroke his hair comfortingly. "She… she tried to rescue you… was already so close to you. But these creatures are dangerous. They noticed what she was doing…"

The image before Mick's eyes blurred and with the deep sobs that shook his slender body again and again, something broke inside him, a part of his being disappeared forever…

Again the environment changed. The walls of the hospital room were replaced by the tiled walls of pathology; the sterile smell of the hospital mingled with the smell of death and decay. Alan led Mick to a table on which a motionless body lay under a white sheet. Actually Mick should have started to cry again, sobbing and shaking like any other child would have done in his place. But he was no longer a child. He had, at that moment, at the tender age of twelve, become an adult, a callous soldier of the Legion. In his body there was now only room for hate and anger and everything had grown cold. That's why he didn't even bat an eye when the pathologist, who had also approached, pulled the sheet away from the face of the corpse and he recognized the features of his mother, saw the many bite wounds that covered her neck.

After a few seconds he looked up at Alan with firm determination. "Show me how I can kill them!" He said, his voice that of an adult stranger now.

Mick had seen enough and his strength had come noticeably to an end. He drew a gasping breath, gathered his energy and began to withdraw gently. It was difficult to free himself from Gallagher's mind, as he now did the same thing that he had done with Gabriel, tried to hold him, wanted to prevent with a vengeance that Mick took his memories with him, ended the connection with his new knowledge. But Mick still had enough strength, was still aware of his surroundings, felt where he needed to go and freed himself with a violent jerk from Gallagher's mind. His body staggered back a bit and he instinctively reached back with his hands to keep himself from falling, violently struggled for a moment to catch his breath. What a horrific trip! He closed his eyes, tried to get his pulse and mind back under control, to sort which emotions belonged to him and which belonged to Gallagher. But it was hard, so hard, because he actually had some of the same emotions in common with this man. The deep loathing for the beasts who could do something like this to helpless children, profound hatred for these felons and the helplessness and grief that went along with the feeling that this crime could never be undone.

Mick concentrated on breathing in and out, sought to bring some order into the chaos inside him. He was deeply shocked by what he had seen and yet… there were finally some initial answers to questions that had burdened him for so long. And he understood… finally understood so many things all at once, that along with all his uneasiness and exhaustion, he also felt relieved… relieved, liberated, stronger, and even more motivated.

He opened his eyes again, looked at the broken, heavily breathing man in front of him. The coldness in Gallagher's eyes was gone, had been driven away by the memories of his childhood trauma. Instead tears of despair glistened in his eyes and he looked so helpless, so lost that Mick suddenly had the feeling that the child he used to be was sitting in front of him and not the stone cold soldier, who had once brought him so much suffering. It almost shocked him even, but all Mick could still feel for this emotional wreck, was pity. What was the use of having a strong will, which gave you the strength and a willingness to fight, if everything you did was driven by cravings for revenge and hatred, and you ceased to really live long ago? Gallagher the man had died along with his mother and no one had come to resurrect him from the dead; no one had taken his hand and freed him from this dark, cold existence. Until recently he had only been human externally, but inside had become a monster, worse than many of the 'beasts' he had once pursued and hated could have ever been.

Mick could have become just like him after his time in the lab - that was now abundantly clear to him. For the emotions that were so dominant in Gallagher that had affected his life so drastically, were terribly familiar to Mick, had boiled up in him after his rescue too often, driving him crazy. Without his friends, without Beth and the warmth and light that she had brought back into his life, he would have indeed turned into the monster he had always been so afraid of - the monster he had never been, not even as a young, inexperienced vampire. That as well had become clear to him now. He had never completely lost himself, had always questioned his actions at some point, and always regretted when he had acted unwisely or unfairly. He had always been more human than animal, more human than the man who now sat before him. That's how it still was. And yet, Mick couldn't hate him anymore. The brutal soldier, the sadistic avenger in Gallagher had certainly deserved to be severely punished or even killed for his deeds, but the little boy, who had endured so much suffering, whose terrible fate even Mick shouldered a bit of guilt - this boy didn't deserve it. In a way, vampire society even owed it to him to come up with another solution, to help him understand things better because they had created him - the monster _and_ the vampire.

Gallagher took a faltering breath, closed his eyes briefly, only to look up at him again with this death wish in his eyes. "Do it… just get it over with," he gasped between two more deep breaths. "Then we'll both have our peace at last…"

Mick shook his head, took a deep breath himself. "There was a time when I thought of nothing else than to repay you for what you did to me," it came quietly over his lips. "I wanted to break every bone in your body, to pay you back for each and every wound you inflicted on me, two, three times over, to make you suffer for as long as I could, just to let you die in the cruelest way I could think of. There… there was so much hatred in me… and this irrepressible urge for revenge that has almost driven me crazy with just the thought of you…" Mick took a breath again, because it was precisely these feelings he felt once again at the edge of his consciousness. But they were too weak, had no influence on his mind anymore. He lifted his gaze and wasn't surprised to see that Gallagher was now looking at him with much more attention, the first signs of confusion showing on his face.

"That's gone now," Mick continued. "Everything has changed, because I now see so many things in a different light, understand them so much better. Even you. Even though your actions can never be justified by anything or anyone - I understand the feelings behind them; I understand, what drove you to act so cruel, so unconscionable, because there had been times I'd been on the same path to becoming just like you. Only I had the strength to fight against myself and win this battle - again and again. In my heart I've always stayed a human; a human with many weaknesses, who has done many wrong things, and often acted carelessly in his life as well, too hot-headed - but a human." Mick paused for a moment, his own words causing him to hesitate. And yet - they were true, could be voiced, he knew that now. "I've realized something in the past few weeks, something you've probably never realized: It's not what I _am_ that makes me a monster, but what I _do_. This ruthless, brutal animal inside us vampires may be stronger and more dangerous, but it also exists in humans as well, and anyone who doesn't control it, can become a monster. The only question is when they recognize it, whether they'll then do something about it…"

Mick became silent and the flickering in Gallagher's eyes told him he had reached the man somehow, that something was going on inside him. Gallagher's chapped lips parted slightly and he shook his head, while his tired eyes showed the utter hopelessness and loneliness that this man had been carrying around with him since childhood. "I… I can't," it came hoarsely, barely audible over his lips and Mick knew that his words came from the bottom of his heart. "Not like this… not in this body… I just want to… die. Your revenge would be my salvation…"

Mick gritted his teeth and shook his own head. He would not let anyone exploit him anymore. This wasn't a decision _he_ had to make - he would not be coerced into this. And so he simply stood up, walked over to the table with the syringes, grabbed one and the vial containing the drug BXA-12 along with a blood bag from the cooler. Then he went back to Gallagher. He crouched down before him, put the things down in front of him and tried to catch the gaze of the man who had once been so superior to him, who was now breaking down mentally over being forced into an existence which he deeply detested.

"I know how you feel," said Mick with a firm voice. "I was also turned against my will into what I am now, and could hardly bear it. But I've learned something by now. I've realized that any change, no matter how terrible or radical, can also be an opportunity; a chance to start all over again, to begin to live again." Mick paused again to once again draw a breath because he knew that what he would do now was risky. And yet it felt right.

"To not have your life under control is a terrible experience," he added more quietly. "I know that firsthand and so I hereby give you at least some of the control over your life back." He pushed the things over to Gallagher, far enough for him to reach them without problems, holding his troubled, incredulous gaze. "I won't let anyone make me your judge, not even you. Because no one, except you, is entitled to decide how and if your life should continue – no one."

And with his last words Mick raised, turned and walked out of the room, left Gallagher alone with himself and perhaps the last wrong decision in his life. He felt good about it because one thing he felt in his heart - no matter what Gallagher decided, for life or against it - he would be able to live with the decision this man made, rather than having his blood on his hands. It was time to take new paths, and he possessed the necessary strength and the will to do this and perhaps to take many others with him.


	79. Strength

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_**  
**

* * *

**S****trength**

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"_T__here is no danger that would be greater than the strength to bear it and to meet it."_

_Paul Olaf Bodding_

* * *

Beth's eyes had started to burn - realizing that in her extreme concentration she'd forgotten to blink for quite a while. And even now only did it out of pure reflex, still feeling she couldn't afford to miss even a millisecond of what was happening before her on the small screen – or rather _not_ happening because Mick was still only kneeling in front of Gallagher visibly panting and looked at him as intensely as she herself was staring at the screen.

"What… what's he doing?" she heard Logan ask confused, sitting, as usual in such situations, among all the other spectators in front of the screen he'd turned on for Gabriel. Undoubtedly only voicing what everyone else around him was thinking as well.

"He… he's merged with Gallagher's memories," Josef was the only one to answer his question and his voice not only betrayed the fact he didn't really like it and that he was very worried about his best friend, but also that he didn't really understand the reason or purpose for it yet, and had actually expected a very different reaction from Mick, if not even hoped for it.

Beth felt differently. She was - even though she was still worried about Mick - relieved by the fact he hadn't immediately lunged at his enemy and mauled him brutally. When Gabriel had instructed Malik and Lance to bring him to the control room, she had already guessed that there might be a chance they'd actually see what Mick would do with Gallagher. And she hadn't liked it at all. She was already terribly nervous, had been terrified Mick would be thrown back into his old patterns of behavior by this encounter with Gallagher and would have difficulty regaining his composure. To actually have to watch as he indeed turned into a ferocious beast and brutally killed another man, had been a thought she could hardly bare. Even though she understood that at the sight of this man he was overwhelmed with the need for revenge and that he still needed to process what had happened to him, especially in relation to Gallagher - she hadn't wanted him to kill the man. She knew it wouldn't help Mick, would probably throw him back into an emotional crisis. And yet she left him, had known she couldn't stop him, that he alone had to decide which route he would take in terms of his worst enemies.

It had been Gabriel's almost imperceptible shake of his head, the small encouraging smile he had given her as she approached the screen anxiously that had somehow given her the feeling nothing bad would happen. And there had also been Josef, with his calming glances, assuring her Mick knew what he was doing that they just needed to trust him that actually persuaded her to do just that – to simply trust the new, stable Mick, whom she felt so very close to and loved so very much.

For this reason she hadn't let herself get caught up in Josef's growing nervousness, hadn't become unsettled by the deep lines of worry on his forehead. He too hadn't expected to be able to observe Mick's actions - she was sure of that. It had been a surprise to all of them when Gabriel, immediately upon entering the room, instructed Logan to tap into the video camera that was installed in the room in which Gallagher and Mick currently were. It hadn't been that much of a surprise that such a video camera existed - with dangerous prisoners like Gallagher this was a must have - but that Gabriel himself hadn't seemed nearly as calm and composed as he tried to appear outwardly regarding Mick's actions, _was_ surprising.

And even more surprising for most of those present, was Mick's behavior itself. He hadn't immediately attacked Gallagher after he had woken up, but instead had knelt before him and courageously attempted to make contact with the spirit of his worst enemy. Beth hadn't only seen but also felt this. There was a tingling in her temples, this slight pull in her mind, but it hadn't been strong enough to actually allow her to see what Mick seemed to see. It was only his feelings that faintly touched her spirit whenever they became particularly intense. Like now… so much hatred and anger at… at himself? She wrinkled her forehead confused.

"And what if he has problems separating from Gallagher's mind?" Malik now voiced the fear that burdened Beth the most right now.

"That's not going to happen," Gabriel replied, still with this frightening lack of strength in his voice. "He's become so strong…" The old vampire, who was the only one currently sitting, looked up at Malik, but then let his gaze roam with a strangely proud smile over the faces of all others present. "Can't you feel it? No one will stop him anymore…"

Anxiety, hopelessness… despair… Beth took a deep breath, and immediately turned her gaze back to the screen, saw that Mick's upper body had moved a little, that he still had his eyes closed but couldn't say which of them these awful feelings were originating from.

'Let it be Gallagher, please, let it be Gallagher,' she heard a small voice plead again and again in her head. 'Let Gabriel be right. Please, please!'

Mick recoiled abruptly, had to brace himself with both hands behind him, to keep from falling down and took a gasping breath. But he was back, had really been able to break free from Gallagher. Beth automatically pressed both hands against her chest, breathed in a sigh of relief, and then listened intently along with everyone else to the startling words of a man who had indeed become a different person. And with each word he spoke, Beth's throat grew tighter, the tingling in her nose and the burning in her eyes grew stronger, for there on the screen in front of her was this incredibly wise, strong, warm-hearted, wonderful man that Beth had always known, who she had fallen in love with. He had found himself - even in this very extreme situation - had finally become visible to everyone else and was taking his destiny into his own hands. And when Mick got up, Beth knew he would do the right thing that trusting him had been the right decision. She was so very proud of him…

"What… what the hell's he doing?" Lance voiced the stunned question that Logan had also asked recently.

"The only right thing to do," Gabriel said quietly voicing Beth's thoughts and it was obvious that he himself was deeply moved by what Mick had done before all their eyes.

"He's giving Gallagher a choice," Josef whispered in disbelief and shook his head. "The choice to either start a new life as a vampire or die."

"But… but that's crazy!" now even Guillermo blurted out, who had stepped up close behind Beth. "That man doesn't deserve such a chance! What's gotten into him?"

"True greatness," Gabriel replied silently, almost reverently. "He has more wisdom and prudence than all of us put together - and he's still so young…" Seconds later, a faint laugh slipped over Gabriel's lips and he shook his head moved. "_What_ inner strength… _what_ a man!" he uttered with genuine admiration in his voice, and Beth's heart was almost overflowing with love and pride for Mick.

Gabriel took a deep breath when Mick left the room in which Gallagher was still sitting motionless and then turned to the others, looking at them thoughtfully one after the other. He then stood up awkwardly, was again reliant on Malik's help to a certain extent. "I… I want everyone who's here today to gather in the great hall. Now – right away! I have a few announcements to make."

The others just stared at the old vampire confused and he knitted his brows, while Beth's stomach began to knot slowly. An intuition about these announcements was slowly entering her mind…

"What part of 'right away' do you not understand?" Gabriel asked and looked invitingly at Lance and Thomas in particular. The two hesitated only a moment longer, then began to move, hurried off to comply with Gabriel's request.

Beth swallowed hard. If her instincts weren't misleading her, then Gabriel's announcements probably had something to do with vampire society being able to get along without him later on - he had already expressed something similar to this to Josef. And when she looked at the old vampire, she knew he was doing the right thing. The antidote in his body didn't seem to be working so effectively and every passing minute a little more of his vitality slipped away. He _had to_ make sure that the vampire community got new leadership, someone they would accept - _before_ he had lost all his strength and thus his authority. And even though his previous plans were to leave Mick out of this new leadership, as Josef had told her, he had just changed his mind as a result of Mick's wise and prudent action. Beth was sure of it. She saw it in the old vampire's eyes that now rested on her face, clearly asking for her forgiveness; saw it in his remorseful posture. He had found, in his opinion, the perfect successor for himself. In his heart it wasn't what he had wanted for Mick, wasn't a thought that made him happy, but it was a fact which couldn't be denied anymore, a fact that would significantly affect Mick and their future together. And yet Beth couldn't be angry with Gabriel. The rational side of her understood, had realized that no one was better suited in unifying the vampire world with the world of the humans and leading them into a reasonably peaceful, and cooperative future as Mick, no one, not even Gabriel. Mick was the link between the ancient and the modern world, between humans and vampires. _He_ was their only chance of finally ending this war. _He_ was their great hope…

Gabriel stepped up to her, raised one hand to her cheek and stroked it gently, reassuringly. "Everything will be alright, Beth," he said quietly. "He can do it, I know that now. He's the only one who can. And it will not harm him or you. It'll only make him stronger… both of you. Don't be afraid…"

Beth swallowed hard and nodded. She would try, would try to believe that Mick would not be overwhelmed by such a huge responsibility, that they would stay together and not be separated again; that instead this would make them stronger and more powerful and that there was really no reason for her to be frightened. But fate didn't seem to want to make it that easy for her, because it wasn't Mick, who stormed into the room the next moment, but Max, followed by a very upset looking Tony.

"Patricia's dead!" Max blurted out immediately. "Someone found her in our hiding place, then tortured and killed her!"

Beth's stomach twisted painfully and she gasped for air. It wasn't that she had particularly liked the Cleaner, but she knew immediately this incident would incite major havoc. And who deserved to die like that?

"The Legion?" Josef probed tensely and Beth admired him for being able to get anything out at all after such terrible news.

Max shook his head. "A vampire."

"Gabriel… I think it was Elizabeth", Tony added urgently. "It smelled of her everywhere."

"That… that's not possible," the old vampire stammered and then quickly turned to Logan. "When was the last time Dean reported in?"

"About an hour ago," Logan replied, then quickly put on his headset and typed something on the keyboard. "I'll contact him…"

Beth tried to get her growing excitement back under control, focusing on her hearing and only a few seconds later heard a deep male voice report with a curt "Yes".

"Is everything alright over there?" Logan asked with concern.

"Everything's fine. She's in the house and seems to be resting in her freezer."

The answer was actually quite reassuring for Beth, but Logan was now deathly pale and his eyes flew frantically over to Gabriel.

"That's exactly what he said before," he uttered in horror and the man's next words left no doubt whatsoever that his response had been from a tape recorder, which was likely triggered by voice, for they had absolutely nothing to do with Logan's statement.

"Well, until the next check-in!"

The line went dead and a frightening silence ensued. Each knowing a threat was creeping up on them from behind, one they currently didn't need. There were quick footsteps in the hallway, which brought back all the emotion to those present, already bracing themselves for the next shocking report. But it was just Mick who appeared in the doorway and then stopped immediately pulling his eyebrows together confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Elizabeth is on the run and about to bring a whole lot of trouble down on us," Max replied immediately and then looked at Gabriel. "What did Patricia know that Elizabeth didn't know before?"

"Where this station is," was Gabriel's quiet but shocking answer.

Silence again. And again it was Mick who relieved them from it quickly. "Do you really think she'll betray us to the Legion?"

Mick's question wasn't answered by the ancient vampire, but by the alarm system in the station, which was activated at that precise moment. Orange emergency lights flashed on the walls, took on a threatening, surging rhythm and the monotonous blaring of a siren was heard from the corresponding speakers.

Seth, who up to now had kept himself in the background, so much so that Beth hadn't even noticed him, rolled almost in sync with Logan on his swivel chair to one of the larger screens in the middle of the technical station which Beth was able to identify as a radar scope on which many incredibly bright, flashing dots were seen, and with each scan, seemed to be approaching their location much too quickly.

"Shit!" Logan voiced in horror.

"Helicopters! And… jeeps I guess," Seth stammered. "They… oh God, they're coming with everything they have!"

Max and Tony immediately got a move on and stormed out of the room, while Beth only looked from Gabriel to Mick, her heart beating wildly not knowing what to do.

Malik gave a deep sigh of resignation. "We've done our best," he concluded sadly towards Gabriel, who had just lowered his eyes in resignation. "The time for talking and negotiating has probably passed. We have no other choice but to defend ourselves!"

"Wait!…" Mick held up both hands, shook his head and seemed again to sort his thoughts. "Just like that, you're going to grab your weapons, even though Ruthers is on his way to us?"

"We have no choice, Mick!" Malik replied in anger. "We're about to be attacked at any moment. We _have to_ do something!"

"Yes, of course, but…" Mick broke off, shook his head, unwilling to explain his ideas in detail. "How long can this station withstand an attack from outside?"

Gabriel looked at the Assassin, as he himself couldn't answer the question, and Malik shrugged his shoulders. "A few hours at best. Why?"

"Then we should use that time!" Mick replied resolutely and already set in motion. "We don't necessarily have to fight and under no circumstances should we be the first to attack!"

Mick was out the door before any of them even had the opportunity to say anything in response, and now nothing was holding Beth back as well. The determination and willingness to fight seen in Mick's eyes was enough for her to know he would throw himself into the battle without much further thought – whatever battle that might be. He needed someone by his side who would slow him down when his temper got the better of him, and she was sure that he would take that from no-one but her - not to mention the fact she really wanted to actively help to get them out of this crisis situation, preferably unscathed.

When Beth hurried into the hall, followed closely by Josef, Mick was no longer to be seen. But it wasn't hard to figure out where he'd gone. Alongside the ongoing, annoying screeching of the alarm, were excited voices down the corridor, as well as other suspicious noises she attributed to the loading of weapons, as she ran towards them. Within seconds she had reached the room in which nearly all vampires had gathered and were getting ready to do battle against the Legion. She saw anger and militancy, but also fear and apprehension flashing in the eyes of many and felt sure this surprise attack by the Legion had put them completely out of kilter.

Mick had come to a halt in the middle of the room and watched for a few minutes with suspicion and a hint of disbelief at what was happening around him. Then he took a deep breath and shouted as loudly as he could: "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

He achieved exactly what he wanted: Everyone paused in their movement in shock and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Do you really want to fight a battle like you did in the old days, here in the middle of L.A.?" Mick continued loudly, while Josef, Guillermo and Malik together with a still pretty weak looking Gabriel entered the room behind Beth. "Do you seriously believe you can get away with _that_? If we behave like wild beasts whenever we feel threatened, we'll always be thought of that way!"

"But what would you have us do?" Exclaimed a woman from one of the Cleaner-teams and she stepped bravely forward. "Wait to be slaughtered? We can't just sit around and wait for them to get their heavy artillery into position!"

"They won't attack immediately and try to destroy us!" Mick argued firmly. "They just want to intimidate us, create turmoil and chaos in our ranks - and apparently they've succeeded!"

Lance now stepped out from the crowd and, to Beth's surprise, nodded approvingly. "Mick's right," he even said. "We must not panic and let the people out there force us into making stupid decisions. We must at least act as if we have a plan and be somewhat organized, when we attack…"

"We will _not_ attack!" Mick immediately interrupted him severely. "We can _defend_ ourselves should the Legion try to get in here, but we will _not_ be the ones to attack."

"So what exactly shall we do?" Max asked now somewhat surprised himself, while he equipped himself with another weapon.

"Exactly what any other person living in a modern society would do."

One of the other vampires unknown to Beth let out an incredulous laugh. "What? Call the police?"

"Exactly!" Mick exclaimed and Beth immediately approached him, looking at him with a mixture of astonishment and admiring realization. Her mind worked fast enough to see through Mick's quickly devised plan. It was crazy - but wasn't there a fine line between genius and insanity?

"What are you waiting for?" Mick hollered at the stunned vampire. "Do it! Tell them a major gang war has broken out at the L.A. River. Tell them it's burning - then the fire department will come as well and the furor will be even greater!"

"But… but…" the vampire stammered, but Mick stopped him, didn't let him get a word in edgewise.

"We're members of this society. We were born as humans _in_ this society and in fact we still are. We've just changed a little!" Mick went on excited. "Even ADA Ben Talbot has problems referring to us as vampires. He calls us 'people with special abilities'. At first I thought he just couldn't accept what we are, but now I'm of the opinion he's right. We're no more monsters than the people gathering out there in front of our door who want to kill us! And we have a _right_ to be protected and defended by this society if our lives are threatened. Such a thing must not remain unseen, and certainly not go unpunished. So – dammit - call the people who otherwise boast about imposing law and order in this society and let these cowards out there finally be busted!"

There it was again, this breathless, stunned silence. But on some of the faces around the room, deep realization was setting in, or at least contemplation.

"Ss… seriously?" the vampire that Mick had addressed directly brought out in a thin voice.

"Yes!" was the energetic response, but it didn't come from Mick, but Gabriel, who also - this time without help – stepped up next to Mick. "Call the police! Immediately! Tell 'em grenades and _Molotov cocktails_ are being tossed, then they'll come with all their forces. And until they've cleaned up outside none of us is to leave here."

The vampire actually sat in motion now and hurried off. Mick searched Beth's gaze and she knew immediately what he wanted from her, remembered the things they had discussed with regard to their own, original plan. Actually, this situation wasn't that far off from it - just a little riskier. "Are… are you sure?" She brought out a little insecure.

"Yeah," he replied with a nod. "I need the fastest and most prominent. Preferably those who also have helicopters."

"You don't seriously want the press involved!" Lance blurted out now and he proved once again, how quickly his mind worked. Immediately great unrest came back in the room, the fear and tension among the vampires grew again.

"Exactly, because only then can we put enough pressure on the Legion _and_ Judge Ruthers that they're not only forced to negotiate with us, but will actually listen to our ideas!" Mick replied so loudly that he drowned out all the other voices.

"He's right," Gabriel immediately agreed with him again and straightened up, invested all his remaining strength into backing Mick. "As long as we restrain ourselves, and don't transform but instead take the defensive, peaceful approach, nothing will happen to us. So…" He took a deep breath. "We'll do exactly what Mick says! But I still want you to arm yourself and block off all exits. Do not let anyone in or out. And even if it should come to a fight, do not turn. We want to be seen as humans who are only defending themselves. We want to expose _the Legion_ out there, not _us_! Go! Move!"

Immediately movement among the vampires present caused a flurry. Those who had already armed themselves ran off to secure the building while the others began to equip themselves further. They still didn't feel all that comfortable with the new plan, but they trusted Gabriel and Mick well enough to submit to the unusual instructions.

Mick turned to Gabriel. "We need to inform Ruthers about everything - including the fact that we've involved the police and the press. Then he'll probably get here pretty fast…"

"… because he'll be under much more pressure than before," Gabriel continued his sentence and the breath of an appreciative smile played around his lips. "This is the craziest plan I've ever come across - but because of that, it just might work…"

Gabriel stopped suddenly, frowned and seemed to concentrate on his hearing, as did Mick and the other vampires around them. And only seconds later, Beth heard it too, this muted noise from a distance… No, it was more like a voice, distorted by a speaker and muffled by the thick walls of the station. Beth couldn't really understand what they were saying, but the look on the faces of her friends spoke volumes.

"Let's get back to Logan and Seth," Mick said curtly. "We need to respond before the situation escalates!"

Beth really wanted to ask what was happening _now_, but the men ran off before she had a chance, and Mick whispered a quiet 'Soon', when he took her hand and they again rushed down the hall. Somehow she couldn't shake the feeling that everything had taken a turn for the worse, was even more stressful and soon her heart began to beat faster as her stomach once again knotted uncomfortably.

* * *

"This is Commander Collins, head of this mission. We've surrounded your station and are equipped with rocket launchers and armor-piercing weapons which could easily take out your station. We are, however, not here to destroy your station or kill you. We're here to negotiate. Send Gabriel des Archanges out and we won't attack. We'll only negotiate with Gabriel des Archanges! We'll give you fifteen minutes to think about it! Fifteen minutes - no longer! After that, we will attack!"

There it was again, loud and clear, the voice of the Commander of the Legion echoing through the speakers of the technical center, where they had all gathered again, and caused yet again this incriminating silence among them. Each of them knew this deadline stood in the way of their own plans, put them under tremendous pressure because the time given was simply too short, and could cause the whole thing to go up in flames. Mick's stomach took, like many times before, an unpleasant turn as he searched for a solution to their problem - a solution that hopefully wouldn't put any of them in serious danger. The only question was whether that solution even existed…

"The… the police and Ruthers have already agreed," Logan was the first to find his voice again. "And when we involve the press, too…"

"We don't know if they'll get here in time," Gabriel interrupted him immediately, while he held the small microphone that Seth carefully taped to his chest. The moment they first heard the commander's words, the old vampire didn't for a second think about _not_ stepping out there before the enemy on his own, instead, he had immediately asked Seth to wire him as fast as possible, so they'd all be able to monitor what actually happened out there with him. An outdoor camera had already existed. But that didn't alter the fact that Gabriel was exposing himself to a huge risk just setting foot out the door.

"And Rudolph is known for carrying out his threats," Gabriel now added warningly. "I'm sure he's out there somewhere pulling the strings. And whatever madness is currently driving him - he _will_ go through with this. If I don't make an appearance out there, he'll blow a hole in the entrance to this station and enter by force."

"But if you go out there, you're making yourself a living target!" Lance interjected excited, who, of course, hadn't stayed with the other vampires. His concern for Gabriel was simply too great, and Thomas, Tony and Max were capable of organizing their own defense just as well alone. "What if it's _not_ their goal to negotiate with you? What if they only want to kill you to rob us of our leader?"

"Cut off the head of the snake…" Malik agreed with him with a deeply troubled nod.

"So be it!" Gabriel replied hell-bent and gave his old friend a warning glance. "There is no other way!"

Something in Gabriel's eyes, in his voice upset Mick and when his own anxious gaze slipped over the many light, barely visible scars on the old vampire's chest, when he realized once again what this man had already been through and his eyes finally landed back on his much too pale face, he knew what it was. Basically, it wasn't just Gabriel's intention to fulfill the wishes of the Legion, but to offer them the smallest sacrifice that currently existed in his eyes - a vampire who was already condemned to death, who even longed for it with a significant portion of his being. But he was mistaken if he thought Mick would simply allow him to go through with it. When it came down to it, the Legion actually wanted _him_ and not Gabriel… He couldn't allow Gabriel to simply sacrifice himself and if Mick brought himself into the game this might not even be necessary. Maybe no one had to sacrifice themselves. Wasn't this in fact just about buying time until the police and Ruthers arrived?

"Yes, there is," Mick raised his voice a little delayed and took a deep breath, because he knew that at least one person in the room would be terribly upset by his next words. "_I'll_ go outside."

Beth immediately gasped for breath anxiously, and he turned to her quickly before she could say anything. "They won't do anything to me, Beth! They need me! They need my blood! This became clear during my last meeting with the Cercle. I'm the only one who wouldn't be in danger out there!"

"No, Mick, no!" Beth brought out now with a trembling voice, holding his hands, looking at him imploringly. "They'll take you prisoner and take you away… please…"

"They won't, Beth," he replied, shaking his head. "The police and the press will be there in time. Nothing will happen. Everything will be fine. I just know it."

"Under no circumstances will you go out there alone!" Josef also interjected now with a firm voice and hotly stepped closer to Mick. "I'm coming with you!"

"No!" Mick replied immediately. "They'll shoot at you for sure!"

"You're not going out there!" now Gabriel had had to say, as he buttoned his shirt quickly, after Seth had finally finished his work. "They want _me_ and that's what they'll get…"

"Yes, only because they don't know that I'm here," Mick simply interrupted him. "Otherwise they would have made quite different demands!"

"Uh, guys!" Logan shouted now against them all and pointed at the clock on the wall above them. "If we don't agree to something soon, nobody's going out there. _They'll _be coming in here!"

He was right. They only had about five minutes left. It was time to act. And Mick did. He simply walked through the still open door and headed for the exit.

"Mick!" he heard several voices calling after him and then his friends followed. Beth, amazingly, was the first to catch up with him just before he reached the exit, grabbed him by the arm and forced him to stop and turn to her.

"Please Mick, don't do this!" she cried out desperately, and it hurt him to see her like this, once again to be the cause of the anxiety and worry in her eyes. "Please, don't go out there! Pleeease!"

"I have to do it, Beth," he gave right back, looked at her urgently. "If this is going to turn out well, then I _must_ do it! Nothing will happen to me! I'm the only one they really won't hurt! Please believe me! Trust me! Nothing will happen to me!"

It was strange, but he really believed this, knew it somehow, and even though his heart was already beating faster and the excitement grew inside of him, he wasn't really afraid, was sure this wasn't the last time he would look into Beth's eyes and she seemed to feel it, and let herself be calmed by his words, as well as the warm, confident look in his eyes, at least to the extent that she said nothing more.

"Okay, then let's get out there now and calm these barbarians!" Josef said, who had also caught up with them and reached for the handle of the door.

Mick grabbed his hand at the last moment and pulled it back. "You're not coming with me, Josef!" he snarled at his best friend indignantly. "How many times do I have to say that?"

"And there's no way _you're_ going out there alone!" Josef growled back and furrowed his brows angrily. "What's to prevent them from overwhelming you and simply taking you with them as soon as they hear the sirens?"

Unfortunately, it was a pretty good argument, and Mick felt Beth's fears come back to life instantly.

"_I'll_ go with him!"

Mick closed his eyes resigned and then turned around to Gabriel with a deep sigh, who now came up to him also with Malik at his side. The old vampire looked Mick straight in his eyes. "They won't dare pounce on you immediately if I'm at your side. And they won't shoot at me as long as you're beside me. It'll work that way. I won't agree to anything else - and _I'm _still the one calling the shots here!"

Mick wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind right away that he could oppose the idea. So he nodded, looked back at Beth, who was completely in tears by now, but seemed to understand that they couldn't solve their problem any other way at the moment. He quickly pulled her into his arms, pressed her close to him. "Trust me," he whispered into her hair. "Nothing's going to happen to me. I'll be right back."

He pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead before he let her go again and then gave Josef a look. His friend immediately understood him, understood that Mick was asking him to take care of Beth and protect her if things didn't turn out as they had planned. Josef nodded and immediately stepped closer to Beth and only then was Mick able to turn back to Gabriel and the exit door.

"Can you walk on your own?" he asked.

The old vampire nodded confidently. "I have to, if they're not to know what condition I'm in."

Mick looked at him for a moment, took a deep breath himself, squared his shoulders and opened the door with an again wildly beating heart. Deafening engine noises roared towards them and flashing headlights immediately shined in Mick's face, making him shut his eyes tightly and stagger back a bit. But he changed his mind quite quickly and simply stepped out into the open, trying not to let the noise and the wind of the helicopters circling above them, the excited shouts of the soldiers, who were hiding behind the light and his own now rapidly burgeoning fears get the better of him. He felt Gabriel step up next to him and somehow the presence of the old vampire reassured him, gave him back his courage and confidence.

'You can do this. This is the right way!' he encouraged himself. 'Think about your family, of Beth, of your unborn child. Do it for them. Don't be afraid!'

"Stand still and slowly raise your hands above your head!" Echoed a voice, amplified through a speaker, and Mick wasn't sure if it hadn't come from one of the helicopters. It was a different voice than that of the Commander, older and more gravelly.

He inhaled deeply once again and did what was asked of him. From the corner of his eye he noticed that Gabriel had bowed to the will of their enemies as well, for now. He swayed a little however, and along with Mick's tension, his concern for the ancient vampire grew. Actually, it was all too much for him – Mick was hyperaware of this and ultimately Gabriel's significantly weakened body was only being held upright by his iron will and the enormous forces within the ancient vampire. Anyone else with this poison in their blood stream would probably have collapsed long ago. But time was running out, of that Mick was sure. They needed the Legion's antidote – preferably now.

Mick blinked anxiously against the bright spotlight that seemed to be coming from both helicopters as well as the cars of the Legion. He turned his head a little to change the angle the light was shining on him and was actually able to see a little more of what was going on in front of him. There were about a dozen emergency vehicles: jeeps, vans, station wagons, behind open car doors were heavily armed, masked, black clad, soldiers with their weapons pointed directly at him and Gabriel. Not a very pretty sight - especially since the atmosphere was charged with fear and anxiety.

"Good. Move towards us slowly – both of you!" the next command echoed over to them.

Mick hesitated, glanced at Gabriel, who was beginning to breathe hard. Unfortunately, his body seemed to be hit again by a dizzy spell. "Can you make it?" Mick whispered softly to him.

"If… if we walk slowly," Gabriel gave back just as softly.

"I was going to anyway," Mick said, and started out, holding his head in a way so the glare of the headlights wouldn't blind him as much. His other senses were focused on the enemy's line which was located about sixty feet from them. If he wasn't mistaken, the anxiety had arisen there. Again and again snatches of words penetrated his ear like "That's him!" or "He's dangerous! Watch out!" Every now and then, Mick thought he heard his name, but more important, the most repetitive and fairly strictly spoken words were "Don't shoot! These men are not allowed to be injured or even killed! We need them!"

Mick's confidence grew in spite of his own inner tension. If they kept to this slow pace - and that was what the enemy apparently wanted - it was likely the police or even Ruthers would appear here in time to prevent the Legion from capturing them or having the situation escalate before a bloody fight broke out.

"Mick…" Gabriel spoke very softly, and Mick was immediately aware that something was wrong with him and looked at him with concern. The old vampire had stopped, now swayed alarmingly and in the next second collapsed completely. Mick responded out of a reflex, grabbed him and held him. But that was apparently too much movement for the nervous soldiers. A shot rang out over the roar of the helicopter, followed by another and Mick threw himself, along with Gabriel, quickly to the ground. Bullets whizzed right past him, dug into the ground, tearing up the earth there, while a loud voice cried almost hysterically to hold their fire. Then a tremendous wind began that had Mick cover his and Gabriel's face with his arms to protect them from the swirling debris and sand, but also made sure that the gunfire that had been trained on them died down as well. The roar of the helicopter had become so loud it sounded as if it had landed right next to them and when Mick raised his head a little and squinted behind him, he realized this was indeed the case. The heavy machine was about to land between them and the trigger-happy soldiers, shielding them from further bullets. And not only that - only seconds after the helicopter had set down, the door opened and a man in civilian clothes with a small satchel in his hand jumped out and immediately lifted his hands reassuringly.

"I've just come to help!" He cried against the deafening noise of the machine and opened his jacket to show Mick that he had no weapons on his body. "I'm a doctor!"

Mick's eyes were fixed on the man's face. Brown, thick hair, a well-groomed beard, brown eyes… He had seen him a few times during his time in the lab - not very often… always with a slightly skeptical look in his eyes, a visibly guilty conscience. He had always just come to fetch his blood. Had never been directly involved in the experiments…

Mick pushed back his memories with all his might and sat up a little, kneeling down next to Gabriel, who was by now breathing much too shallow and irregular, and had this expression on his face that betrayed that his condition was serious. Mick touched his face with a wildly beating heart.

"Gabriel," he spoke to him and his fear and his concern for the ancient vampire grew even further. "Come on… Look at me!"

Gabriel didn't respond – not even when the actually hostile doctor knelt beside him and immediately grabbed his arm to push up his sleeve.

"What do you intend to do?" Mick asked as he watched the doctor suspiciously fill a syringe with a clear liquid from a small vial he had just taken out of his pocket.

"I'm going to inject the antidote," was the terse reply and Mick let it happen that the doctor did just that. What other option did he have? Gabriel was dying, he felt it, and if the Legion wanted him dead, all they had to do was wait a little while longer. Nevertheless, the whole thing seemed a little strange to Mick and he couldn't contain himself, just had to voice what he was thinking.

"And you're doing this out of pure human kindness?"

The doctor pulled the needle back out of Gabriel's arm and looked at Mick, a sad smile on his lips. "No, of course not. Both of you need to come with me now." He pointed with a nod in the direction of the army of the Legion. "You have no other choice, unless you want a bloody fight to break out and many of your friends to be killed."

Mick returned the smile of the doctor effortlessly. "But I think I do," he replied calmly and this calmness wasn't a farce. His initial fear was completely gone now, because he'd heard something in the not too far distant, something the doctor might not have heard yet: police sirens, which were rapidly approaching. They had previously been well drowned out by the loud noises of the two helicopters, but seconds later the sound had not gone unnoticed by all others present. The doctor lifted his astonished gaze in the direction from which the sirens could be heard, and the unrest among the soldiers not far from them grew again, causing the first excited cries. And then something else suddenly stood out from the darkening night's sky over L.A.: The lights of three more helicopters, which also seemed to be heading directly for them.

"That's impossible!" the doctor exclaimed in disbelief and turned toward his own vehicle, looking over at one of the people still inside. An old man, who had now slipped into the seat next to the open door and had directed his gaze to the sky as well. Mick held a hand over his eyes, protecting them from the sand and the light of the headlights still swirling through the air, as he took a closer look at the man. He had seen him somewhere before. This face, ravaged by life, a slumped, sickly-looking figure… and as the man looked over to him, turned his face fully towards him, Mick was suddenly sure he was face to face with Rudolph Sinclair-Jones. Gabriel had been right. He was here, hadn't been able to resist showing up in person, and it had probably been _him_ who had instructed the pilot to quickly land between them and the zealous troops to protect him and Gabriel. Because he needed Gabriel, needed his blood to stay alive.

"What do we do now?" The doctor called to the old man.

Rudolph didn't answer, just retreated a little further into the helicopter, but shortly thereafter his voice could be heard from the loud speakers of the machine.

"Lay down your arms and do what the police tell you to do," he quickly instructed his people, doing the only smart thing he could do under the circumstances, if you didn't want to completely antagonize the state. And yet it was like a small miracle to Mick.

"We'll be able to clear this up, without the situation escalating further," Sinclair-Jones continued and only now did Mick dare to take a deep breath and at least relax a bit. His plan had worked! Or so it seemed for the moment at least…

One of the foreign helicopters had just reached the 'battlefield', circled over it and let its spotlights glide over the many soldiers and finally Mick and Gabriel. Then from this machine a man's voice reverberated through the night: "This is John G. Ruthers speaking on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department and National Guard. Your military action is not authorized and therefore highly punishable! Lay down your arms and remain calm until the police have secured the area - and you won't be harmed. I repeat: Lay down your arms - otherwise we'll be forced to open fire!"

And the second miracle of the day happened. Mick couldn't really see what the men of the Legion were doing, but he could _hear _them, could hear loud and clear as guns were secured and laid down, even though the atmosphere around him hadn't really lost its tension, the men of the legion were still pretty upset and nervous.

Gabriel had started to move again and for the second time that night it was as if a whole mountain range had fallen from Mick's chest when only seconds later he was able to look into the bright blue of his eyes. The old vampire blinked dully against the intensity of the ever-moving lights gliding over them, but Mick could hear that his heart was beginning to beat stronger and a little bit of strength was flowing back into his weakened body. It had really been the antidote! The doctor and therefore Sinclair-Jones had really meant to keep them both alive, and that meant there was a real chance of negotiating with these men.

The wind around them grew stronger and Mick looked with narrowed eyes up to the helicopter in which Judge Ruthers was sitting. If he wasn't mistaken, this machine was now also in the landing approach and Mick's heart was again quickly pumping blood through his veins. However, the excitement that was currently gripping him was that of a much more joyful nature. Finally the right people were getting together - they finally had the chance to restore order in this ungodly mess, and could perhaps bring about peace, for which they had all painfully longed for, for awhile now.

"Mick…" The somewhat gravelly voice belonged to Gabriel, Mick noted immediately. He had lifted his head and tried to raise himself while leaning on one elbow, but even this was too much as his strength hadn't yet returned enough. Mick immediately grabbed for him boldly, supported the old vampire and helped him to at least sit up. But that was enough to make the doctor, who had stood a little perplexed at their side the entire time, back away a few steps.

Mick lifted a hand reassuringly. "Easy!" he shouted over the noise of the helicopter now landing on their other side. "We're not a threat to anyone! All we want is to negotiate!"

The doctor didn't seem to believe him, because he moved farther away from them, his gaze still on them, in the direction of the Legion's helicopter, from which Sinclair-Jones, with the help of the pilot, was just emerging. The old man really didn't look too well, still held firmly to the door of the helicopter, even after he had long since had the ground under his feet. Mick realized that the doctor hadn't necessarily fled from them, but perhaps had only wanted to rush to help Sinclair-Jones, because he now put his arm around his shoulders and helped him to slowly move towards them. Mick decided to do the same with Gabriel and the old vampire didn't resist. It was simply more dignified to meet your future negotiating partners face to face.

"Mick!" It was another familiar voice Mick heard and turned far enough to see who climbed out of the other helicopter and rushed over to them: a very worried looking Benjamin Talbot followed by an older gentleman in a suit and manicured mustache and goatee and… Carl Davis, looking really fit and healthy.

"Is everything alright?" Ben asked anxiously, as he reached them and Mick nodded, while Gabriel added a quiet "Getting there", but the young lawyer couldn't hear with all the noise around them.

Mick's eyes, however, had long stayed on Judge Ruthers' face, trying to read what was going on inside this man. He seemed very tense, but also curious to a certain degree. At least the judge eyed him up with a strange, yet benevolent smile on his lips.

Ben, who had noticed that they were both looking at each other intently, seemed to now feel obliged to introduce them to each other verbally. "Mick, Gabriel… my uncle, John G. Ruthers…" He pointed with a brief gesture to the rather impressive man at his side. "John, these are Gabriel des Archanges and…"

"Mick St. John," Ruthers simply anticipated his nephews next words and stretched out his hand to Mick, who took it without hesitation. "We could have been spared a lot of trouble if someone had told me a little earlier, from _which_ St. John family you originated, Mick," the judge added with an almost apologetic smile as he shook his hand.

Mick blinked at him confused. "_Which_ St. John family?" he repeated, but Ruthers gaze had long since focused on something else behind Mick and shortly there after, released his hand and stepped past him towards Sinclair-Jones, who had now also reached them.

"Was all this really necessary Rudolph?" The judge brought out in a reproachful tone, and swept his arms toward the small army of the Legion. "You've got a lot of things to explain to me!"

Sinclair-Jones nodded silently and Mick looked at him, frowning. Somehow, this man seemed familiar. He had seen him somewhere before…

"I think we _all_ have a lot of explaining to do to_ each other_," Gabriel added now, and Ruthers finally looked at him.

"The question is whether we're all _willing_ to," the judge added. "I certainly won't tolerate anymore of this, at any rate, that something other than words is fought here! Your cry for help to the police has at least shown me that _you_'ve become more thoughtful and no longer want to take the route of fighting and injustice." He turned back a little to Sinclair-Jones. "And this insight, hopefully, the Legion will show a little of as well!"

"We will," the old man replied almost humbly, yet Mick felt that behind his subservience wasn't only insight, but also a real need, an urgency to now get to the negotiations as fast as possible.

"Well," Ruthers said and looked over at the still-closed door of the cleaner's station. "Is there a room inside where we can all talk undisturbed?" He turned to Gabriel.

"There certainly is," was the almost relieving answer.

Ruthers looked thoughtfully around their group. "I think it would be good if all those present would participate in the negotiations as well. Furthermore, I'd like to see this Peterson and the doctor who performed this miracle cure on Lieutenant Davis. Are there any others besides the participants in our circle?"

"Yes," Sinclair-Jones said immediately. "Paul Ritchcroft and Commander Collins who also belong to our top management and was involved in leading this mission here."

Ruthers nodded and then looked at Gabriel.

"Josef Kostan, Lance DuVall and… Beth Turner," said the old vampire and Mick was left standing with his mouth wide open for a moment. He hadn't expected this and didn't really know what to make of it. But he didn't have much time to think about it, because the judge had already nodded in agreement and uttered a requesting "Shall we?" which prompted the others to immediately set in motion. Mick followed still supporting Gabriel, as he had still not found his bearings and needed his help urgently.

But halfway to the station Ruthers stopped again and looked up into the sky, were another helicopter had now joined the other three - a helicopter with the clearly visible insignia of the CBS - News. The press had finally arrived and Mick made three crosses internally.

"Was that really necessary?" It slipped in a slightly worried tone from Ruthers lips and he looked at him almost reproachfully.

Mick couldn't help it: His mouth lifted into a provocative smile. "I guess so," he shot back and put such strength in his voice that the judge couldn't miss what he was actually saying: We're not going to be short changed by anyone anymore. Today, the cards of power would be reshuffled.


	80. Past and Future Part 1

_Oooh, so many reviews - your are the best! Hug and kiss you! That motivated me so much. And here's the next chapter for you – or better a part of it because the whole chapter will be too long in the end to post it in one piece. __I hope you'll enjoy it and maybe have time to leave a comment for me again that I'm able to write even faster and post the next chapter again at Saturday. Have in any case a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**P****ast and Future** (Part 1)

* * *

"_One thing is only true beside the other, and I always think the world is provided spacious enough to embrace it all: that what was, must not be cleared away, only be slowly changed, just as that what will be, does not fall from heaven in the very last moment, but has always lived besides us, around us and in our hearts, waiting for the sign, calling it into the visible."_

_Rainer Maria Rilke_

* * *

She wasn't quite as pale as she had been a few minutes ago and the shaking had stopped, just as her heart was now beginning to beat much slower. But I felt that Beth's tension and her troubled state of mind hadn't yet completely disappeared. How could it? _My_ own emotional chaos was still there. At least _I_ could count on my cool vampire side to take control of my emotions and therefore my body. That was the only reason why I had been able to hold Beth back, as she had been on the verge of running out to Mick, and to suppress my own desire to do the exact same thing with a vengeance.

There had been this terrible moment when Gabriel had suddenly gone down to his knees and the Legionnaires had opened fire on him and Mick – at that moment, it hadn't only been Beth's heart that stopped. For a few seconds it had been deadly silent in the technical center, where we watched the events unfold out there - and rightly so, because if _all_ the soldiers had opened fire on our two friends, they would, without a doubt, not have survived this faulty action by the Legion. As it was, it had only been a few soldiers who had been quickly restrained by their comrades as well as the descending helicopter in front of Mick and Gabriel, that had prevented both from being killed to our deep relief.

Of course, Beth had been far from through fighting against my grip, because it had been just as clear to her as it was to me, that the risk for Mick and Gabriel hadn't yet been over. Quite the contrary - the helicopter had, for my taste, landed too close to our friends and I had already anticipated that a small group of Legionnaires would jump out of the machine and rush to Mick and Gabriel to take them away. That it had only been one man, who had appeared, calmed me immensely and had helped me utter the reassuring, "Nothing will happen to him, Beth. Just wait and see!" convincingly. Yet, she hadn't really believed me. It was only when the sirens of the approaching police vehicles had been heard and Logan had informed us that three other helicopters were heading our way and were for sure not the Legion's, did she abandoned her resistance and took a deep breath.

Logan had radioed one of the helicopters directly and to our surprise, only a short time later, Talbot got on the line, who advised us to stay in the station and under no circumstances were we to intervene. His uncle and he had ensured us that Mick and Gabriel would make it out of the whole situation unscathed and that they would get the Legion to call off their attack. And so it had happened.

To tell the truth, I still couldn't believe that Mick's plan had in fact worked. In my eyes, he had never taken such a high risk before - and with a boldness and optimism, which I didn't understand at all. But it might have been just this attitude that had allowed this crazy plan to succeed, because with his new attitude and his, even for a vampire, above average senses, he could assess the people around him even better than before - and that was saying a lot because Mick had, in this respect, always been very talented. _I_ and some of my other friends had been quite surprised by Sinclair-Jones and Ruthers' behavior.

Gabriel's hidden microphone had enabled us to hear what was going on outside, and Ruthers' words had let all of us, who had been left here waiting, once again breathe easy. Lance and Malik had reacted rapidly, immediately taking it upon themselves to not only inform the other vampires that there would be no battle and to retreat so as not to give the wrong impression, but also to prepare the room in which the negotiations would take place. I myself had decided to stay with Beth to ensure she came back to her senses. For this reason, I now handed her a glass of water, which Logan had gone for on my command.

She glanced at my hand then shook her head, only to turn and stare at the monitor in front of us again, which showed the small group surrounding Mick and Gabriel, slowly approaching the entrance to our station.

"Beth, you need to drink this!" I urged her now, just grabbed her wrist and pressed the glass into her hand. "You should see what you look like! You won't make it through negotiations like this!"

She now felt compelled to look at me, gave a little sigh and began to drink.

"Shall I get you something to eat, too?" Logan asked, eyeing her up anxiously from the side. "You probably haven't eaten anything in ages - and that's not good, especially for you!"

I furrowed my brows in surprise, because Logan's comment seemed a little odd, while Beth was already shaking her head. She quickly gulped down the remaining water. "I can't eat anything right now," she said. "But thanks for the water. I feel a bit better now…" She looked at me. "Can… can we go meet him at the door?" she asked with a pleading expression in her eyes that actually made me nod.

A quick glance back at the monitor told me Mick and the others had reached the front door of the station and I opened the door to the hallway and nodded invitingly for the now terribly relieved looking Beth. She hurried past me nearly at the speed of a vampire and I had to push it a bit to catch up with her again. Not far from us, Mick and Gabriel were entering the hallway, followed by Ruthers and Sinclair-Jones, who were both looking around with contained suspicion and of course immediately discovered Beth and me. But their presence didn't prevent Beth from rushing to Mick and then engulfing him in a hug, with a sound of profound relief, pressing him tightly to herself.

"Don't you ever do something like that again!" I could hear her muttering into Mick's shoulder, who, unlike me, didn't find the whole thing totally embarrassing and instead returned the hug and mumbled a quiet "Okay" into her hair.

I gave the judge a slightly embarrassed smile and offered him my hand quickly. "Josef Kostan," I introduced myself and the judge took my hand and squeezed it hard, returning my smile openly.

"I've heard of you, even before this whole thing blew up," he said. "You deal with hedge funds. _Kostan Industries_, right?"

Oh, God! There it was - my old life! Bringing back this painful yearning for these old times. "Yeah," I gave back a little wistfully. "It's been a long time…"

Beth now finally had herself back under control and also turned to our guests. "I'm sorry," she said with a cute blush around the cheeks. "But…" She sighed deeply and then looked a little reproachfully at Talbot. "You really took your time!"

"Ah, actually our conversation was supposed to take place a little later, Miss… Turner is it?" Ruthers replied instead of his nephew with a small smile and held out his hand.

Beth hesitated a moment, then nodded with a gentle smile, probably because she had decided she might not want to reveal her new marital status to anyone just yet, and took the proffered hand.

"And you're Ben's uncle, Judge Ruthers?"

He nodded, still smiling, then let go of her hand and looked at his nephew. "_Ben_?" he asked and raised an eyebrow, actually embarrassing Talbot somewhat.

"Beth worked for me for a while as a civilian investigator," the young man said quickly and then turned to the old, sickly looking man behind him, who looked at Beth with a very strange, indefinable expression in his eyes.

"Maybe you'd like to introduce yourself also?" Talbot suggested with a much cooler voice.

"Do you think that's really necessary?" the old man replied tiredly, and was finally able to avert his gaze from Beth to look at the young lawyer. "Why don't you just say: This is the man who's to blame for everything - because that's what you already think, isn't it?"

"Oh - not you alone," Talbot replied, and his eyes immediately went to Gabriel, who was currently staying very much in the background. Truth be told, he even looked a little absent minded. But his heart was again beating strongly and rhythmically in his chest and he seemed to be getting stronger by the minute. It was more likely that he was doing as little as possible in order to gather his energy for the upcoming negotiations. So it wasn't surprising when he responded to Talbot's accusations with only a slight twitch of his eyebrows.

"Okay, maybe we shouldn't clarify that here, but somewhere where we can all sit down and talk quietly about everything," Ruthers quickly intervened and I agreed with him with a nod. I liked this man. He seemed to be thoughtful and intelligent. Perhaps with him it would be possible to clear up things between us and the Legion once and for all.

"Just follow me," I said, and simply turned around and walked down the hall. There weren't that many rooms with a space large enough for such a group, and after a few yards I felt where Thomas and Lance were and didn't have to guess which room we would be in.

They were still busy carrying a few more chairs into the room when we arrived and greeted us with a curt nod. Then Thomas left the room, closing the door behind Carl, who'd been the last to enter. Our guests surveyed the room before settling at the broad table one after the other, from which our fate would soon be decided, and the rest soon followed suit, compelling all of us to finally begin with the all-important conversations.

It was Ruthers who, after everyone had assembled, was the first to raise his voice again. "What went on out there shocked me quite a bit, Rudolph", he addressed Sinclair-Jones directly. "I seem to remember that we had agreed such military action or more specifically, acts of war, would not be repeated. I warned you that I wouldn't put up with something like that, and that, should it happen again, I'd make sure your organization was eliminated. Have you anything to say for yourself in defense?"

Sinclair-Jones didn't answer him directly, but instead looked at the man, clad in the typical uniform of the Legion next to him. It was obvious the man didn't feel comfortable in his own skin, but had bravely sucked air through his nose then cleared his throat.

"Rudolph didn't call for this action," he said. "He was actually overruled by the rest of us."

"Who is this 'rest of us'?" Ruthers probed, frowning.

Commander Collins, as the little badge on his breast pocket identified him, clearly hesitated with his answer. His eyes wandered over the rest of us and it was obvious he was reluctant to name these friends.

"Mr. Collins!" Ruthers blurted, now stricter and with audible impatience in his voice. "_Who is this 'rest of us'_?"

Collins first needed a nod of approval from Sinclair-Jones to finally give in at last. "Commander Murray, Commander Harrison and Commander Larson."

"And these gentlemen are part of the leadership of the Legion?" Ruthers probed further.

This time Collins nodded.

"Where are they now? In L.A.?"

Again there was a reluctant nod as an answer.

"Have they been informed of the fact that we've gathered here now?"

"Yeah."

One really had to give credit to the Legion. They were, when it came to an exchange of information, damn fast.

"Well," Ruthers now said. "I want to see these men after this meeting - is that possible?"

"I think so," Sinclair-Jones replied this time. "It'll be necessary and they're all reasonable enough to accept this."

Ruthers looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment then his eyes roamed again across the faces of all those present. He gave a little sigh and shook his head almost sadly.

"I wish there was another reason for this meeting," he said, his sadness about the current situation now audible in his voice. "I wish I'd reacted sooner, that I'd taken the time to familiarize myself with the additional information and paid closer attention to my duties to the society in which I live and that I'm supposed to help. If I had, this whole situation would probably not have escalated like it did. But in my defense, I wasn't made aware of quite a few things that have transpired in the last year. I was intentionally shielded from it, I'm sure to prevent me from intervening too soon, and let me tell you, that fills me with great anger and a deep disappointment. I only hope that some things are not as they appear at the moment. There are a lot of things we need to clarify and come to terms with before we can begin working on finding a solution to these very serious problems." He looked at all of us once again and his gaze finally stopped at Mick.

"There's one thing I'd like to know in advance," Ruther's said to him. "What have you told the press so far?"

"Not much, yet," Mick replied calmly and on Ruthers' face appeared a strange smile.

"This, 'yet'… why is it I get the feeling there's a threat hidden in this word?"

Mick returned his smile now confidently. "_Threat_ is a very serious word. I'm not threatening anyone here. Everything I do is to protect those who are close to me, as well as myself, and if possible, without a weapon."

"Maybe you'd like to explain this further to Rudolph, Mr. Collins and myself?" Ruthers asked my friend with a slight impatience in his voice.

"Well…" Mick took a deep breath and leaned forward a little, resting his arms on the table and intertwining his fingers. This calmness… it was really incredible! "My intentions were to record my whole story and tell someone, outside this conflict, about it: Everything that's been done to me, everything that's happened inside my body - particularly from a medical standpoint. This video has now been recorded and hidden and will never reach the light of day, should these negotiations lead to a satisfactory outcome in my opinion. And, as for the future, it also guarantees the safety and security for my friends and I, so we can lead a relatively normal life."

Sinclair Jones inhaled sharply, while Ruthers and the commander also gave a deeply anxious to slightly irritated impression. Lance had also become a little paler, while Gabriel's face remained as impassive as ever - though this information had to be new and quite shocking to him as well.

"This means if things don't turn out as you imagine…" Ruthers began.

"…the video will be sent to every human rights organization and every news office that exists here in the U.S.," Mick simply finished the Judge's sentence with an affirmative nod. And now even I had to hold my breath for a moment.

"Does this video also contain the clips from the experimental labs I've seen?" was the next tense question.

"Yes," Mick replied in a firm voice, and I admired him for his theatrical abilities, because I knew, with all certainty, that my friend had had no access to these terrible videos yet, and thus hadn't been able to use it for their project with Nate.

"Are our names mentioned in this video?" Ruthers asked further pointing to himself and Sinclair-Jones.

Mick nodded again and even the judge had to take a deep breath now.

"For someone who says they want to proceed without weapons Mr. St. John, you're using some pretty dangerous ammunition," he said gravely. "The public is one of the most dangerous weapons available today! You can destroy careers and entire lives within the blink of an eye!"

Ruthers paused and looked at Mick intently. But my friend didn't react to this unspoken request to respond, rather he seemed to want to wait and see whether the judge had anything else to say instead. And he did!

"But after everything I've seen and heard about you, you have every right in the world to use this kind of weapon," he added with emphasis, looking sternly at Sinclair-Jones and Commander Collins in particular. "And we'll all strive to ensure that you don't end up having to put your emergency plan into action…"

It remained silent in the room for a few heartbeats as everyone seemed to be absorbed in their own thoughts and tried to get their troubled emotions under control. They were upset, that was apparent on every face I looked at. Although, of the vampires present, I was sure the excitement shown on _their_ faces was rather that of a joyful nature, because as it looked now, Gabriel's plan to get Ruthers on our side with the CD had worked. It was the Legion and their representatives, who were now forced to explain their actions and to draw a better picture of their own - and they did, initiated by a slight clearing of the throat by Sinclair-Jones.

"I didn't show up here today to defend the actions of our organization, or to take certain persons under protective custody who've acted arbitrarily and unreasonably, and thus brought about so much suffering to so many people," he said in a faint voice. "I'm sure by now you all know the Legion was divided. What hasn't yet filtered to the outside, is that this has led to further sub-groups being formed on both sides, which internally have acted against each other, ensuring this organization is slowly dissolving piece by piece, causing more and more chaos and injustice. In recent weeks I've succeeded to again form a core group around me that I can work with rationally who will continue to try and bring its other members here in the States to their senses and iron out the problems and misdeeds these other people have created. That's why I'm here. I _want_ these negotiations. I too_ want _to resolve this conflict to all our great delight without any more victims. And I will do my utmost to come to a reasonable solution to all our problems."

"When you say the misdeeds and mistakes of others…," Talbot now probed, "are you now implying that you had nothing to do with all these research projects within your organization?"

My eyes immediately flew back to Rudolph. Now this was getting exciting!

But the old man took his time answering. He leaned back in his chair, dropped his shoulders and took a deep breath. "No, I'm not," he surprised me as well with his honesty. "I carry a large part of the blame on my shoulders for your suffering, Mr. St. John, because it was me who brought the medical research involving the BXA-serum and the blood of vampires back to life a few years ago and intensified it. But it only came about because of a desperate situation."

"By, 'back to life', does that mean the Legion has conducted these kinds of experiments before?" Ruthers asked now and between his eyebrows a deep crease had formed that expressed both his anger over this fact _and_ his concern regarding this topic.

Sinclair-Jones nodded affirmatively. "The Legion has conducted research with the blood of vampires and the cure for as long as I can remember. Our organization has always been interested in learning what makes vampires so special, where their enormous strengths come from and whether it was possible to transmit these strengths to normal people, without them mutating into dangerous blood-suckers."

"That means from the very beginning it was really about creating super-soldiers?" Talbot asked shocked.

"Yes - among other things," Rudolph admitted reluctantly, "but it was only being pursued to protect human society!"

"Because nobody trusted _us_ to provide that protection," Gabriel added. "Although we had promised to. Your distrust was too great."

"And we were correct, weren't we?" Rudolph replied somewhat indignant. "There have always been vampires who preyed on innocent humans, whose main goal was to gain power over human society…"

"Just as there have always been humans who've pursued peaceful vampires for no reason, torturing and killing them," Gabriel immediately replied stridently. "There were out and out mass killings, Rudolph! Fuelled by the Legion. Vampires have never done anything _to this_ extent to humans - not while _I've_ supervised the community! And that's a _very_ long time!"

"And what about the _Cercle du Sang_?" Sinclair-Jones went on to attack.

"Yes, _what about_ the _Cercle du Sang_, Rudolph?" Gabriel immediately shot back and in his eyes this energy now finally sparkled that we had sorely missed in the last few days. "What enticed you to team up with this gang?"

Rudolph looked at the old vampire in consternation, blinked a few times.

"Timothy Soreign?" Gabriel tried to remind him. "Does the name ring any bells?"

"Yes, that's one of _your_ cover-names in the Legion…" Sinclair-Jones was now clearly confused.

"Wrong!" it immediately shot out of Gabriel again. "It _had been _once. Nicholas de Chambour, head of the _Cercle du Sang,_ has used this name for quite some time now, has probably hidden within the Legion for years and spied on you and led you around by the nose, with it."

Rudolph's mouth opened, but he brought out nothing for a brief moment. Instead, his face turned even paler than it had already been. "But… I thought he was one of your men!" he finally stammered. "I thought… I thought you knew about the research, knew what we were trying to achieve with it and you were even secretly participating in this through him. That's why I was so shocked when you suddenly turned against us, began to fight with us!"

"Wait!" Ruthers raised his hand, commanding they halt and I was really glad he did. It was all moving a little too fast for me to follow. "I really want to understand everything." The judge looked at Gabriel. "You have secret identities within the Legion?"

"Yes, this was part of the contracts we signed in 1799 in Scotland. I actually have the right from time to time to secretly check out what's going on in the Legion. Only Rudolph knows the names by which I move within the Legion."

"And if you're discovered?"

"Nothing would happen to me, because I always have one of the protection symbols of the Legion with me during these operations."

"Hold on a minute," Talbot threw in quickly, suddenly acting all excited and he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the amulet that he had shown me recently. "A symbol like this one?" He asked, putting it in the middle of the table.

Gabriel stretched out his hand immediately interested and then moved it closer to him. "No," he said. "This amulet is only acknowledged by the mediators, which should be protected and respected by both sides. It's a combination of two of the many symbols of protection. The tree of life stands for the protection of the Legion and provides admission to each of its institutions and the lily cross stands for the protection of the Des Archanges and keeps the Entfants Lunaires from threatening the carrier of the amulet in any way." He looked at Ruthers. "Did you receive this from your father shortly before he died?"

The judge nodded. "He told me a little bit about it - unfortunately far too little – but mainly he said that this amulet would protect the carrier if there should again be conflicts between the Legion and the Entfants Lunaires. It proffered him a certain sacrosanctity. Now, I know he'd been right." He breathed in audibly through his nose and closed his eyes to refocus on the important things. "Okay – so, there were these aliases you used in the Legion. How did this work?"

"Well, identities were developed for these names, so one could employ any person at will," Rudolph kept on explaining. "This meant Gabriel could send someone he was confident in to look after the Legion from time to time too - and I thought that Timothy was one of them. It was strange that he stayed so long, but I thought…" He paused, looked at Gabriel insecure. "I really thought you knew what I was trying to achieve and that you hadn't only given your consent for this research, but were even working with us behind the backs of the other vampires. I mean…" He let out a deep sigh. "Timothy had so much inside information. He could get us the remedy and even the blood of very old vampires, could give us the names of the vampires who were particularly well suited for the research."

"And this Timothy actually belongs to the _Cercle du Sang_?" Ruthers wanted to know.

"Yes," Gabriel admitted frankly. "Unfortunately there are also people in our community, who don't play by the rules and strive for very questionable goals – just as it happened within the Legion."

"And this _Cercle du Sang_ is partly responsible for this whole disaster?" the judge inquired.

"It seems so," Sinclair-Jones admitted resigned and then turned back to Gabriel. "And I have… all this time I assumed it was _you_ behind it all. That _you_ had split the Legion and deliberately pulled some of us over to your side to take over our research and its results and were simultaneously attacking us from the other side with the vampires…"

"Where does this distrust come from, Rudolph?" Gabriel exclaimed slightly annoyed. "What have I ever done for you to think that I could forge these kinds of intrigues against the Legion and at the same time deceive the whole vampire community?"

"I don't know… I…" He dodged Gabriel's intense gaze and sighed deeply and heavily. "There were rumors. Rumors that you were stuck in a deep emotional crisis, and not in your right mind anymore. I know I shouldn't have believed them, should have contacted you first. But you were nowhere to be found and with all the secrecy that's always followed you…" He shrugged his shoulders somewhat helplessly. "People who have so much power and only need to justify it to a few can turn megalomaniac. That's happened so often in the course of history."

Gabriel's face remained unmoved, though I felt Rudolph's words had cut him deeply, as it was once again shown to him, that his own policy of absolute power and secrecy, had in effect, led to this disaster. "Why have you not confronted Timothy Soreign?" He finally asked, now sounding a bit more conciliatory.

"I wanted to," Rudolph replied sadly. "But at that point it was already too late and he had long since gone into hiding. You can't imagine how many supporters this man has already found in the Legion. He's protected from all sides, has brought so many stations under his command. And to this day I still can't get a hold of him."

"You're not the only one," Gabriel replied with a similar resigned intonation.

"Does this mean the man you've been looking for over the last couple of months, is Timothy Soreign?" Ruthers again addressed Sinclair-Jones.

"Yes and no," was Rudolph's slightly confusing answer. "I thought Timothy was just a facade for Gabriel and…" The sound coming from his lips now had a strong resemblance to that of a frustrated growl. "God, you can't imagine how hard I've racked my brains trying to figure out how you were doing all this, Gab!" he turned back to Gabriel. "This balancing act of fighting for _and_ against the vampire community and the Legion all at the same time without blowing your cover… I just couldn't figure out _why_ you would do that, and what could have happened to cause you to lose your mind so much. But now I'm beginning to realize how stupid I was myself and… I… I'm sorry. I'm really, really terribly sorry… about the losses on both sides, about the fears and the pain everyone has had to endure and about… about our friendship, which will probably never be what it once was…"

"Good that you mentioned that," Talbot intervened again and the smile on his lips took on something really scary in itself, as it was so full of rage. "You two are actually _friends_?"

"Rudolph is a Sangsujet from one of the bloodlines I swore to protect for as long as I live," Gabriel explained calmly. "I already knew his parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on. And he became a member of the Supreme Committee of the Legion on August, 4th 1836 and it was on that day that he ingested my blood for the first time."

And then there was silence in the room again as all eyes turned, stunned, to the form of Rudolph, as even we vampires had never before had a _human_ in front of us who was over two hundred years old and still looked no older than eighty. It was incredible what miracles the blood of an Ancient could achieve in the body of a Sangsujet.

"When… when were you born originally?" Talbot exclaimed in disbelief.

"On May, 1st 1769," Rudolph replied quietly.

"Then you were already more than sixty years old, when you were appointed to the Committee?"

Rudolph nodded silently.

"You've barely aged", Ruthers now assessed bewildered.

Again his old friend nodded. "And most of the aging has happened since I no longer have access to Gabriel's blood," he added. "Which has caused me to become sick and will probably kill me someday."

"Is this the reason you started this research up again?" Ruthers asked now. "I mean, did you want to find out how it works, what was keeping you fit and healthy and stopped your aging-process?"

"It was never about me, John," it came now almost desperately from the old man's lips. "It was always about Meggie and her daughter!"

The judge stopped for a moment to breathe and I could see how it worked in his head as his face slowly lit up when the realization hit him.

"Meggie?" Talbot repeated with wide eyes instead because he too seemed to know that person. "Your granddaughter?"

Rudolph nodded sadly.

"What about her?" Mick asked now, frowning.

"She suffers from a rare autoimmune disease," Rudolph said. "And it has now emerged in her daughter. For Meggie, there's little hope, but Paula has a little more time."

"_This_ is the reason for the research?" Ruthers' eyes were similar in size to those of his nephew's - or mine.

Rudolph took a shaky breath. "Autoimmune diseases show up quite often in the bloodlines of the Sangsujets. It had never registered that this could be related to our genes, but… now we know. It's not that the cells that differentiate us from other people no longer work. They're just inactive as long as they don't come into contact with vampire blood, but from time to time they go haywire and that has devastating consequences for some of us. I… I just thought, that if Gabriel's blood helped _me_ so much, why not try to use it for others who are in need? Why not try to produce medications with his blood and the BXA-serum that could help our children, our loved ones, that could heal them?"

"Then it's true," I heard Mick say softly beside me. "There really is a group of Legionaries, who initiated this research for medical reasons!"

"Yes," Rudolph admitted just as softly. "This group consists of five members of the senior leadership of the Legion and some other Commanders, who all have sick family members and want to help them."

"From Europe as well?" Gabriel probed immediately.

Sinclair-Jones hesitated a moment, seemed to weigh just how careful he should be with this information, but then nodded. "From all over the world. But most of them come from the States. You…you've got to believe me, we never intended to trigger a war. This research should have never become common knowledge – not even within the Legion. Especially _because _we were aware that there was already some uproar and critical voices in our organization and things were threatening to slip away from us… But we couldn't stop it, even when the situation escalated and the Legion was in fact torn into two. We had simply come too far, were so close to our goal…"

"How close?" Ruthers now asked and looked at his old friend intently. "The whole situation basically blew up when Mick escaped from the labs. Suddenly, everyone went crazy - even you. Why? How close have you gotten to your goal?"

Rudolph inhaled again, but Gabriel stopped him to say something by raising his hand imperiously. "I think there are quite a few people here who can answer this question much better and more accurately." He then turned to Black-eye, who had been remarkably quiet the entire time. "Get Peterson, August and Ritchcroft."

Lance stood up instantly and was already out of the room in the next second.

"That was your wish anyway," Gabriel added in Ruthers' direction and the judge nodded slightly delayed. What else could he do? The fact was these three men were the most knowledgeable and able to answer all questions regarding the research and the latest medical developments.


	81. Past and Future Part 2

_Sooo… next chapter is ready for your reading. Hope you'll enjoy it. Fat hugs again to my so supporting review-writers. Loved your dear words. I know there are still a lot of open questions – but maybe this chapter answers a few of them. I'll try to be back next Saturday again. Have a great weekend, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by SG6169_

* * *

**Past and Future**(Part 2)

The silence that once again settled between us gave me a little more time to study Mick's face, who had to have been troubled by the latest information. I was wrong. He appeared to be deep in thought. Not excited, not angry or shocked… just thoughtful and I realized then he felt the same as I did. He didn't know whether to be mad at Sinclair-Jones, because he was the cause of his time in the laboratories and had provoked the war, or whether he should forgive him, at least partly, because Rudolph had actually wanted to do something good – even though it was through dishonest, unfair means and fatal consequences, but something good.

Eventually, the cautious clearing of a throat finally resounded within the brooding silence and Beth sat up a little straighter in her chair.

"I really need to say this now because I can't let go of this matter," she began and then took a deep breath. "You two…" Pointing her finger back and forth between Sinclair-Jones and Ruthers. "… have known each other for some time, have even become something like friends - is that correct?"

Both nodded in sync.

"How did that come about?" Beth probed and I had to admit this was a really good question. "I mean, basically members of the committee - as far as I've been told – are not supposed to have close personal contact with each other. At least, the neutral parties shouldn't be influenced by anyone. To me, this seems to be exactly what's happened. Why?"

Ruthers just stared at Beth for a long moment. Then nodded, as if agreeing with his own thoughts that he indeed owed her an answer. "Between 1942 and 1945 there was a big confrontation between the Legion and the Entfants Lunaires, one in which my grandfather was involved but because of the prudent and heroic behavior of two particular men, it was solved without bloodshed or war starting. This crisis led to a change in leadership within the Legion, because, at the suggestion of Haniel de L'Entante…" He looked briefly over to Gabriel. "…who at that time put his back into this quite strongly, a certain Jonathan Sinclair-Jones moved from Europe to America and was appointed the supreme leader of the Legion and a member of the supreme committee. At some point, after my father had long since taken my grandfather's place, the need to question the reasons for this ancient conflict came up, and my father turned to Jonathan to look into the whole affair again. What they found out exactly I can't say for sure because my father never told me the details. All I know is that there were sound reasons that existed for them to question the actions of powerful vampires here as well as in Europe and that this led to a great distrust and ultimately to the end of contact with Haniel de L'Entante. I was advised to stay out of the conflicts between the Legion and the vampires and to only intervene if their conflicts began to attract too much public attention. My father told me I should stay in close contact with Jonathan's son, Rudolph, and to avoid direct contact with the – how did he put it? – _Different Ones_ – that the Legion would know best how to handle them.

"And this change in thinking and acting began with your father?" Beth probed and the judge nodded again, now giving a somewhat sad impression.

"From what I understand, my grandfather and his family, including my father, almost didn't survive this crisis," he explained. "Although my father was still a toddler at that time, I think the trauma of the situation remained and he wasn't able to overcome it until his death."

"And what exactly was this crisis?" Beth remained persistent but her eyes didn't stay with the judge, but wandered to Gabriel. Understandably, because he was probably the only one here who knew the most about this.

"A subgroup of the _Cercle du Sang_ tried to create a disruption between humans and vampires by violating the old contracts when they threatened and even killed people who were under my protection or that of the Legion," Gabriel said immediately. "It was hard to determine who was behind this mischief and what their reasons were and only now am I sure it was indeed the _Cercle du Sang_. I also think it was the _Cercle_ that ensured that the three of us quarreled by spreading false information about me and my followers."

I felt Beth still wanted to ask more questions, but at that moment the door opened and Lance appeared along with Ritchcroft whose eyes immediately shone with relief when he spotted Collins and Sinclair-Jones sitting at the negotiating table. But it wasn't him who raised his voice first, but Frank, who had entered the room behind these two, along with August and then froze in his tracks. He too had his gaze fixed on Rudolph, only his expression was mostly that of horror and disbelief.

"Eth… Ethan?" He stammered and my head flew around to the old man.

"_You're_ this Ethan Crane?" I blurted out, flabbergasted. "_You_ were the one who got Frank mixed up in all this?"

Rudolph nodded guiltily. "He's a luminary in the field of genomics and biogerontology."

"Please just come to the table and sit down first!" Ruthers said with an inviting wave of his hand and August walked the distraught professor unceremoniously over to us and helped him to sit down.

In the meantime, Talbot had turned his attention back to Rudolph and shook his head in disbelief. "So, does this mean you also had something to do with the kidnapping of Peterson?"

"I was against it, Ben!" The old man replied a bit louder now. "I had actually wanted him to work with us voluntarily. And when this terrible accident happened with his family, I no longer wanted him to be caught up in this mess, but just wanted to make sure he didn't divulge his knowledge to the public. It was the others who were eager to force him to continue working with us." Rudolph's reproachful gaze wandered from Commander Collins to Ritchcroft. "They said he had to either be eliminated or made to continue his work in research. Consequently, I withdrew myself from the whole thing."

"Is this true?" Ruthers now turned to Ritchcroft and the man nodded.

"Most of what happened after, took place without Rudolph's involvement," he added. "But you have to understand, we still had the goal of trying to find the key to how to combat dangerous autoimmune diseases."

"And for that you kidnapped a man and put him under pressure," Ruthers added with distinct shock in his voice.

This time Ritchcroft didn't reply and Commander Collins hadn't dared to comment on it either. He didn't have to. Everyone at the table knew the Legion, by their actions, had broken so many laws that their leadership actually should be locked up forever.

"And you used Peterson's kidnapping to lure me into a trap," Mick now also added. "Wasn't that risky?"

"Yes, it was," Ritchcroft admitted quietly. "But it was the best way of enticing you. We knew you were good at your job and would see through an 'arranged case' pretty quickly. We also wanted to give you a little insight into the complicated relationship between the Legion and the vampire community, knowing this was the only way to stop you from exchanging ideas with Mr. Kostan. A little bit of distrust towards your own species can go a long way…"

I gritted my teeth to keep from going for this man's jugular and glared at him instead. But Ritchcroft had no eyes for me, was still looking at Mick.

"We just didn't realize you were _that_ good," he added, respect audible in his voice. "You came pretty damn close to discovering some of our contributors and really caused us to sweat."

"One thing really interests me," Ruthers intervened again. "Why did you need Mick so badly? What distinguishes him from other vampires?"

"He has the right blood type, the right age, the right origins with regard to vampires, and he had already been exposed to the BXA-serum earlier," Ritchcroft explained willingly.

"What do you mean by 'the right blood type'?" Ben probed with a frown.

"Those with A0 negative blood have in most cases genetic characteristics that are not found in other people, for example their cells, which, when agitated, produce certain substances that cause superhuman abilities in the organism and could also be switched off again. It's all very complicated and certainly not something that can be discussed in detail now…"

"And what about the origin and age?"

"Well, the BXA-serum, which can transform a vampire back into a human works especially well with vampires that come from Gabriel's bloodline, meaning they were either turned by him directly or one of his… 'creations'. And the age… in our research we found that in vampires who were already over a hundred years old, their cells had been inactive for too long and could no longer be triggered anymore. And vampires who were too young… their systems were just too unstable and they would not have survived."

"And you've discovered all this through your experiments?" Ruthers asked further and I could read in his eyes how horrified he was by this fact.

Ritchcroft hadn't dared to speak again, but instead just nodded.

"How many?" Ruthers asked, now much quieter. "How many died during these experiments?"

Ritchcroft visibly hesitated, looked over at Sinclair-Jones and Collins, but both of them nodded at him. He took a deep breath. "With this particular project, it was probably around… fifty…"

"_Fifty_?" Ruthers blurted out stunned. "You killed _fifty_ people for this research?"

"Over a period of five years," Ritchcroft tried to defend himself, but in doing so, made the whole thing even worse.

"Do you mean to sit there and tell me ten people a year isn't that great a loss?" the judge uttered upset and his voice nearly cracked while speaking.

"That isn't really accurate," Ritchcroft tried to appease him further. "Most of them…" He trailed off, because he had become aware just in the nick of time that anything else he said now, would only enrage the judge further.

"What!" Ruthers probed immediately. "What about 'most of them'?"

Ritchcroft didn't respond to his question, instead, pressed his lips together so tightly that only a fine line was formed. But the judge still expected an answer to his question.

"Most of them died within the last two years," Peterson responded quietly, after finally recovering from his shock at Ethan Crane's presence. "People felt, because of all the difficulties within the Legion, so pressured that they wanted to achieve success by any means possible. No one even tried anymore to keep the test subjects alive for as long as possible. Instead, they preferred to just bring in more and more new vampires…"

"Is this true?" this time Ruthers turned back to Sinclair-Jones in a sharp voice.

"Yes," the old man replied sadly. "I couldn't do anything about it, John. Everyone around me suddenly began to lose it."

"They're not humans!" Ritchcroft blurted out now. "Vampires can't be compared to human beings. They can transform into real beasts!"

"Humans can too!" Talbot replied just as angrily as his uncle.

"Have you ever come face to face with one of them when he was on a rampage?" Ritchcroft asked him upset. "Have you?"

"Yes," the lawyer replied in a firm voice. "But he wasn't on a rampage - he threw himself between me and a bullet that would have killed me! A bullet fired by a so-called Legionnaire just because I made a wrong move! And you know what? I didn't care what this man looked like while he was doing it. All that mattered was that he had saved my life!"

This time though, Ritchcroft didn't seem to have a comeback for that, and I wondered about this somewhat. This would have been _the_ opportune time to tell the judge what had happened to him during his captivity by us. But he didn't. When I looked at him, I couldn't find any traces of a violent interrogation conducted on him: no newly healed scars or bruises, not even the smell of old blood. Whatever Malik had done with the man during his interrogations, it had left no trace behind - neither on Ritchcroft's body, nor his memories. Strange…

"If I understand this correctly, a vampires appearance changes when they use their special abilities," Ruthers said now thoughtfully and let his gaze wander over all of us sitting around the table, who, in his opinion belonged to this species.

"I want to see," the judge finally said determined and I instantly felt uneasy. "I want to see exactly what these Entfants Lunaires look like! Show me!"

None of us vampires moved. We all knew that this wouldn't be to our advantage, as our vampire-faces took more than a little getting used to and rather conveyed the impression that we were indeed more beasts than humans.

"I'll do it," the silence was suddenly interrupted by an unconcerned voice and Beth squared her shoulders decidedly, confounding all of us. She closed her eyes briefly, pretending as if she was focusing and - of course nothing happened. Not even when she opened her eyes again and looked back at the confused Ruthers.

"And?" she asked provocatively. "What do you think?"

"This… this…" Ritchcroft stammered at his side. "This is nonsense! She's _not_ a vampire!"

Beth gave him a hard look. "How do you know?"

"Vampires look different," he gave back angrily.

"Is that right? Is there anyone here who doesn't look like a human?"

She was really good.

"_Anyone_ here could be a vampire," she added emphatically. "Even you - or the judge. For there is _nothing_ on the outside that distinguishes the Entfants Lunaires from other people."

"Yes! But once they change, they are very much different!" Ritchcroft opposed her, not realizing with his fanaticism that he wasn't really giving a sympathetic impression in front of the judge. "When they enable their forces, they look completely different!"

"And for this reason we should deny they're human beings?" Beth probed, angrily glaring at him. "Because they sometimes look different? This gives you the right to hunt, torture and do brutal experiments on them?"

Ritchcrofts breathing had become much faster by now, clearly showing us how upset he was, but this time he lacked the words to oppose Beth's arguments. The young woman then turned to Peterson.

"Would you correct me, if I say something wrong?"

Frank nodded quickly and Beth looked back over at Ruthers. "Every individual who sits at this table today was born a normal human being in this world," she said, using the same words Mick had previously used to reach the other vampires. "At some point in their lives some of them came into contact with a virus that changed their genetics. They were made sick because of this and at the same time acquired superhuman powers which most people fear. For this reason, people with this disease have hidden their special abilities from the world, formed their own community because they knew they would otherwise be demonized, persecuted or even killed. Most of them nowadays strive to satisfy their addiction to blood, which is caused by the disease, in a way that no one has to be harmed – of this I'm convinced. Even earlier there were many voluntary blood donors who were close friends with these people. Today it's possible to donate blood intravenously that can be stored so it isn't even necessary for them to take it directly from the donor. Very few of these people are aggressive or dangerous - and believe me, I've already come to know a lot of them. All they want is to live as quietly and peacefully in society as anyone else. They don't deserve to be titled monsters just because they're ill, because they're different and therefore forced to live a little differently!"

"But they _are_ dangerous!" Ritchcroft could no longer hold back. "They are so much stronger than us and not all of them are good!"

"I didn't say they were," Beth replied immediately. "Of course there are criminals among them, but not more than the criminals among us 'normal' people!"

"And who's going to take action against these criminals among the 'special' people?"

"Us," it came from Mick and Gabriel at the same time.

"But you're not!" Ritchcroft uttered angrily.

"We very well _are_ doing this," replied Gabriel, also a little upset. "We've always done it. And some of you know that very well!" His gaze wandered over to Sinclair-Jones and the old man nodded at once.

"It's even written in the old contracts," he admitted quietly. "The community of the Entfants Lunaires has vowed to protect people from the criminals within their ranks, to pursue and punish them."

"And you've been doing this all this time?" Ritchcroft asked with audible doubt in his voice.

"We've always tried to at least," Gabriel admitted now a bit calmer. "Of course from time to time we've had our problems with one or the other of these criminals. We're not perfect, but that doesn't mean we haven't tried to impose law and order also from our side. That you didn't even realize we were doing this is perhaps due to the fact it has to be done secretly. Our actions must be concealed in order to hide this from the public's attention. And don't try to tell me you've never heard of our 'Cleaner' teams!"

Ritchcroft remained silent for now and it was just as well. He would certainly not have been able to argue further without entangling himself in his own lies, and if truth be told, my fingers were just itching to shut his cheeky mouth in a not so appropriate way. So, it was for the best that he remained silent, at least for a moment.

"The Cleaners… is this a kind of police force for the Enfants Lunaires?" the judge asked.

Gabriel nodded. "You could say that. But there are also others who have time and again taken care of the tracking and elimination of criminals in our ranks."

"And one of those, who's made it his mission in life to protect other, weaker humans against not only these criminals, but also against human criminals with his special strength, _you've _captured and tortured," Beth added with emphasis, looking at Ritchcroft full of contempt. "He's not only saved _my_ life but the lives of many others, without demanding anything in return."

"Mick saved you?" Ruthers questioned gently and Beth nodded quickly.

"When I was a little kid," she said, and looked at Mick with all her love. "To me he was never a beast. He was… he was my guardian angel…"

A small smile played around Mick's lips and I could see he had grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed it gently, really needed this contact with her through all the excitement. It had been a wise decision by Gabriel to involve Beth in these negotiations - which also showed me the judge's next words.

"But you yourself are still a 'normal' human?" Ruthers made Beth look at him again.

"Yes," she replied calmly.

"And you are fighting on the side of the Entfants Lunaires?"

She nodded affirmatively.

"Why?"

Beth didn't need long to think about the answer. "Because… because they've become like family to me. They're the warmest, bravest, most solidly united people I've ever met. They deserve that you fight for them! _They're_ the victims in this war, _not_ the perpetrators!"

"By now there should be no doubt of that," Carl Davis now also added to my surprise and all eyes roamed to him. He took a short breath. "I must admit that I too initially had my doubts. But they've all vanished in the last few days."

"Because these 'special' people saved your life?" the judge asked and Carl nodded.

"Not just once."

"You fought on the side of these men here and were seriously injured, can you explain to us what happened to you afterwards?"

Carl nodded again. "I was taken to a hospital and given little chance of surviving because the bullet that struck me released liquid silver into my bloodstream and any attempt to wash it out of my system wasn't possible in my critical condition. Eventually, Dr. Kendlroe showed up in my room. He told me there might be a way to fight the silver in my body. But he also said there's a chance that I could be…" Carl hesitated a bit. "… well… be turned into a vampire or it could kill me even faster…"

"Yet you took the medicine anyway," Ruthers added.

"Yes. I didn't have that many options at the time."

"And you're still a human being."

"Not only that – I feel better than I ever have before!" Carl said with shining eyes. "From time to time, I had these intense back pains, which stemmed from an old gunshot wound and a few annoying allergies. All of that's gone now! I feel on top of the world and have the blood of a newborn infant - completely free of toxins or any other harmful elements."

"And no appetite for blood?" Ritchcroft now probed and the first sparks of enthusiasm could be seen in his eyes.

Carl shook his head.

"No additional extraordinary powers?"

Again the lieutenant replied with a shake of the head.

"This… this is unbelievable!" Ritchcroft uttered with a laugh and I hated him all the more for it, for I knew exactly what was behind this laughter.

"What miracle cure have you concocted?" Ruthers turned almost immediately to August.

"A cure using Mick St. John's blood and a more aggressive version of the BXA-serum," August replied quietly. "Along with a few other ingredients…"

"And this drug in effect has healed Lieutenant Davis' wounds and helped his body to make a complete recovery?"

"So it seems," August said. "We still have to wait to see if anything happens in the coming days and weeks. But for now everything looks amazingly good."

"And without Mr. St. John's blood…?"

"… I wouldn't have been able to help him."

The judge tilted his head slightly and let his gaze roam from Carl to Mick and then back to August. "How did you get hold of St. John's blood?"

"He gave it to me," was the truthful answer, and only at that moment, when August said that, did I realized how truly admirable this act alone was - after all Mick had been put through in the last year.

"He _voluntarily_ made himself available for further experimentation?" Ruthers probed.

"Yes," August replied, "because he knew I wanted to help other people with it."

The judge's eyes wandered over to Mick and he looked very thoughtful at his face for a seemingly endless moment.

"Why did you do that?"

Mick shrugged. "It's just blood. My body can re-produce it. I'm no longer a prisoner and wasn't forced to do this and it was being used to do something good - _really_ good."

"And if Rudolph here asked you to make your blood available to him as well to save his granddaughter and her child - would you also fulfill _his_ request?"

Mick thought about it only briefly, then he nodded and everyone could tell that he was quite serious. "Would _you not _do this?"

Ruther's mouth lifted into a smile that was full of open admiration for my young friend. "No, I don't think I would. If _I'd_ gone through as much hell as you had, I would want to retaliate against those who had brought so much misery down on me." He shook his head in disbelief. "You're a special person Mick St. John. But that doesn't surprise me…"

Sinclair-Jones also leaned forward in disbelief now. "You'd really do that?" he asked Mick and I could hear how the old man's heart had already begun to beat faster.

"Your granddaughter and her child didn't do anything to me," Mick replied. "They probably don't even know about the experiments that were conducted on their behalf - just like all the other sick people who are somehow involved with the Legion. Why would I want to let them die if somehow I can prevent this?"

"Why would you even ask?" Beth voiced the question that I had already had on my tongue and looked at Rudolph with raised eyebrows. "I thought your last experiments had been successful with one of your patients."

"Yes, but only temporarily," Ritchcroft interjected again. "The last time I heard about the woman, she was beginning to get worse again. So far we've not been able to achieve any long-term effects using the meds produced with your blood. How long ago was your treatment, Mr. Davis?"

Carl seemed to think this through. "Six days, I think."

Ritchcroft respectfully raised his eyebrows. "This… this is really incredible!"

"I think Mick's whole system has, since he was rescued by his friends, changed once again dramatically," Peterson said now. "The blood _you_ previously took from him is different from that which his body is now producing. Previously, he was dependent on other medications for him to survive. He can do that without most of them now."

"Exactly what was done to him?" Ruthers probed further now and then looked back at Mick. "What… what are you now?"

"A hybrid," Mick replied calmly. "They wanted to make a human being who has the self-healing powers and other special abilities of a vampire, but without the negative side effects, such as this dangerous anemia, the sensitivity to the sun and fire, or the dependence of cold and blood - a mixture of both forms of existence in which all negative aspects are eliminated."

"And that has indeed been accomplished with you?"

"No," Mick replied honestly. "Although I'm a mix and have far fewer problems than a normal human being or a vampire, the craving for blood is still there for me. My addiction is not quite as huge, but it's still there. And if I want to exploit my healing-abilities fully, I have to turn for period of time into a full vampire."

"What does that mean?"

"My system switches over completely. I then have a different blood pressure, a different pulse, a different metabolism…"

"Is that in any way obvious from the outside?"

Mick hesitated a moment, because he knew, just as well as I did, where this line of questioning was heading again, but then he nodded.

"Can you show me?"

"Haven't you already seen it in the videos?"

Mick was right. Especially during the ill-treatment by Gallagher Mick had turned again and again. The judge _did _know what a vampire looked like!

"I would still like to see it with my own eyes," he said now. "Or are you still hiding… Oh, my God!" Ruthers slipped back with his chair with wide eyes, because, to our surprise, my best friend had indeed transformed within seconds - _completely_ transformed. White-blue eyes, pale skin - only his fangs were still hidden behind his closed lips. But not for long.

"I hide _nothing_ from you," Mick said, and now the tips of his canines flashed a little while speaking, making Ruthers swallow hard. "And the only thing that's changed is my appearance – I'm still the same person, with the same moral beliefs and views and the same control over myself."

The judge took a deep breath while his eyes studied Mick's changed face intensely. He shook his head in disbelief. "Why… why does this happen?" he stammered.

Mick shrugged his shoulders a little helplessly. "Frank can explain this to you in a quiet moment. It's very complicated. All I know is that I feel much more energy in my core when I'm in this state thus bringing my body to a peak performance, which a normal person isn't capable of."

"Would you mind joining us in this 'quiet moment' to show me some of this 'peak performance'?" the judge asked now and I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, because Ruthers was now more curious than frightened.

Mick immediately nodded willingly and Ruthers rewarded him with a grateful smile. Then he took a deep breath and slid back to the table.

"Have you… did you show this on the video you made for the press as well?" he asked a little worried.

"No," Mick answered honestly. "I don't think the world is ready to see that yet. It would only lead to turmoil and uncertainty on both sides. But I think eventually we should start to think about smoothing the way for a complete revelation of our… disease." With these words, Mick turned back, and only now did Ritchcroft and Sinclair-Jones dared to breathe again. They had probably expected Mick to attack them.

Ruthers said nothing for a while, his gaze resting on Mick's face for a long moment. "You're now a normal human again?" He asked finally.

"Yes - except for being healthier and stronger than most people," Mick said. "And if I'm injured, I'll heal much faster than other people."

"And your blood can transmit these benefits to other sick humans?"

"Not if it's given to them pure. That would be very dangerous…" Mick looked at Frank and the professor nodded quickly.

"We've tested it," the professor said. "Normal people, who come into contact with his blood, die. It can't be administered untreated."

"And you, Dr. Kendlroe, you've come up with a mixture that has, at least for Lieutenant Davis, healed him?" The judge again turned to August who also nodded.

Ruthers breathed audibly through his nose as his eyes wandered over to Rudolph. "I'm slowly beginning to understand the panic and despair that's driven you into this insane war… If we could indeed make medications using Mr. St. John's blood that would accelerate the healing process of wounds, cure serious diseases and prolong the life of a person - that would be like… like…" He seemed to be looking for the right words and Beth finally came to his aid.

"Like finding the elixir of life?"

"Exactly, Miss Turner!" The judge smiled at her. "It would be an unbelievable, world-changing achievement – one that should certainly be made available to more than _one_ rather shady organization. Not to mention that we're talking about a man who is under the protection of this society and who's been through enough already."

"The question now is, what do we do about all this?" Gabriel said, looking specifically at Sinclair-Jones and Ruthers.

"Yes, that's definitely the big question," the judge agreed with him with a deep sigh.

I cleared my throat. "Maybe each side should first express their wishes then we can see whether we have any common ground," I suggested.

Ruthers nodded approvingly, then turned to Sinclair-Jones. "Why don't you start, Rudolph."

The old man gave a somewhat surprised impression, but quickly cleared his throat. "Well… what can I say? Of course we now recognize the error in our thinking and actions and know we have a lot to clean up and restructuring to do within our organization. Nevertheless, we still have a few wishes…" He hesitated again, and needed an approving nod from the judge to continue. "No more attacks from the Entfants Lunaires on our stations and troops. A new formulation of the old contracts between us - which is actually long overdue. It would be highly desirable if we could all get along with each other again and perhaps even work together to secure peace between humans and vampires. Oh, yes – and the return of our property – which of course _doesn't_ include Mr. St. John! It would be nice if he would work with us regarding the fight of autoimmune diseases, but we wouldn't force him to do this."

"Is that all?" Ruthers asked quietly.

"These are the most important points at least," Rudolph replied, frowning.

"Well." The judge left the wishes of his old friend uncommented on for now and turned instead to Gabriel, looking at him invitingly.

"I agree with Rudolph that we should revise the contracts and find a new way to make peace between us and guarantee it for the future. Furthermore, with regards to the attacks and persecution and killing of Entfants Lunaires, the same applies to us, they should stop immediately so we can return to our old lives without feeling threatened."

Ruthers again nodded and then, to my surprise, looked at Mick. "Does this meet with your approval?"

"Yes," Mick replied immediately. "As far as the community of Entfants Lunaires is concerned."

"Does that mean you have other, more private requests?"

"I'd like to make an _offer_," my friend corrected the judge smiling and my heart began to beat a little faster once again, because I knew exactly _what_ Mick was going to throw in the mix now.

"I'm willing to make my blood available for the research of remedies to the extent I'm able to - on one condition." Mick took another deep breath. "Everyone here must guarantee me and my family a lifetime of protection and inviolability. You must also guarantee that I too can return to my old life just like any other normal human, without fear or restrictions."

The persons addressed didn't actually know how to reply until Sinclair-Jones cleared his throat.

"When you say 'family', what family are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about my wife and closest friends," Mick said loud and clear and I wasn't the only one that stopped breathing for the moment. All eyes automatically roamed over to Beth and only now registered the small gold ring on the ring finger of her left hand.

"Oh… I see," Ruthers said with a little smile and the others caught on quickly.

I wasn't sure if Mick acted wisely or carelessly. On one hand, one would certainly be careful, of course, not to even frown at the wife of such an important man to all of human society, but on the other hand, everyone now knew how important she was to him that he could be put under pressure if someone were to threaten her life. Although… if something did happened to her, you might as well bury Mick in the coffin along with her, that was quite apparent to anyone who just looked into Mick's eyes for a small moment. And as long as he cooperated with all parties, the danger that something like this would happen was negligible. Assuming no one _else_ in the world learned of Mick's special role and the research.

"I think we'll be able to handle these conditions with no problem," Sinclair-Jones said now. "We definitely owe you this."

"I think so too," said Ruthers. "I will personally see to it that this country grants you the protection you and your family need. No matter what else we may decide here today I can already promise you that! And I'll do my utmost to ensure you can finally live a normal life. I too owe this to you." He took a deep breath and then turned back to Rudolph. "As far as the wishes of the Legion are concerned, things are a little more difficult. I'm all for negotiating new contracts between humans and the Entfants Lunaires, but I'm having a hard time allowing the Legion to remain as an organization, especially since I now know, it no longer operates as a cohesive unit…"

"But we're working towards…" Ritchcroft began but Ruthers raised his hand in a strict gesture, and he fell silent again.

"The Legion has caused so much chaos here in the states and violated human rights so blatantly that I'm not really willing to accept it here in the States, much less allow the men who committed these horrible crimes to escape unscathed," the judge gave back relentlessly. "Not to mention that I don't really believe you'll succeed in uniting this organization again, at least while Nicholas de Chambour and his _Cercle du Sang_ is wreaking havoc out there. The only problem is I don't know who else I can propose as a counterweight to the Entfants Lunaires, especially the Cercle, because I realize only to well how necessary this is!" he now looked at Gabriel angrily. "We can't have a parallel society here in this country writing its own laws and operating by their own rules. Such things can go terribly wrong, especially if the powers that be in such a parallel society went mad - I have to agree with Rudolph on this. And who's to stop them once the Legion no longer exists. Our police aren't trained to fight against people with supernatural abilities!"

"Of course not," Gabriel agreed with him in a quiet voice. "And I see it the same way. This is why I've always accepted the Legion and partially supported it. We need a watchdog on both sides. The only question is whether we really want to fall back on the old ways and organizations, or try for a new start instead…"

"Come again?" Ritchcroft uttered indignantly, but again Ruthers lifted his hand and held him at bay.

"I'm all ears…" the judge said instead and gave the impression he was really interested.

"The supreme committee, when it was first set up, was a collaboration between humans and vampires who had been commissioned to secure the peace. The problem with that was that there were too few people working together from the various groups. And for this reason alone misunderstandings could arise and situations could escalate. The Legion was made up of purely humans, who had little contact with vampires, except for moments in which they had to fight against them. Vampires only appeared to the soldiers with the faces of monsters and evil creatures. They never met them as people, as normal, friendly individuals. This naturally led to prejudice and the stereotype of an enemy that never made the soldiers fighting them doubt for a moment they were doing the right thing, fighting for a good cause and liberating this world of evil. And we cannot allowed this to ever happen again."

"What are you suggesting?"

"To build a new organization using the remaining core of the Legion around Sinclair-Jones, to ensure the protection and security of _both_ parties, humans _and_ the Entfants Lunaires. Some kind of special police force that consists of humans _and_ vampires who must work together in teams."

"And who would these police be subordinate to?" Ruthers asked, but it was already obvious how fond of this idea he was.

"A new committee, also consisting of humans and vampires that hold a lot of power in their communities. Such as yourself…"

"And you," the judge added with a smile of understanding.

"But also younger people who have not previously been a part of such a committee," Gabriel added. "Like your nephew…"

Talbot gave quite a surprised expression when Gabriel cast a small smile at him and didn't quite know what to say.

"What about you, Mr. St. John?" The judge asked my friend and Mick couldn't immediately answer his question. "It would be very desirable if you would join this committee - especially since you can represent both communities in some ways and would also be readily accepted by both of them."

Mick sucked in air deeply and let it escape again audibly. "To be completely honest, I'm currently in great need to finally come to rest again and would like to keep myself out of all this for a while."

"This is completely understandable… But I think that could still be arranged, despite the membership in the committee. If there were enough people who also joined, I could guarantee you a very, very long time-out. But I think it would be very important for you to be a part of this… daring _project_. And I'd be delighted if Miss Turner - or rather Mrs. St. John, would join the committee, as well. Her way of looking at things could be quite helpful with the buildup of this new security organization!"

"Does that mean that the proposal to establish such a police force has been adopted?" Ritchcroft questioned tensely.

"Would you dislike that?" Ruthers replied bluntly.

Ritchcroft wanted to answer him enraged immediately, but the commander, who sat beside him, laid a hand on his arm quickly, in order to silence him and instead spoke himself.

"Did I understand you correctly that the part of the Legion, which is currently under our control, will not be dissolved but rather integrated into this new police force?" he asked, sounding far more friendly and open to the idea than Ritchcroft.

"That was the idea," Gabriel replied. "Of course, the soldiers would have to be retrained and then be willing to accept vampires as partners, but I think it'll be feasible."

"It would be – as far as _we're_ concerned," Collins said. "But do you think the Entfants Lunaires community will accept such an idea?"

"When the powerful in their ranks do – without a doubt," Gabriel replied calmly. "And I also agree that it would make a big impact on them if Mick would be part of the committee. If _he_ shows he can work together with the Legion and the humans, after all the horrible things that had been done to him by them, then all the other vampires can also accept this new police force - which would indeed be led by us as well. You'll be surprised just how many vampires will volunteer to join this new organization!"

"And we already have a mission waiting for them," I added. "The search for and resolution of the _Cercle du Sang_, followed by preventive detention and conviction of the members of this group."

"This problem should be tackled by all of us together at any rate," Ruthers added with a nod. "And as soon as possible. For none of us are really safe as long as the Cercle are still on the loose here in the States."

"I think we should also carry on this mission Europe-wide," Gabriel added and looked at Lance, who gave his silent consent with a nod.

"Mr. Lance DuVall is probably the only one among us who has the most information about this organization and can be on hand to help and advice," the old vampire said. "He's already done great work for me especially in relation to the Cercle and I think with his help we'll be able to trace several masterminds of the Cercle already and apply such pressure they'll be forced to retreat underground again."

"That indeed sounds quite encouraging", the judge returned. Then he took a deep breath, ran his hand over the lower part of his face and leaned back a little so that everyone present looked at him carefully.

"I don't think there's sufficient time right now to settle _all_ matters between us. This will take a lot more meetings to construct a solid plan for our jointly designed future and set up new contracts between us. But I would like for us to all sign at least a provisional peace treaty today in which all parties commit themselves to lowering their weapons, to retiring and working together to finally give each other a chance to live a normal life in peace again. Nobody shall be victimized or used for experiments anymore. All prisoners will be released. And you two…" He looked at Ritchcroft and Collins. "… get out there and pull off your troops immediately so that I can take care of the police and the press personally!"

The men instantly nodded readily and my heart began to beat faster again, because I had the definite feeling that our first steps into a, hopefully longer lasting peace, had finally been taken.

"Well, then we should begin writing down this preliminary contract and get it signed," the judge said now. "Does anyone here have any objections?"

It really surprised me that Sinclair-Jones cleared his throat and leaned forward a little, for in my opinion there wasn't anything to be found in the judge's preliminary ideas that justified criticism from any of the parties present. But it was obviously difficult for the old man to raise his voice and say what worried him, because he still had to breathe in and out a few times before he could say anything. "I… I think everything so far is completely satisfactory, and that we'll all do quite well with the whole matter, but I…" He stopped again, had to collect himself to sort his thoughts better. "I _will_ work on the new contract and sign it, but I'm forced to attach a condition to the Legion's cooperation."

I wasn't the only one who indignantly raised his eyebrows, but that didn't prevent Rudolph from continuing.

"Or let's just say a request…" He looked at Mick almost pleadingly. "I beg you Mick, before we begin to discuss our common future and the build-up of a new security organization in more detail, fly with me to the hospital, where all the sick people are in need of your help, and… donate your blood, so that we can continue to work with it. I… I need to see some proof that you really are willing to do what you promised."

I gasped for air. "You must be…" I began, but Mick put his hand soothingly on my forearm at once and silenced me quickly.

"When do you want this to happen?" He asked to all our surprise, quite composed.

Hope and profound gratitude flared up in Sinclair-Jones' eyes because he, like the rest of us, was able to read in Mick's posture and facial expression that my friend was actually willing to comply with his request.

"As quickly as possible, because some of our patients don't have much time left and that way you can also see how we have used the previous research results, how far we've come…"

Mick nodded curtly. "Okay. Then we'll do this," he said and my eyes widened in silent disbelief.

"Where is this hospital?" Ruthers asked now.

"I'd rather not announce that publicly," Rudolph said.

"Then I'm coming with you too," the judge said in a firm voice. "I would also like to see this. And don't hesitate to invite the other leaders of the Legion there, so I can deal with them all at once." He looked at Gabriel. "Maybe it would be a good idea if you joined us too."

"I would've suggested that anyway," the old vampire replied. "On condition that Mr. Collins, Mr. Ritchcroft and your nephew remain here at this station – as a little collateral, because not all stations of the Legion have been informed of today's decisions yet."

A small smile already formed on Ruthers' lips again. "Well, I don't believe the Legion would dare take the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court with his companions as prisoners, but I can understand your reservations. I will therefore yield to your wishes and I also think that the Legion will have no trouble with that…" He raised his eyebrows slightly, as his eyes searched that of Rudolph's and the old man nodded at once.

"Of course not!" he added. "You'll get everything you want!"

"All right," the judge said. "That is, if we can leave as soon as possible. We need to get started on the preliminary peace treaty as quickly as possible so we can sign it…"

Gabriel nodded at August who rose quickly to get the laptop, which had earlier been parked on a side table. I myself wasn't really able to concentrate on what lay ahead of us. My eyes still remained on Mick's face as I tried to comprehend how it had been possible for my friend to agree to climb into one of the Legion's helicopters with Sinclair-Jones and volunteer to fly to one of their hospitals and there - also voluntarily - donate his blood, thus making himself available for their research - again! Of course, my subconscious mind cried out that he was doing the right thing, that by doing so he showed the world that he himself actually stood on no particular side, but was always willing to help those who were in need, really wanted to ensure that _all_ people could live together in peace. The only problem was, that I couldn't stand the thought of seeing my best friend back in the hands of the Legion, to have to let him go again, without knowing exactly what would happen to him there, and when my eyes met Beth's, I knew I wasn't the only one who felt that way.


	82. Departure

_Hi there! Here's the next chapter for all of you. There are only two chapters left now of the story and one of them is just an epilog. So we're really approaching the end of the story now – at least of Blood of the Lily, for I plan to write another part of my Moonlight-stories someday, after posting and publishing my first own book (which you all will hopefully read as well ;0)). Your reviews again gave me so much motivation. I loved them and hug you all! Have a great weekend and I'll be back at Saturday again, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

_P.S. The last part of the chapter was hugely inspired by the wonderful song 'Run' by Snowpatrol_

* * *

**D****eparture**

* * *

"_The mind can tell us what we should leave undone. But the heart can tell us what we must do."_

_Joseph Joubert_

* * *

It was hard to stay calm and focus on what was important at the moment. Mick had previously made his final decisions with his mind - not his heart. Now it was his heart, his emotional side getting in the way. He had two more nerve-racking battles ahead of him before he could get into the helicopter with Sinclair-Jones and fly with the others to the hospital: The struggle with himself, because the traumatized human side of him felt anything but comfortable with this, just thinking about it made his pulse quicken and the knot in his stomach become even more painful, and his confrontation with Beth, who he knew wouldn't be going with him on this flight regardless.

What her thoughts were of his willingness to go along with Sinclair-Jones, he had already read on her face the moment the words were said. She'd been shocked, upset, and stunned. Her fears and worries had returned, yet she understood his actions - he had felt that, had read it in her eyes. She certainly wouldn't want to discourage him from keeping his promise, but would want to come along – there was no doubt and he couldn't let that happen. Although he believed Sinclair-Jones and the rest of the Legion were no longer a threat to him – certainly not as long as the judge and Gabriel were with him – he still couldn't rule it out completely and therefore would not expose his wife and child to any undue risks, no matter how small the chances were.

Beth seemed to suspect that, because during the explanation of the preliminary peace treaty she had behaved oddly reserved towards him and even refused to meet his gaze from time to time and had become completely focused on the things that needed to be done at the moment. Something that currently wasn't so easy for him to do. There were still so many things from the previous talks running through his mind that he had to process. And although he had the feeling they were finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, of attaining his goal which would eventually lead to a relatively normal, happy life with Beth and that he'd made the right decision, he still couldn't bring himself to sit back and inwardly take a deep breath and look forward to this new life optimistically and with a new zest for action. He felt more like someone who very carefully stuck his head out of a cave where he'd been hiding for much too long, and breathed in the scent of freedom only very subtly into his nose because he just couldn't believe that the world had a bright, sunny spot in the fresh air for him, in which he was still safe and protected.

Of course, Mick didn't let it show outwardly, tried to act as confident and decisive as possible and to make the other, also somewhat nervous negotiators feel he knew exactly what he wanted and where he wanted to go and how he could achieve that. His vampiric side helped him tremendously, made it possible for him to sign the new contract without his hand trembling and to even say good bye to Ritchcroft and Collins, who left to care for the withdrawal of the troops of the Legion, with a reserved smile. What it hadn't prevented was his stomach from twisting, as Beth, after signing the contract, announced she needed to refresh herself and left the meeting room without even looking at him once. He knew this was merely a pretense, that by her actions what she really wanted was for him to follow her – which of course he immediately did, also briefly excusing himself to the others.

It wasn't hard to figure out where Beth had gone. She hadn't been picky when it came to the room where she waited for him, her only concern being that it wasn't located too close to the conference room thus allowing them at least a little privacy. And apparently she was anxious to get down to business right away, because she was facing him from the middle of the room – actually a small office, as he noted with a quick look around – where she had just stopped and braced for battle, with her hands on her hips.

"I'm coming with you!" It immediately burst out of her, before he could even breathe in. "You will not fly alone with these people!"

Mick shook his head, gathered himself quickly. "I'm not going to be alone," he replied and was now standing before her. "Gabriel and the judge are coming with me. Nobody's going to do anything to me in their presence, Beth."

"I don't care!" Beth blurted out angrily. "I'm not staying here alone especially not knowing what might happen to you!"

"Beth, let me explain why…"

"No!" she immediately stopped him mid-sentence. "I know exactly what you're going to say, Mick. You want me to stay here, in case something goes wrong. But I… I can't, Mick!" This clearly audible tremor in her voice told him her anger wasn't near as great as her fear and worries. "I can't let you go alone again. Not with _these_ men! They have taken you away from me once before…"

"But they won't do that this time," he replied quickly, before she could continue speaking. "Gabriel will be there as well as the judge," he repeated. "And Ritchcroft, Commander Collins and Talbot will remain here in Lance's and Thomas' care. I'll just fly to the hospital and speak with all the other leaders of the Legion and…" He trailed off because he noticed tears had begun to glisten in Beth's eyes and she really had difficulty keeping her emotions under control.

"W… why don't you simply give them a sample of your blood and have Sinclair-Jones take it with him?" she brought forth haltingly and with this pleading gaze that pressed his heart together painfully.

He stepped closer to her and lifted a hand to her cheek, stroking it gently. "Sinclair-Jones' main concern isn't just my blood. He wants to prove to me and the others that the Legion didn't do only bad things. He wants us to see the suffering of these people with our own eyes, so that we – that _I_ understand these people better and will keep my promise to work together with them."

"How… how do you know?" Beth asked with a trembling voice.

"I could feel it," he replied with settled conviction and truly meant it. He_ had_ felt this, or else he wouldn't have agreed so quickly. "And I… I _do_ want to see, Beth! I want to see the good side of all that's happened, want to see what was hidden behind all this the whole time, the things we all can work on together in near future. And someone has to take the first step towards the other parties and reach out his hand to them pointedly, to really initiate this collaboration. If _I_ do this the others will follow and we will indeed have our peace, on _our _terms! And then I'll come back to you and everything will be okay, Beth. Finally, everything will be fine. You have to believe me!"

"Why… why can't I go with you then?" she replied in a faint voice, and the first tear that ran down her cheek was immediately wiped away by her angrily.

"Because I want you to be safe, that no one gets the idea to ask stupid questions and maybe find out something about you that no one should know…"

"Is this about…" She said no more, but let her eyes wander down to her belly tellingly.

He shook his head quickly. "The point is that I love you Beth. And I know that this is one of the steps necessary to secure a future for us together as a family."

"But we wanted to step into our future together…" she brought out faintly and with a rather shaky voice.

"… and that will happen," he replied with vigor. "I swear to you, Beth. But this one time – just this once, I need to feel that you're safe, that you're with Josef and the others and not somewhere among the Legionnaires, fighting for mine and the others well-being without regard for your own health. And don't tell me that you're _not _already completely exhausted. I can feel it!"

"And what about you? You…"

"I'm fine, Beth." He gave her a warm smile. "This time _I'm_ the one who's the stronger of the two of us and who needs to fight for our future. Working together doesn't always mean staying together. We can and should work in turns in this fight for our future. Today it's my job and maybe tomorrow yours or ours together. But I just know that it's better if I do this alone today, that I'm stronger and calmer when I know that you are here with our friends in safety and can rest."

She didn't look at him anymore, pressed her lips together and looked away.

"It won't take long," he said again softly. "I promise you. I'll be back before you know it and maybe… maybe we can then finally go back home…"

Beth looked up and the tears ran down her cheeks yet again. "I… I _am_ home - as long as you're with me," she brought out in a strangled voice that broke Mick's heart. He grabbed her and pulled her to his chest, held her tightly, closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair.

"Just this once, Beth," he whispered close to her ear and could hear her breathing haltingly. "Then I'll be back with you and will never leave you alone again. I promise!"

She nodded again and for a little while, they simply stayed that way, clung to each other and gave each other the strength they needed to be able to overcome the imminent separation from each other. At some point, Beth began to move again, broke away from their embrace with a heavy heart.

"When… when will you leave?" She uttered very quietly, while she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Any time now, I think," Mick replied also with a hoarse voice, and ran his hand over his tingling nose.

She nodded bravely and then looked at him directly in the eyes again, with this request for forgiveness in her eyes that made him wary of what she would say next.

"I… I can't go out there with you, Mick," she brought out in a husky voice. "I can't do this anymore. I can't stand by again and watch you leave, not knowing when you'll come back or what will happen to you…"

Mick's stomach twisted painfully, but even now he nodded bravely. He understood, understood she no longer had the emotional strength to endure another farewell from him.

"Are you… are you going to stay here then?"

She nodded. "I… I'll just sit here and wait until you're gone. Maybe I'll even stay here in this room until you come back again…"

"I'll hurry," he promised.

"I hope so!" She retorted. "Because I don't have as much staying power as I used to have!" She uttered a slightly desperate-sounding laughter, which Mick joined in. Then he simply covered her face again with both hands and kissed her as deeply and as longingly as he could.

"I love you Mrs. St. John," he managed to say barely audible, and kissed her forehead once more before he completely let go. She pressed her lips together again and just blinked against the re-emergence of tears.

"Just come back to me safe and sound," she managed to utter hoarsely as he had reached the door and he gave her a warm smile.

"I promise!" he said again, firmly, and then reluctantly tore himself away from her sight.

Mick's heart began to beat a little faster again, as he walked through the hall back to the conference room where he had left the others behind, and the knot of fear in his gut, which had eased somewhat by talking to Beth, had grown tighter again. In the end it wasn't that simple to overcome a trauma as severe as his. Even if he didn't really believe anything would happen to him during the flight or at the hospital - it just didn't feel right to voluntarily put yourself in the hands of your enemies again.

Mick gritted his teeth and tried to distract himself from his own feelings and thoughts by straining his hearing towards the meeting room to perceive what the men there were discussing. As excellent as his senses were now, it wasn't that hard.

"You're right, Gabriel," he heard the judge say. "I think between now and the next meeting, no more than two or three weeks should pass. This period of time should be enough for each of us to work out our proposals for the security organization and the contracts so that we can submit them to each other."

"You're forgetting that I still need to clear up some issues with our old organization, John," Sinclair-Jones now protested. "And that won't be easy. It's quite possible that there will still be a few fights!"

"And that's exactly why I'll help you," Ruthers replied. "I'll send you troops from the National Guard and police support to help you solve the problems within your organization quicker and give the Cercle du Sang a real scare. Trust me, nobody wants to tangle with the State."

Mick had just stepped through the door into the room and could now see how Ruther's had placed his hand on his old friend's shoulder with a small smile, which the old man returned with difficulty, then his attention was diverted again, for Gabriel, who had responded to Mick's reappearance with a brief nod, now turned back to Rudolph as well.

"There's still one thing I would like to know before we depart," he said. "Who actually told you where this station was located?"

Rudolph's eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to remember. "It was an anonymous call from a woman who would talk to no-one but me. She told me that you'd die if I didn't give you the antidote for the poison you came into contact with. She made me promise that I would do everything possible to save you – it was then that she told me of your whereabouts. She was very upset, said repeatedly that you didn't have much time left and that I should hurry… I even promised her not to attack the station, but to fly there with only a small unit, to bring you the antidote, and negotiate with you. Unfortunately I was then overruled and the mission turned out somewhat… bigger."

Gabriel looked at the floor for a moment and Mick noticed his cheek muscles twitch.

"She was one of your kind, wasn't she?" Rudolph asked silently and Gabriel closed his eyes shortly before he raised his head again and nodded.

"If you ask me, she acted out of desperate love and not out of spite," Rudolph added. "You should remember that if you do someday catch her…"

Again Gabriel only nodded, but Ruthers seemed to have something to say about this topic.

"I think our newly formed committee will be quite busy for a while with thinking about what to do with these people who've been guilty of one or more crimes during this war between the Legion and the Entfants Lunaires," he said emphatically. "As I said before, I'm of the opinion that there have been too many delinquencies which should not remain unpunished but should also not be punished in secret by the community from which they originated. I want this to stop! We decide _together _what happens to these people!"

Gabriel's hesitation before he nodded again was so minimal that hardly anyone there noticed, but Mick could actually feel how difficult it was for the ancient vampire to let go of his scepter of power, at least here in the States, and let others control his affairs. Maybe it really was necessary for Mick along with Josef and Beth to take their seats in the new committee to help Gabriel adjust to things different than before.

"And? Have you been able to talk to her again about everything?" Josef, who had quietly stepped up to him, ripped Mick right out of his thoughts and he decided to devote his attention to his best friend since the three 'old men' had begun to discuss the preliminary agreements and the related conditions of peace again. It was enough for Mick to listen with half an ear, and thereby continue to snap up the most important information. For what other reasons did he have such hyper-sensitive and receptive senses?

"Yeah, she… she understands my actions," Mick said. "She just wanted to come with me…"

"But you don't want her to," Josef immediately guessed correctly. "Because you want to consider her completely safe."

"Yes," Mick admitted. "I don't believe that anything will happen to me, but I'd feel better about it if I knew she was with you and the others."

"With me?" Josef repeated and his eyebrows wandered upwards immediately. "That probably means my invitation to this little trip to the hospital was cancelled as well."

"I just want someone I can trust absolutely with her," Mick hastened to explain. "Someone who I know can really protect her because he… because he has already done this so well before."

Josef's mouth lifted into a small smile. "Are you trying to flatter me just to get your way, Micky?"

"I can do without that - Josie," Mick gave back with a similar small grin, but quickly became serious again. "I think above all she needs a friend by her side."

Josef nodded now also seriously. "Which she has," he said in a firm voice and Mick sighed with relief. It felt good to know that Josef would remain steadfastly at Beth's side, while he himself was gone. She trusted Josef and felt comfortable around him and Mick knew that his best friend would in fact protect her with his life, if something unexpected happened that endangered her. With him she was really safe.

Footsteps echoed through the hall towards them and shortly afterwards Ben Talbot appeared along with Carl Davis in the doorway. Both immediately headed straight for Ruthers.

"The Legion has withdrawn," the young lawyer quickly informed his uncle. "And most of the police are now on the move as well."

"The pilot wants to know if we're ready," Carl added and Mick's stomach contracted immediately.

Ruthers looked first to Gabriel and then to Mick. "Shall we leave?" He asked friendly.

Gabriel said nothing. His eyes rested on Mick's face, passing the question to him and Mick really tried hard to bring himself to nod. Then he sought Ben's gaze.

"You and Carl… you're really willing to stay here while we're gone?"

The young lawyer made it obvious he too wasn't so comfortable with the idea of spending so much time with vampires, but he nodded bravely.

"What can go wrong?" Carl added with an optimistic smile. "Collins and Ritchcroft are staying behind as well and… are we not all working together from today forward?"

Mick smiled back as convincingly as he could, nodded at the two men once more and then followed Gabriel and Sinclair-Jones, who were already on their way along with Josef and Ruthers, towards the door. To his surprise, it was Ruthers, who stopped at the door to wait for him while the others disappeared into the hallway.

Mick frowned, because there was such a strange, thoughtful expression in the judge's eyes.

"Don't worry, Mick," were the words that greeted him at the door. "Nothing will happen to you as long as you're by my side. Rudolph is an intelligent man and knows what a gift it is for him and his project that you've agreed to cooperate with him voluntarily. No one throws away an opportunity like this, just to end up as the winner. And voluntary cooperation is always better than an enforced one…"

Mick only managed a nod again. His throat was currently too dry to really get anything out, and it became increasingly difficult to keep the emotions that raced through his mind in check – above all his deep longing for Beth. How good it would be for him now to hold her in his arms, to feel her warmth and hope, to see this deep love for him in her eyes again. But he only had himself to blame that she wasn't here… and _yet_ he knew it had been the right decision…

"And Ben, Carl, Ritchcroft and Collins will also remain here as collateral…" the judge commented on the same idea Mick had also constantly reminded himself of in order to calm himself down. Ruthers now cast a glance over his shoulder toward the door of the meeting room which they were now a good distance away from. Mick felt certain the conversation wasn't over that there was something else the judge urgently wanted to address, something he had seemed to be preoccupied with for a while now and the judge finally took heart and drew in a breath.

"Did you know that Ben's grandfather and your brother served together in the Air Force?" He asked with a small smile and Mick looked at him perplexed, hadn't been expecting that from Ruthers at all!

"It's true," the judge went on. "They were even friends…"

"_My_ brother?" Mick repeated somewhat hoarsely.

"If his name was Tristan St. John, we're probably talking about the same person," Ruthers replied, still smiling.

"Is this…" Mick had to clear his throat, because his voice was still too hoarse. "Is this the reason why you said before, if you had known that I came from _this_ St. John family you would have acted much sooner?" He finally brought out fairly clearly, and his heart once again began to beat much faster.

The judge's smile became a little sad as he nodded.

"Why?" Mick asked, still confused.

"Because mine and Ben's family have a lot to thank your brother for," was the quiet answer. "There… there was once an incident were my great-uncle and my grandfather found themselves in a life-threatening situation and only escaped without serious damage or even losing their lives, thanks to your brother. They vowed then to repay him for it someday, but your brother said that wouldn't be necessary, he would much rather want them to keep an eye on his little brother and help him, should he ever find himself in trouble and he wouldn't be there to protect him. You need to know that my family, even then, had a lot of influence in politics and was thus very powerful."

Mick said nothing. He couldn't. His throat had become too constricted and his heart was beating much too fast. He and the judge had stopped in the hallway while the others had continued on and had long since reached the exit.

"After your brother's terrible accident, my family swore to keep their promise," Ruthers continued. "I don't know if you remember, but my grandfather was at your brother's funeral and gave your father his private telephone number, telling him that you and your family could always turn to him in need. Has your father ever spoken to you about it?"

Mick shook his head, still unable to express himself verbally.

"Has he told anyone about it?"

Mick again had to respond with a shake of his head. Somehow this was all too much for him. Again these secrets from the past that always seemed to catch up with him at the most inopportune moments. Moments in which he really had no time or nerves for.

"That's strange," the judge said, and now scratched his temple.

"W… why?" Mick finally brought out tentatively.

"Because someone called me yesterday, reminded me of that exact promise and told me that you were Tristan's little brother," the judge declared.

"Who?" Mick asked immediately.

"He said his name was Raphael Middleton. Does the name ring any bells?"

Mick thought for a moment and then shook his head again.

"I traced the call back as far as I could," the judge replied. "It came from Europe, to be exact: Paris. Do you have friends there?"

"Not that I know of," Mick replied, still stunned.

"Apparently you do," the judge observed with a smile. "If you want, I'll help you later when we have more time, to find out more about this matter, and especially about this man." His gaze focused on the exit not far from were Gabriel had remained standing with suspiciously furrowed brows and seemed to be waiting for them. Ruthers bent towards Mick a little. "If I were you," he whispered to him, "I would once again seek a dialogue with your friend Gabriel. Maybe he knows a little more, at least he seems to be embroiled in some mysterious matters…"

The judge winked at him conspiratorially, then turned away from him and headed towards the exit. Mick couldn't follow him immediately. He first had to calm down a little. This revelation couldn't have come at a worse time, because if Mick lacked _one_ thing at the moment it was time needed to explore the stories from his past and the strength he'd need to embark on an exhausting, nerve-zapping conversation with Gabriel. He hoped so much that Ruthers was wrong, that the old vampire wasn't somehow involved in the terrible accident of his brother.

'Let the past rest!' Mick said to himself. 'You really have no time for that now. Concentrate on the future – it's more important now! Think about Beth! About your baby! Those are things you need to concentrate on after all this is over. And then, when you eventually find the time, you can still check out this mysterious story.'

Yes, that was a good plan. A really good plan!

Somewhere behind him a door opened and Logan and Seth stormed towards him. Distraction - that was even better!

"Are you… you're really going with them?" Logan brought out almost breathlessly, although he had only needed to hurry minimally to catch up with him.

Mick nodded curtly.

"That's really… Wow!" Logan creased his face acknowledging. "Don't worry though the rest of the Legion's men really have taken off. There are only a few police cars and two helicopters out there. Even the press has left!"

That was really good news. Mick breathed deeply through his nose and only then felt calm and collected enough to finally continue on his way to the exit. Of course, Seth and Logan padded down the hall after him.

"Listen," the young vampire said now in a frequency, which could only be heard by vampires. "We heard everything you discussed earlier in the technical center because of Gabriel's micro…"

"And what's even better," Seth added, beaming at Mick from the other side. "We recorded it and therefore have even more leverage in our hands against these other men should they suddenly change their minds about keeping the agreements."

"So if they should get cocky," Logan continued. "You only need to give them a little hint and they'll turn meek again very fast…" He winked at him conspiratorially and made Mick indeed laugh. It was good to have his friends around on the way to the helicopter. Somehow, they once again reinforced the feeling inside him that everything would be okay.

In front of the exit door Mick now noticed Guillermo, who had probably been out there and was now anxiously looking for him. Nevertheless, the Mexican tried to give him an encouraging smile as he spotted him and came to meet him immediately.

"Do you need any additional support?" he said once he had reached them and they were all now walking up to the exit together. "If you want me to, I will fly with you. They'll accept it…"

Mick shook his head and forced himself to smile again. "I don't think we should give them the impression that we don't trust them by taking an entire security force with me," he quickly explained his negative gesture, because he immediately felt Guillermo's disappointment. "Everything will turn out all right and once we begin to form this new protection organization, there will be plenty of strenuous work left for each of us - believe me!"

Guillermo nodded in understanding and Mick stepped, for the second time that day, out into the open. The sight that greeted him was quite different from the one he had been exposed to only a few hours earlier. The two helicopters were still sitting in their original places, but the cars and soldiers of the Legion had disappeared entirely. Somewhere in the background were three police cars, but the men in there vicinity gave a very relaxed impression, which was probably due to the fact that judge Ruthers was just talking with their squad leader, probably to reassure him even more.

No more bright lights, no noise - no immediate danger from anywhere… Mick remained standing for a moment and breathed deeply again, felt the knot in his stomach loosen a bit. But it still didn't want to disappear completely – Mick was too excited for that. Josef, who had just been standing next to Gabriel and Sinclair-Jones near one of the helicopter quietly talking with the two men, now approached him, while Gabriel set out to help Rudolph enter the helicopter. It really looked as if they were about to take off and Mick's stomach took another adventurous turn.

"So, you still have the opportunity to take one of us with you," he heard Guillermo say beside him, who must have felt that twinge of excitement and fear.

But Mick once again shook his head as he turned toward him. "I can do this," he replied confidently. There was only one person who could calm him down completely– and she especially he would not allow to come along…

"But you can do me a favor," he added. "Talk to Alejandro. Tell him… tell him I'd like to sit down with him and talk through everything when all this is over. That I'd… I'd like to work this out between us."

The young Mexican's face brightened visibly and he nodded quickly. "I think this might really help him. Right now he has quite a few problems to work on, including Manolo. He finally figured out all the connections for himself and is no longer speaking with his father…"

"Oh…" Mick said and really felt sympathy for his old friend. "Then it might be better if Manolo were present as well during this conversation with his father."

Guillermo gave a little laugh. "Do you really want to burden yourself with that? My family has a lot of temperament…"

"I know," Mick replied smiling. "But I think I can handle that… And as long as I'm at it, I might want to clean up a little in my life…" He paused for a moment, looked at the familiar face of Guillermo thoughtfully and a little ruefully. "We too should sit down together again and… well… talk about… a few things…" My goodness that was hard! But at least he had gotten it out and Guillermo's quick nod, the joyful brightening in his eyes was a sufficient reward alone.

"That… that would do us good," the young Mexican stammered just as awkwardly and then uttered a somewhat helpless laugh that Mick joined in. And then Mick simply dropped all inhibitions, pulled his friend into his arms and hugged him shortly, just to let him know that he would finally get closer to him, would venture into the role of his Sire, which he had never really filled.

After a brief moment he let go of the deeply moved Guillermo and patted him once more on the shoulder before he turned to Josef, who had long since stepped up beside them and had watched the whole scene with a warm smile. Now this smile won an encouraging expression, although Josef's eyes could no longer hide his concern, and the nagging feeling that Mick also felt in his chest. How much he wanted to tell Josef that he should come with him, that he needed his best friend at his side… but he couldn't. It was more important that Beth was okay, that Josef stayed with _her_. But he had to tell him at least how grateful he was for everything Josef had already done for him and Beth during this crisis – in case anything should still go wrong, that he couldn't do so later… It was just so damn hard…

"Josef… I…" he began, but his friend shook his head.

"I know," he said quietly. "You would've done the same for me. And somehow I owed it to you…"

Mick looked to the ground for a moment to get a grip on the increasingly intense feelings inside of him again, not to show how difficult it was for him to go, to take this important step into the future; what an effort it cost him to fly alone, leaving behind the people who meant so much to him. And it was so difficult to put into words what this man before him meant to him. Mick looked up and managed a smile. Josef gave a little laugh and put a hand on his shoulder. He had no idea how good it felt, how much strength he gave him with this small gesture - strength, he so desperately needed in order to face this new challenge.

"Everything will be alright," Josef said and nodded to him, but his voice shook a little. "You'll see…"

The urge was too great. Mick took a step closer to his best friend and simply put his arms around him, as he had done with Guillermo earlier, hugged him hard and then let go of him again, resting a hand even longer on his shoulder.

"Take care of yourself," he brought out very quietly and Josef swallowed hard, then nodded again.

Mick took a deep breath, fought with all his might against the burning in his eyes. "And of her, too," he added hoarsely

"I will," came the quiet reply and this time Mick nodded. He knew Beth was safe with his friend and it really comforted him a little.

"It simply hurts her too much to see you leave again," Josef gently explained her obvious absence and his eyes were full of sympathy for them both. "She loves you too much."

Mick nodded again, squeezed Josef's shoulder briefly and then turned slowly to the helicopter that had just fired up its rotors. The tightness in his chest increased and he was breathing noticeably harder. His gaze wandered back to the door of the station, which was now closed. She wasn't coming and he really understood, even though it hurt so much. He drew a deep breath again and then set out, with this emotional chaos within him, towards Gabriel, who waited for him outside the helicopter. Never before had it been so hard for him to traverse such a short distance, never had his legs felt so heavy, even though he knew he wouldn't be alone, that the odds to be allowed to return to his family were relatively high. But it was so terribly difficult to leave them all, even if it was only for a short time… so hard…

Somewhere behind him a door suddenly flew open loudly and then he heard her, heard her voice: "MIIIICK!"

He stopped in disbelief for a split second and then turned around. Beth! In tears she flew to him and the knot in his interior burst, was simply swept away by his joy and longing as she flung herself into his arms and clung as tightly as she could to him. He felt her sob, and just held her in his arms, hugged her, sucking her scent in his nose, the scent he would take with him, now and forever. After a few seconds, she broke away a little from him and he took her face in both hands and covered it with kisses, while she buried her fingers in his hair and drew him closer, pressing her forehead against his, crying uncontrollably. She was there, was there! His wife, his life… was with him, gave him the strength to leave, gave him again, without a word, the promise to wait for him, to be there when he returned, no matter how long it took. He breathed deeply and let his fingers glide over her hair again and again stroking while hers stroked his cheeks and her eyes, red from weeping, showed all her affection and deep love for him. His hand touched one of hers, and he closed his eyes in order to gather the strength he needed to let her go again. He brushed a soft kiss on the palm of her hand and she let go of him, nodded to him in tears, so he was able to detach from her again, while her fingers slowly slipped from his hands. They needed no words. They knew what the other felt and thought.

Mick ducked a little as he stepped under the rotors of the machine and finally, with a fiercely beating heart, got into the helicopter. His gaze already searching for hers while he settled down on one of the open seats. She had stopped, rooted to the spot, and was still crying. Her chest rose and fell under heavy breaths, but Josef had already stepped up beside her, laying a comforting arm around her shoulders. The glass door of the helicopter closed and nothing would hold Beth back anymore. She ran, crouching, up to him, then stopped and pressed her hand against the glass in the same manner he had done in what seemed like an eternity ago and, as it did then, that gesture spoke the same words: Wherever you go, I will be with you and I'll wait for you.

A wave of warmth washed over Mick's body, increasing the burning in his eyes and he pressed his own hand with blurred vision against hers. The smile, which appeared on Beth's lips was full of love and hope, was transferred to him immediately. His thumb stroked over the smooth glass surface that was between their hands, but he was sure she could feel it deep in her heart. Once more he gained strength from her beautiful, bright eyes filled with love, then her hands detached from the window and she let Josef guide her out of the danger zone of the helicopter, which rose slowly.

Mick's heart sank, as the distance between them grew quickly and he could see how Beth turned around and let herself be drawn in a tight embrace by Josef, her face buried in his shoulder. It hurt to see her so unhappy, it hurt to see them all standing down there and not be able to be with them. With them, his family. But they would wait for him, would be there when he returned. He was sure of that. The last time he and Beth had said goodbye like this, he had felt more lonely and isolated than ever before in his life. This time it was different. This time it was he who left - and he wasn't going alone. He took them all with him in his heart, knew that they would be with him over the certainly very stressful time, no matter how far he was from them.

He felt Gabriel looking at him and ripped his gaze from the sight of his friends, took a deep breath. A soft smile grazed Gabriel's lips and his unfathomable eyes twinkled suspiciously.

"Life sometimes writes the most incredible stories," he said softly and Mick had no other choice than to nod. Yes, it did… it surely did.


	83. Good things come to

_And here it is: the second last chapter of Blood of the Lily. Hope you'll enjoy it. The Epilog will follow as soon as possible, meaning__: maybe a bit earlier than next Saturday. I thank you all for your last comments. I'm so happy to still have some readers here who are willing to still support me with writing a few words to me. Hug you all! Have a great Sunday, yours Jenna_

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169_

* * *

**G****ood things come to…**

* * *

"_The old is crumbling down, the times are changing, and from the ruins blooms a fairer life.__"_

_Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller_

* * *

"Seth says this place will soon no longer be just an apartment but a fortress and if _he_ says so, then it's so!" Logan said proudly, and had put on such a haughty expression, that Beth couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

It felt good to have the young vampire around again. He brought so much normalcy back into her life, made it possible for her to even relax to some extent and not think about Mick constantly – Mick, who had now been on the road with Judge Ruthers and Gabriel for almost three days and had had to endure one meeting after another to re-establish peace and order between both communities. Beth had already suspected it would be something like that when they had said their goodbyes in front of the station of the Cleaners. The things that still needed to be cleared up in order to establish a lasting peace wouldn't be resolved in just a few hours. Such things would take days if not weeks, and Beth didn't want to think about how often she would still be separated from Mick in the coming weeks and wait for his return. The past few days had been agonizing enough – at least when it came to her emotional life. Not even the presence of her friends had really changed much in that regard.

At least she didn't feel as bad as the day they had said their farewells. Her worst fears of the Legion changing their minds and seizing Mick again had been alleviated with Mick's first call in the middle of the night between the first and second day of their separation. They had had a long talk with one another and Mick had calmed her down, reassuring her he was being treated well, and that both Gabriel and Ruthers hadn't left his side. He had told her of his impressions and thoughts while visiting the hospital, of the people who were there and suffering, and she felt he had gained new strength from the thought of being able to help these people with his blood, that he was doing the right thing by donating it, that it was even helping him to process his trauma this way. To a certain extent, Sinclair-Jones had even helped him a little by requesting this.

But that didn't distract Beth from the fact that the man had also acted very deliberately when he had asked Mick to come with him rather than just taking some of his blood right there on the spot. Mick's compassion for others had secured Mick's cooperation for the Legion - despite their bad deeds - even if it hadn't been as easy as he'd wished. Mick had admitted to suffering a slight panic attack during the donation of the blood, which he'd been able to get under control rather quickly thanks to Gabriel's mental support. And he had once again reassured her at the end of their call that he was all right, that no danger was threatening him and that he would soon be with her again. There was still a short meeting scheduled with a few of the other Legionnaires, then they would be on their way back…

But the only problem with that had been that the meeting was unfortunately delayed again and again because the Legion had had problems getting their key people together. Gabriel, Mick and the judge had finally decided to spend the night in a small hotel with hand picked personal protection and would get the meeting over with the next day. Beth and Josef, who had been by her side the whole time, had been a bit disgruntled, but had been forced to accept the situation out of necessity.

Of course, the meeting had been postponed again the next day as well. Then an emergency at the hospital had arisen where they had all driven back there to see if they could help. Even Peterson and August had been flown in and finally, with their help, had gotten the problem under control. Out of sheer gratitude the director of the hospital had offered to provide them with all their previous test results in detail, and although the first steps of cooperation had been taken, it had still cost them a great deal of time, enough so that they had had no other choice but to spend another night in a hotel.

Consequently, one delay had led to another and Beth's impatience and longing for Mick had grown more and more, had become almost unbearable. She wanted to be with Mick, wanted to support him there, to listen to all the important things as well, to see with her own eyes what was happening in this branch of the Legion. She simply wasn't the type of woman to quietly sit at home and wait patiently for her sweetie to return. That she was able to remain so calm during the whole thing, was only because Mick had constantly called her and had informed her of everything that was going on and so she didn't really need to be concerned about him. But that didn't change the fact that she missed him terribly.

"So," she heard Logan say, as he approached the exit to Mick's apartment where she'd stayed for the last two days now. "The cameras are again working properly, _and_ if you press this button here…" pointing at the specific button on the control panel, "you'll even get a thermal image so you'll know for sure whether your visitors are human or vampire." He beamed at her, and thus forced her to return his smile. "And if you press this red button here, it'll send an alert to the police and the security guards downstairs in front of the building and they'll be here in no time."

Beth nodded, understanding, then simply took the puzzled Logan into her arms and hugged him briefly. "Thank you so much Logan," she said, and let him go again. "You're truly the best. I don't believe I've felt this safe for long time." And it was true. Since the most powerful of each of the parties had assembled together and were finally making the right decisions, the situation around them had calmed down considerably. The police and vampires in front of the house, who were also ordered for her protection, did the rest to give her the feeling of complete safety.

"In any case, one of us will always be here with you in the apartment as long as Mick's not back," Logan continued obviously embarrassed, clearing his throat shortly thereafter. And he was right. She hadn't been alone for even a few minutes. Most of the time Josef was with her, but also Seth, Logan and Guillermo had showed up from time to time – not only to relieve Josef, so he could get some well-deserved freezer-time, but also to just keep her company. All of them seemed to understand how much she suffered from the renewed separation from Mick and tried to cheer her up and make sure that she was okay - like a bunch of anxious fathers. And Logan now turned quickly into this mode again.

"Something else that's very important too," he said as he moved proudly into the kitchen area of Mick's apartment, "in all your grief, you shouldn't forget to take care of your own health."

She followed him with a frown over to the fridge, which Logan opened immediately with a broad grin, and then revealed its treasures with a presenting gesture. Beth's eyes widened and she stepped closer with her mouth open. The refrigerator was filled with the most wonderful food and so over the top that Mick and she could probably live on that alone for several weeks.

"When… when did you buy all this?" Beth asked impressed and gave a little laugh.  
"Earlier, when you fell asleep in your new bed and Josef was still here to guard you," Logan replied proudly. "I thought when you woke up, you would probably be hungry. And you really need to eat something decent! You can't go on like this. You're supposed to gain weight, not lose it!"

Beth paused, tilted her head slightly and looked at Logan thoughtfully. Yet another of these strange statements concerning her physical condition. Slowly an idea was forming in Beth… "What do you mean by that?"

Logan frowned, looked at her blankly. "What do I mean? I mean you have to eat properly in your condition - otherwise you'll not only jeopardize _your_ health but also…" He paused, looked at her a bit anxious now. "You… you didn't lose it, did you?"

"What?" Beth replied with wide eyes.

"Well, the baby…"

Beth stared at him open-mouthed. He knew it - he really did! "Who… who told you that?" She let out stunned.

"Nobody," Logan replied proudly. "I noted it myself."

Beth blinked at him, confused. "Noted it?"

"Beth, I have three cousins who were all pregnant and gave birth – I know the signs of pregnancy very well by now," Logan replied quite relaxed, but his voice had lowered considerably. "The nausea, the fainting, the moodiness… besides I knew it just by looking at you. Women just seem to look different when they're pregnant. I somehow have an eye for it now and we spent quite a lot of time together, one notices certain changes pretty quickly that way."

"How… how long have you known?" Beth stammered still completely overwhelmed.  
His gaze wandered briefly to the ceiling as he considered it to himself. "About three, maybe four weeks, I would say…"

Beth let out an incredulous laugh. "Then you knew even before _I_ did!"

"Really?" Logan was surprised. "I thought you were just pretending as though nothing was going on because you were afraid people might find out about it, people that shouldn't be aware of it…"

"No, I…" She paused. "But since you mentioned that line of thought…"

"My lips are sealed!" He pretended to close his mouth with a zipper, locking it and throwing away the key.

"Does anyone else know?" Beth asked now feeling a bit uneasy, but to her relief Logan shook his head immediately.

"At least _I_ didn't tell anyone," he added. "If you were on to this… Not even Seth. And no one will ever know. I know how dangerous this could be for you and your child…"

Beth took a deep breath and then shook her head, uttering a faint smile. "I can't believe you were the first to know…"

"Hey – I'm the Logan-Man!" he replied self-confident and with opened arms. "I don't miss a thing!"

"Yeah, most of all the appearance of another vampire is something that would _never_ escape the attention of the 'Logan-Man'!" a voice from the direction of the door added reproachfully and Beth's head flew around immediately. Josef came up to them, shaking his head and her heart did a little pleased jump. She beamed at him, while Logan's expression darkened considerably.

"I _knew_ it was you Josef," the young vampire replied a little grumpy, "but since you're more friend than foe and seeing as no other vampire has the new set of keys to the apartment, I didn't really think it was necessary to jump on you."

"Well, well, then I guess I was probably pretty lucky then," Josef replied, his voice dripping with irony. But he meant no harm, actually just wanted to tease Logan a little. Beth felt that. "And? Are you finished with the installation of the new alarm system?" He added immediately, and looked at Logan with eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Yes, and it works perfectly," the young vampire replied a bit chilly. "Break-in attempts are not only immediately forwarded to the monitoring teams but also to the police and your office – just like the manually activated alarm button does. Ah! And that reminds me of something else…" He rummaged briefly around in his jacket and then pulled out a new I-Phone. He immediately turned to Beth with it. "Seth and I redesigned this for you - with a private emergency call button on the side. All you have to do is hold it down for a few seconds then all the important people will immediately be notified of your whereabouts - especially Mick, who'll also receive one of these cell phones – and the speakerphone will be activated so that everyone realizes what's going on with you."

He handed her the device almost solemnly, and Beth looked at him impressed. "This… this is…" Lacking the right words, she simply stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Logan's cheek. "I'll say it again Logan, you're the best," she added, smiling gratefully. "I don't think I could feel any safer than I do now."

Logan smiled back at her with suspiciously red cheeks for a vampire. "I'll go downstairs to… to Max and the others to… to explain the system to them one more time," he stammered somewhat embarrassed and immediately left.

"But don't forget you also need to secure my office and my house just as wonderfully," Josef called after him and Logan nodded to him immediately. "But don't expect to get a kiss for it!"

Beth saw Logan grimace at the thought, as he pulled the door close behind him.

"I think that boy has a bit of a crush on you," Josef said, smiling mischievously, and then strolled over to the couch in his typically cool and casual manner, but somehow elegant way, in order to settle down. Since they were back in L.A., the old Josef Kostan came to the fore again much more frequently.

Beth followed him with a frown. "We're just good friends, Josef. That _is_ possible between men and women, as you well know."

"He still thinks you're hot," Josef grinned at her, leaned back relaxed on the couch and placed his feet on the coffee table.

"Who doesn't?" She retorted with a smile and sat down next to her friend. "How did the meeting go?"

Josef tried really hard to continue to look cool, but she'd noticed a slight alarm in his eyes. "What meeting?"

"Oh come on Josef!" she gave back, looking at him chiding. "There's no way you went back to your office just to see what your assistant was doing there. That wouldn't have lured you away from here after promising Mick you'd take care of me."

So far Josef had carried out his job as her bodyguard with a conscientiousness that had no equal. The same was true for his role as a friend. He had followed her everywhere - from the station to her home and from her home to Mick's apartment - and had always made sure they were accompanied by Max and at least two teams of handpicked vampire-soldiers who had stood guard in front of each door and still did. Meanwhile there was also the additional police patrol outside the door, which had been sent directly from Judge Ruthers to them, and Beth felt really safe - despite the small conflicts still going on with the Legion every now and then and the Cercle du Sang still lurking out there somewhere. Her feeling of security was also due to the fact that she was being kept well informed about the current situation and had previously been kept up to date by Mick.

That Josef, who had been so observant and dependable the whole time, suddenly wanted to look after his own business, had her puzzled from the start. He had indeed left Logan and Seth behind for protection because they had the new alarm system to install, but nevertheless it had still been strange. And when Guillermo had called shortly after Josef's departure to ask if he was on his way, Beth had immediately suspected a meeting was being held somewhere again, one which Josef hadn't wanted her to take part in. After the many emotional outbursts, which she had had after Mick's departure, it was no surprise he wanted to spare her such things, but she had still been a little angry with him. Now, however, that anger had dissipated again. A midday nap in her new bed had done her well and then there had been Mick's last phone call, in which he had told her he would be home no later than this evening - how could she even begin to be in a bad mood or feel any anger?

"It's… nothing important really," Josef admitted to now. "Only a small meeting with Alejandro, Thomas Malik, Tony and Lance."

"What's it about?"

"At the moment, about the mood in the vampire society."

Beth raised her eyebrows questioningly and that was enough enticement to keep Josef talking.

"It seems there're some in our community who regard the latest developments with suspicion, but most are just happy that the war is over and that the Legion will soon no longer exist," Josef said, and gave a quite satisfied impression. "And Mick is slowly becoming a kind of mythic hero – something that can only be good for both of you."

Beth furrowed her brows this time. "I think you need to elaborate on that…"

"Well, rumors emerge quickly and are spread even faster," Josef said with a smirk. "_Especially,_ if they happen to get a little push. Mick's special abilities are almost comparable to Gabriel's by now – and that's no lie, apart from the fact that some of the skills that have been attributed to _Gabriel_ don't even exist. And what Mick's done for us all, ranges from 'fighting against hundreds of opponents alone' to 'heroic self-sacrifice', which would bring peace at the end. In any case, most vampires now see him in a very positive light and believe they've won a great new man as the head of the most powerful vampires in him - even the vampires in Europe who don't sympathize with the Cercle think of him that way."

"Quite honestly - that scares me a bit," Beth admitted with a slight discomfort.

"Because it means they may try to push him into specific tasks and duties within the vampire community?" Josef concluded quite correctly. "He's still a free man who has the same rights as any other human being - and with all these improvements that are coming, he can probably make use of them more than ever before. It'll be difficult to force him into anything he doesn't want to do."

"And _if_ he wants it?" Beth asked a bit worried, although she actually didn't believe it herself, and Josef frowned.

"Do you seriously believe that? After all he's been through?" Her friend shook his head smiling. "I think his demand for a break was meant pretty seriously. And you two are doing more than enough if you indeed agree to participate in this new committee. You really deserve a break and Mick should think long and hard about what tasks he agrees to be available for and those he would prefer to reject. After all, there's another, very stressful but exciting responsibility ahead for both of you." His gaze wandered down to her belly and she wrapped her arms protectively around her midsection automatically. She hadn't found much time to even worry about that - and she really didn't want to, not as long as Mick wasn't back at her side yet.

"And what else did you talk about?" drawing Josef's attention to a different topic.

"How the Legion really is currently striving for peace and order within their organization," Josef willingly told her. "There've been some internal struggles and even a few arrests made on the part of the police, so we vampires currently really do have our peace."

"What about the Cercle?" Beth asked on.

"Even they prefer to hide at the moment, especially after some of their more powerful members were uncovered yesterday here in the States," was the reassuring answer. "We've been able to squeeze some very important information out of some of the men who had shown up at Sarah's, and there've been a few anonymous tips that have helped us a lot."

"Anonymous tips?" Beth repeated in amazement. "By whom?"

"I think it was Elizabeth," Josef replied, and although he tried hard to hide it from her, Beth was able to see how much it still hurt him to have been betrayed by his own Sire.

"Is she trying to make amends for what she's done to us all?" she still had to question further.

Josef shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. But it's more likely that she's trying to save herself. The Cercle probably knows by now that she's been busted, and it has always pursued a similar policy as the Legion: Get rid of those who know too much!"

"This means she's not only going to be hunted by us now but also by the Cercle," Beth concluded and she almost felt sorry for the woman. But only almost. She had put them all in so much danger by her actions…

"And it would be better if _we_ found her first," Josef added, straining to act callously, "so we can access the information she possesses about the Cercle. For she'll certainly not tell us everything by anonymous tips."

"I'm sure the Cercle is under extreme pressure by now," Beth said satisfied and Josef nodded.

"They'll be wary of standing out in any way and if we're lucky, they'll even retreat for a little while back to Europe, as they've done, according to Gabriel, many times before when their plans went awry and the pressure became too strong for them. And _we_ will make sure of that as well."

"How?"

"Alejandro discovered an old connection between the Cercle and the Hijos de la Luna. He found out that some of the members of this Mexican gang had belonged to the Cercle, and probably did even back then."

"You… you mean the men who threatened Alejandro and his family and killed Marisa actually belonged to the Cercle?" Beth asked with wide eyes.

"Not all, but some of them. Alejandro is on it and will try to uncover the links as soon as he gets his family problems under control – which are actually related to this as well."

"What do you mean?"

"You hadn't heard?" Josef looked at her in amazement.

"What?"

"Well, that two of the prisoners recognized Alejandro and blurted out some things in front of Manolo that the boy probably shouldn't have heard about this way. He no longer talks with his father. I went to him and tried to mediate, but he's probably a little angry with me as well. Maybe Mick can accomplish a little more - after all, _neither_ knew the whole story behind the Hijos and the Legion and are therefore fellow victims."

Beth just nodded, because this painful yearning for Mick had started to grow stronger with the constant mention of his name. She could hardly wait for evening to get here and finally have him back in her arms.

"Where have Manolo and Isabella been staying in the last few days?" she finally asked interested in order to distract herself from her longing.

"Alejandro took them somewhere safe, because in his opinion, Manolo participated much too actively in everything and he's afraid for his son. No idea where he took them exactly – regardless, Manolo returned to the dorm yesterday. That's where I found him today."

Beth let out a deep sigh and leaned back on the couch. "Seems as if everything is slowly getting back to normal." She gave a little laugh. "Logan told me his mother baked a big chocolate cake for him yesterday, because in her eyes he'd lost too much weight during his 'camping trip'. The cake is in my fridge now…"

"Camping trip?" Josef repeated with dubiously raised eyebrows.

"He'd told her back then he was going camping with friends," she said with a grin. "And he even persuaded her to visit an old friend in Canada for a while, because he was afraid the Legion might do something to her."

"Smart boy," Josef admitted respectfully. "I wouldn't have given him that much credit."

"_Back then_," Beth repeated, shaking her head. "Actually it's not _that_ long ago…"

Josef also uttered a soft sigh and let his gaze wander pensively through Mick's apartment. Somehow, she knew exactly what he was thinking and felt.

"Do you remember the day we were last here, Josef?" She asked after a moment of thoughtful silence between them.

Her friend nodded mutely.

"We'd both been drawn here independently because we wanted to feel closer to him," she continued quietly. The same reason had brought them back to this place two days ago. Only this time she had known that Mick was well and that he would soon be with them again.

"We didn't want to accept that he was dead," Josef now also added quietly and gave her a warm smile.

"Thank God!" she added emphatically. "I think if we hadn't had each other, hadn't supported and pushed each other, the whole thing would certainly have turned out completely different…" She shuddered inwardly. Actually, she didn't want to think about what would have happened if Josef and she hadn't become friends and hadn't fought together for Mick. She was so happy he was a part of her life, was so happy to have won him as a friend and could read in the warm, thankful look in his eyes that he was thinking the same thing. They didn't need to talk about it.

For a while they simply sat together in silence, enjoying the feeling of not being alone, of having each other and together feeling that everything was slowly returning to normal. Josef then threw a quick glance at his watch and cleared his throat. "Well, I have to leave again," he said to Beth's surprise, and rose at once.

"But… why?" she stammered, amazed and stood up.

"Because I've yet to acquit myself of a promise to an old friend, who's been waiting for me downstairs in the car," he said, smiling. "And I think for once you should get a little rest before Mick gets here. Max and his team are still down in front of the door and Logan and Seth have certainly done a good job, as usual, in terms of the security system."

"Yeah, but…" She broke off, instead stepped up to her friend in a deep need and took him in her arms, hugging him firmly. "Thank you so much Josef," she said as she released him and he straightened his suit slightly embarrassed. She didn't need to add anything else. Josef nodded understandingly and the smile, which lifted the corners of his mouth was full of warmth and affection.

"I'll take my leave now and look for my old, arrogant businessman self," he said as he walked forward to the door. "It still has to be somewhere…"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Josef," she called out quickly when he was already halfway out the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Maybe by then this habitual suit wrinkling hugging will finally come to an end," she could still hear him mumble before he closed the door behind him.

She laughed, then turned with a deep breath letting her gaze once again roam over the tasteful and, for her, so familiar furnishings of Mick's apartment. It hadn't even been three days ago that she'd said goodbye to Mick and yet it seemed like an eternity. Three days that now that she was alone with herself, passed before her mind's eye.

Her emotions had been so unstable after her farewell to Mick that she'd suffered a small break-down and had hung for a long time in Josef's arms and just wept. All her friends had sought to calm her again, to assure her that everything would be fine and that Mick would definitely return to her. And at some point she had believed them, had allowed herself to even be cheered up a bit by Logan and Seth and had again gained some control over herself. Then she had sat down with Ben and made him guarantee her once again that Judge Ruthers was a very intelligent, thoughtful man who stuck by his word and had a lot of power and that certainly nothing would happen to the three men at the Legion's hospital. Still, it had been difficult for Beth to relax in the station, to really come to rest - in spite of the comfortable couch that had been made available to her. As the first phone call from Mick had come in, only a few hours later, they'd all sighed with relief and only then really tried to sleep.

Of course, Beth hadn't been able to. She'd stayed awake all night and Mick, who'd called early the next morning, had noticed at once how tired she was, and had begun to worry about her. The idea of returning to her old apartment – of course, only under the most stringent safety precautions – had surprisingly been Mick's idea after a painstaking consultation with Gabriel and Ruthers. It was still hard for Beth to believe. But, once she and Josef were picked up and personally escorted by police, she had finally come to believe that a normal world still existed and in fact welcomed her back with open arms. On the way to her apartment Beth had begun to cry again - this time with joy and then again after arriving at her old apartment. She hadn't been able to stop as easily this time. It had taken a little time and only after she'd sought the comfort of Josef's arms, was she able to calm down enough to get changed and snuggle down in her bed.

She'd tried to sleep, but hadn't been able to, even in her own home. Everything suddenly felt so strange, as if it was from a different life. And, in essence it was. The apartment belonged to her single life, her life with Josh and to the beginnings of her relationship with Mick. She and Mick had become infinitely closer to each other, had experienced so much together and changed so much that it now seemed foreign to her and all at once she felt so uncomfortable. And she had missed Mick even more than she had before, had after a little while, to her own shame, began to cry again, and in doing so had awakened Josef. He had shown an enormous amount of understanding for her emotional state and had even suggested driving her over to Mick's apartment because that had helped _him_ feel closer to Mick before. And so it had been. Although Mick's apartment was also a part of their lives that belonged to the past – she still felt closer to him there, felt as though a part of him still lived in these rooms, a part that welcomed her with open arms and embraced her.

She had finally found the peace and relaxation she needed to fall asleep right there on his couch, on which they had so often sat together, the couch she had even slept on once. And Josef had even had the pleasure of doing the same upstairs in Mick's freezer. Hence, he'd been so full of energy and zest the next morning that he'd even ordered a bed with her, a bit cocky, because – according to him – Mick would certainly never want to lay his butt down in a hard freezer again, but would probably prefer to have it cushioned on soft pillows. The bed had been delivered the same day and arranged upstairs in Mick's former dressing room and of course Beth hadn't been able to stand up to lying down and test it. How could she have known she'd fall asleep so quickly again?

She already loved their new bed, because somehow it brought a slight 'sense of the future' into the apartment. It also reminded her that they were husband and wife now and would soon celebrate a new chapter of their lives.

Beth let her eyes wander again, and other, more distant memories came back to her. Her fingers slid over the smooth, light-colored leather couch next to her. It was here that she had woken up when Mick had saved her from the mentally ill student after their first joint case together, and then once again, after the Black Chrystal had finally worn off. And the chair opposite the couch Mick had been sitting in when he had told her of his beautiful memories of his life as a human. There in the kitchen, he had injected a chip under her skin, which had allowed her to gain access to the club. And the stairs next to it she had gone up with the intention to seduce him. The same stairs he had come down months later, after they had slept together for the first time, and soon after, had again found themselves in an intimate embrace on the couch until that fateful phone call had come…

So much had happened after that, terrible things, but also good things. She had found new friends – so many good friends who had grown dear to her, like a family she never wanted to miss again, people who had also grown up themselves, and through their actions had made it possible for them to all finally be able to return home again. Home… what a wonderful word. And although Beth wasn't in her own apartment, it almost felt like it – almost…

It was only a faint noise that suddenly resounded behind her, but Beth recognized it immediately: Someone opening the front door from the outside. She turned in surprise, feeling certain it could only be Josef.

"Did you for…" Beth stopped, only stared with open mouth and wide eyes at the man who was just closing the door behind him and then turned to her. It wasn't Josef. It was Mick. A slightly tired looking, but intact Mick, who paused now, drinking in the sight of her as longingly as she did him.

Her throat constricted and she couldn't help the tears that sprang to her eyes as she set in motion with a suppressed sound of joy. She didn't walk to him – she ran and threw herself into his wide opened arms, let him twirl her around, laughing and crying, through the air until he had to stop at some point and press his lips firmly on hers, kissing her fervently and longingly – again and again until they were both out of breath and he put her back on her own feet. He took her face in his hands, leaned his forehead against hers and they both breathed deeply in the vicinity of the other. Only after a little while did Beth move back from Mick a little, blinked away her tears and looked at him from head to toe, barely able to believe he was finally back with her now.

"Everything's still there," he said with a somewhat shaky voice as she finished her inspection, and gave her this adorable crooked Mick-smile, that immediately made her wrap her arms around his neck and hug him as hard as she could.

"They'll be sorry, if not," she replied softly. "Otherwise, they'll get to know a totally different side of me!"

This time it was Mick, who broke from their embrace somewhat, to look at her, with this overwhelming affection in his warm eyes. "I've missed you," he whispered to her and gently stroked her hair away from her face before he kissed her again.

"How… how do you think, _I_ felt?" Beth whispered against his so warm, so seductive lips, yet she managed to evade them in order to look Mick in the eyes again. "Please tell me you're staying here with me and not leaving me again so soon!"

He nodded at once. "Gabriel promised he'd settle everything else without me and if another meeting is needed again, I'll take you with me!"

"Promise?" She breathed back, and again his lips found hers gently and his arms wrapped firmly around her waist.

"I promise," he whispered. "You can't get rid of me so easily anymore!"

Beth laughed and at the same time had tears in her eyes, because these were the exact words she had used just before he had disappeared. She closed her eyes for a moment to get her emotions under control and then touched his face tenderly, stroking his warm skin. Mick… She had her Mick back in her arms, her guardian angel, her soul mate… her husband, the father of their child… It would all be well…

"You… you're really back again…" she whispered, could still hardly believe it herself.

He nodded deeply touched and kissed her again, long and tender and her heart opened up, flooded her body with warmth and a feeling of profound happiness. Now she was finally truly home. Their joined lives could begin.

* * *

Love. That was the feeling that was most powerful when I focused my senses on Mick's apartment. Deep abiding love, accompanied by overflowing joy and happiness and the feeling of finally coming home. And it felt so good to feel that way – not only between Mick and Beth, but also inside me, who was still sitting in front of the house in my car with my eyes closed, to share at least for a moment, in the happiness of my two friends. I knew there would be other days I could do that later on, but for right now it just felt so good, it was, after all the efforts of the recent months, like a balm for the soul.

Mick had called me just before I had returned to Beth, and had informed me he would be back a little earlier than expected and wanted to surprise her. And of course I had immediately wanted to play along, since I knew this would be the best surprise anyone could give that young woman – because it was so similar to what_ I_ had felt at Mick's surprising call. Overall, his news couldn't have been any better: The other leaders of the Legion had, thanks to Mick's cooperative behavior, also declared themselves ready to cooperate with us, and with our joined forces, would now tried to get their own organization back under control. All previously responsible persons were willing to negotiate further and had been very impressed with the idea of building a new special police force with vampires and humans. In addition, Ruthers had declared himself ready to provide police surveillance for each vampire who expressed a need for protection from possible attacks by renegade troops of the Cercle or the Legion, which would watch over them for the next few days. Also the first members of the Cercle had been apprehended, making an attack from this gang on us vampires or even humans in the near future virtually impossible. On the whole, this meant that our cooperation with the humans was slowly working out and that we could now indeed return to our old lives – if that was possible. And that felt pretty damn good.

But what constituted the largest portion of my exuberance was that Mick was finally back home again - safe! He had gotten out of the car just as I had left the building and had looked surprisingly good – although a little tired and exhausted, but also so full of vitality and optimism, of new energy, which had instantly spread to me. We had greeted each other with a brief hug – somehow I still couldn't break myself of this nasty habit – and quickly made an appointment for the next day. Then my friend had rushed into the building, flew to his wife. And I had stood there for a moment with a satisfied smile on my lips, a smile that I was now wearing again.

For me, his appearance had rung in a new, quieter and more peaceful period in our lives. We could all really begin to live again and with a deeper bond than ever before. For in the last few months, something had once again become very clear to me: To isolate yourself, to deny your own feelings for other people, only brought misery upon yourself and others. Love wasn't a feeling you should be ashamed of, that you had to hide. It wasn't something we should fear. Of course it hurt terribly to lose a loved one, but how bleak, how lonely and cold life would be if you denied yourself that feeling. It was stupid not to allow these feelings, because in essence a life without the ones you loved by your side, was an empty life. I had finally realized this. And not only had I decided to spend more time with my family of close friends, but to also allow people in general to get closer to me. Because only in this way would it be possible, hopefully someday in the distant future, to again meet a woman like Sarah, and this time to make everything different, to do it better and perhaps one day be as happy as my two best friends were now.

Of course I knew that it would be hard for me not to succumb to old habits once I had my old life back, of not opening myself to others more, but I would at least try; after all, my best friend had managed it and _he_ had been, after last year, a much more difficult case than I was at the moment. Actually, I had changed already; through Mick and Beth and my other friends and the bad times we had survived only because we had had each other. I would change even further, as long as I kept in close contact with my friends – I knew that for sure. And for the first time in ages this thought didn't scare me anymore. Quite the contrary: I was looking forward to it!

I breathed deeply and contentedly and leaned back into the seat of my Ferrari, let my eyes wander across the street. We were back in L.A., back to our old lives and yet we would not continue them as before. We would create, out of the remains of this old life, new experiences and wishes for the future, something new, which certainly would be incredibly exciting and hard work, but would ultimately make us more satisfied and happier than ever before – because we were no longer alone – none of us. We had really become a family who stuck together. And this idea produced a feeling of deep peace and serenity inside me that once again brought a smile to my lips and in fact made me put an arm around my passenger, who had been sitting, all the while, quietly next to me.

I looked at him and my smile turned into a broad grin, because he gave me such a stupid face. "Okay," I said. "I think we can now confidently leave our two lovebirds alone and let them inaugurate their new bed, because over there…" I nodded over to the dark van that stood before us at the roadside. "… is Max with some of his best men to watch over these two and on the other side, a car with a police protection team. You see?"

My friend gave a satisfied grunt and I grinned at him even wider. "For us this means that we can actually be on our way… Are you ready?"

My companion tilted his head slightly and his faithful brown eyes grew a little bigger. He actually began to drool, as if he knew what I would say next.

"Yeah yeah – I know it might surprise you, mate, but I stick to my word," I went on and carefully strapped him in. "And as I've told you: The tastiest, juiciest steak you've ever eaten is waiting for you. Shall we leave?"

My passenger could no longer contain himself. He let out a loud, unfortunately very wet woof, which had sprayed a few drops of saliva directly on my cheek and his bushy tail began to brush the non-existent dust from the expensive leather upholstery of my car. But remarkably it didn't bother me that much. I took the handkerchief which I had already had in hand just in case, and wiped off the evidence of Monster's joy quickly. Then I put on my sunglasses and started the engine.

"I bet this evening I will have gained another property," I still continued to smile and this fact didn't seem to hurt a bit. Josef Kostan kept his promises – and what wouldn't you do for your family…


	84. Epilogue

_My dear readers, this is now really the last piece of Blood of the Lily. It's not as long as the other chapters but I hope you'll still like it. It will answer a few open questions I think and give a hint in which direction the third part of my Moonligh-Saga will go. _

_Yes, I want to write another part but won't do this so soon. I first want to start writing and publishing my own books. The first one will be a romantic comedy which I will write with my best friend. We want to post it on different internet-sites and publish it later with E-Publi (a German Books-on-demand-publishing company__, which has connections to Amazon). We will also translate it into English, so that my readers who are interested in also reading and maybe even buying other stories of me, are able to do this. And then there are some other ideas I want to write down, so that means if I start writing my third Moonlight-Story I have to do this during writing my own books and this means I won't be able to update regularly. But I can promise I won't stop loving Moonlight and as long as this love for this show is still there I will still write some scenes, one-shots or even chapters of a new long story. _

_I thank you all so much for staying so long with me and encouraging me with your comments to keep on writing and finish this story. I couldn't have done it without my dear readers who supported me so much with their dear words. I hug and kiss you all, yours Jenna_

_P.S. I will soon post in my profile where my first own book can be found later. Maybe you want to have a look at it when we start to post the first chapters ;0)_

* * *

_Translated by Draco_

_Beta read by Sg6169  
_

* * *

**E****pilogue**

* * *

"_L__ife is a book in which every page hope has written a wish for us."_

_August Ernst Baron __von Steigentesch_

* * *

He was paralyzed, could hardly breathe, his heart still beating like crazy, the throbbing of his pulse rang loudly in his ears. His throat so choked up he could utter no sound, and his eyes burned so much he constantly had to blink - or maybe it was more because his vision was constantly blurring – he wasn't sure which. All he knew was that he felt totally helpless, trapped in his own intense emotions; captivated by the sight that greeted him: These tiny fingers that had closed around his thumb, holding on to it with amazing strength, while the small person these fingers belonged to, screamed red faced and mouth wide open so loudly his ears vibrated, protesting loudly against being diapered and put into a romper that, despite its miniature size, was still too big.

"I told you: a completely healthy child," the midwife, who in these last few hours had not only brought Beth safely through the hell of birth with her calmness and strength, but had also saved Mick from losing his mind, said with a small smile. "That's what I call a healthy set of lungs…"

"She…" Mick cleared his throat because his own voice cracked so terribly. "She wants to be back in her mother's arms…" He could clearly feel it, this, for him, so understandable yearning for Beth's warmth, for her voice, her smell. The connection between them had been there immediately, the minute the little girl had seen the light of day – now, so much more noticeable than when she had still been in Beth's belly, and this feeling had completely overwhelmed Mick, made it so difficult for him to gather himself again, because he could feel so clearly that this child was a part of him, just as she was a part of Beth. His child… his daughter…

"Well, then let's bring her to her mommy now," Tamara smiled. "Or rather _you_ will!"

Mick caught his breath, looked down at his daughter apprehensively, and then back at the midwife. "Me?"

Tamara laughed and simply lifted the tiny baby with a practiced grip, so that the infant let go of his finger. "Just put one arm under her body and support her head in your hand," she explained, and Mick brought his arms into the correct position automatically so that his daughter was only seconds later safe in his arms. He held his breath, immobilized again, in fear of doing something wrong. Everything about this child was so delicate and fragile. His hands trembled a little, but to his surprise, the baby stopped crying immediately, even looked at him with these somewhat swollen, deep blue eyes, which seemed to look into the depths of his soul and warmed his heart. So tiny, so red, so wrinkled and shapeless - but Mick had never held anything more beautiful in his arms. Their little miracle…

"Well, you're doing great," Tamara ascertained cheerfully. "She seems to feel quite comfortable with daddy."

Daddy. He _really_ was a daddy now. Mick's throat tightened and his nose began to tingle, while his eyes filled with tears again. It wasn't the first time that night he had been in tears, but he wasn't ashamed of this. Some situations simply called for tears of joy and emotion.

"Shall we?" the midwife asked and Mick merely nodded mutely and set, very carefully, in motion, cautious not to bump into anything or stumble. Fortunately, the distance from the bathroom, where the changing table was, into the bedroom, wasn't that far.

Beth sat up in bed a little more with Paula's help and immediately stretched out her arms towards him and her baby as he entered, and he hastened to comply to her mute request immediately. He reached the bed in just a few steps, sat down on the edge of it and put the baby as gingerly and gently as possible into Beth's arms. Beth's eyes immediately filled with tears. She had had her baby lying across her naked chest shortly after giving birth, had breastfed her for the first time, stroked and caressed her, but her need to feel her next to her body was so strong it had been hard to let her go for her first routine exam. Now she breathed deeply in relief and grabbed his hand with her free one, inviting him to slip closer to both of them.

Mick was happy to oblige, put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. His lips touched her forehead and he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to finally rid himself of the last bit of this terrible tension that had befallen him since the onset of labor. It had been so terrible to see Beth suffer so much and not be able to help her, to at least take away some of the pain and effort. He'd been so scared of losing her, although the midwife had repeatedly reassured him that everything was happening as it was supposed to, actually wonderfully smooth for the birth of their first child. Five long, agonizing hours of fear, suffering and stress – and Tamara had had the audacity to say this had been a really quick and easy birth. And then there was all the blood… not an easy thing for a man to bear, much less a half-vampire. Certainly, the others sitting in the living room were having similar problems remaining calm because of this too. Once Mick had gathered himself a little, he would go over and talk with Josef and the others. At least they already knew that everything had gone well.

Paula, who had stood upon his entrance and had remained with Tamara, smiling, cleared her throat now.

"We'll go give the others an update," she said and immediately set out, as Beth nodded at her with a grateful smile.

"If you need my help, just call me," Tamara added, and received a grateful smile as well from Beth. Then both had left the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

Mick took a deep breath and pulled Beth a little closer to him, assuring himself again that nothing would happen to her, that the suffering and the efforts were over. They could now relax and enjoy the feeling of having become parents.

"Isn't she beautiful Mick?" He heard Beth whisper full of emotion.

Mick looked at the delicate, pink face of his daughter, who now really seemed to be looking at her mother and to truly recognize her. He looked at Beth, gently stroking her hair from her forehead that was still a little sticky from sweat and nodded, smiling happily. "She looks just like her mother."

"She has quite a bit of hair," Beth noted, stroking very gently over the dark, fine hair that curled slightly at some points and stood up from her small head. "She gets that from you… Look, it already curls in some places. And the dimple in her chin… do you see it? She also gets that from you…"

She was right, there really was a little dimple, which he now had to touch very tenderly. The little one stretched out a little and then yawned, making them both chuckle quietly.

"Oh, Mick, she's _so_ adorable," Beth exclaimed touched and breathed a gentle kiss on their baby's forehead. "I'll never let go of her. Never again…"

He nodded, moved, touched the tiny fist, which opened immediately and grabbed his finger. Again the warmth in his interior increased, and his heart opened wide. So much love - there was so much love for this child within him it was almost overwhelming and scary. And all the while he knew how much more exciting and scary it must feel for his daughter. She was at once in a completely different world, so helpless and dependent on them, needed the care and love of her parents so much. He would do everything in his power to ensure she felt comfortable, was happy, and only know the beautiful things of this world into which she was born. He would not allow anything to ever happened to her.

"I love her so much already," Beth added with tears in her voice now and Mick put his other arm around her and the baby, held them both close and safely in his arms.

"Nothing will happen to her, will it?" Beth gasped.

"No," Mick agreed quietly. "We'll protect her, Beth. And out there is a group of very overzealous uncles with superhuman powers, and each of them would give his life for her. She's safe in our family. Safer than any baby in this world."

Beth nodded, snuggled closer, and then took a deep breath. And Mick did the same, finally allowing his body to relax, letting the profound feeling of happiness spread from his heart throughout his body. For he held everything he ever needed to be happy here in his arms. And he felt the same as Beth: He would never let go of them – never…

* * *

It was a beautiful spring night, warm for this time of year and starry. From the west a gentle breeze wafted over the rooftops, swirled through the streets, rustling the wind chimes of one of the spacious balconies of the magnificent mansions there on the Avenue Foch, creating a harmonic melody. On the balcony stood a man, tall, broad-shouldered, with full dark hair and brown eyes. He'd been pacing up and down restlessly, pausing for a moment now to look at the antique-looking, precious wind chime, shook his head and then continued on his way restlessly.

A little later, the sound of a door opening and then closing came from inside the house, which led the man to pause again and furrow his dark eyebrows a little upset. Another man in a suit stepped into the open atrium doors of the balcony and bowed his head humbly.

"Monsieur Arnaud, I apologize for the disturbance, but the Comte has just phoned and ordered that you be made aware of an emergency that's come up and that you should call him back urgently. He seemed very agitated and said the Cercle is in great danger."

Arnaud nodded. "I'll call back immediately. Thank you."

The other man bowed his head again and withdrew immediately. Shortly thereafter the click of a door closing could be heard. Then it was quiet again.

Monsieur Arnaud took a deep breath and then ran his fingers thoughtfully through his dark, slightly wavy hair. He went over to the ornate balustrade of the balcony, leaning against it with his arms and looked up silently at the starry sky for a while. It wasn't long before a gentle smile appeared on his lips.

"So tiny, measured against the infinity of the universe…" he mumbled a little melancholy, and then straightened up resolutely. He reached into the inner pocket of his dark jacket and pulled out a cell phone to dial a number and then put the device to his ear. It didn't take long before a somewhat nervous-sounding male answered.

"It's me," Arnaud said quickly. "I've heard there's a problem?"

"Terrible problems," replied the other man's voice. "The CSL now knows which identity Nicolas has currently been using. They've cut off all access to his money and what's worse: they know what he looks like!"

Arnaud closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "Wait – does this mean he's not going to be able to surgically alter his appearance over there in the states now?" he probed, frowning. "Is Jerome not able to help him?"

"Jerome's dead!" the man replied at the other end of the line. "Just like Ernesto and Casper. Somehow the CSL found out he's in Sacramento and they've been able to isolate him there without actually pin pointing his exact location. He won't be able to escape without outside help!"

"And how am _I_ supposed to help?" Arnaud asked doubtfully.

"Well, we… we've been thinking about this and have come to the conclusion that we need to send someone who's face is not yet known by the CSL, someone who still holds a lot of power within the Cercle with a good reputation who Nicolas trusts."

"You want to send a rescue team to him from Europe?" Arnaud asked.

"Yes, one led by you that we'll put together with your approval."

"Then you want me to fly to the States?"

"Yes." The other man took a deep breath. "I know you never wanted to go back there, because of your bad experiences, but… there's no other way."

Arnaud sighed deeply. "You're probably right. When do you want to meet?"

"In two hours?"

Arnaud nodded. "The old meeting place?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there."

"Thank you. We _all_ thank you."

"That goes without saying. I'll see you then."

There was no feedback from the other end of the line and Arnaud hung up. For a moment he looked at his phone and his mouth lifted into a strangely triumphant smile.

"It's about time!" he said quietly, closed his eyes and breathed the clear night air deeply into his lungs. "Home… I can finally go home…"

Arnaud winced slightly as the cell phone began to ring and vibrate in his hand. He stared at it in shock and all at once his initial nervousness and excitement returned to his body visibly. For this reason, the "Yeah" he muttered shortly thereafter into the mouthpiece of the device, sounded somewhat breathless.

"I knew you'd still be awake," a deep male voice replied slightly amused.

Arnaud rolled his eyes and shook his head. "How am I supposed to sleep, Gabriel?" he gave back reproachfully. "And you should be the last one to make fun of my state of mind!"

The other man let out a little laugh. "Are you all under a bit of tension over there?"

"Not _we all_, but _I_ am. And the reason for it, _you_ of all people should already know. And I hope that's also why you're calling!"

Another laugh resounded and the expression in Arnaud's eyes turned a little darker.

"Patience is a virtue that probably wasn't practiced much in your family," the other man even dared to add.

Arnaud's eyes were now much brighter. "Gabriel, if you know that, then why are you trying to test the small amount I have left?" he growled.

"You're right," Gabriel surrendered and one could almost hear him smile. Then he took a deep breath. "Congratulations Raphael, you're now the proud uncle of a 7lb 3oz and 19 inches long baby-girl!"

Arnaud breathed a sigh of relief again and closed his eyes one more time. "She's alive and well?"

"More than that," Gabriel replied. "She has an incredibly strong voice and looks at you as if she already recognizes you. And she has a strength in her little fingers… you can hardly imagine."

"And how are her parents?" the next pressing question blurted out of Arnaud and his eyes shimmered suspiciously. "How… how's my brother?"

"I think they're both pretty tired and exhausted - but they're happy, _really_ happy."

Arnaud nodded deeply moved. "This is the most important thing," he added in a husky voice. "I… I always wanted that for him…"

"I know," it came back quietly. "Soon, everything will be over Tristan. Then you'll see him again."

Arnaud gave a small, sad laugh. "If it were only that easy… I… I'll hang up now. Call me again tomorrow night. There are a few developments that we urgently need to discuss, but I… right now I need a little time to digest this all."

"Okay," Gabriel replied quietly. "I'll call you…"

Arnaud just nodded, then broke the connection and put the phone back into the inside pocket of his jacket. He stepped back closer to the balustrade, let his gaze glide thoughtfully over the glittering lights of the big city and eventually a gentle smile returned to his lips.

"Let's see what the future holds for us all," he muttered, and the re-emerging, mild wind carried his words far out into the night, toward the future.


End file.
